Confront climate change to stop military being diverted to natural disasters, former ADF chief warns

(The Guardian, 4 Oct 2021) Confront climate change to stop military being diverted to natural disasters, former ADF chief warns Retired admiral says alternatives needed to deal with extreme weather events so defence force can be ready for security emergencies

Australia’s military will be less ready to confront other security crises if troops are increasingly required to respond to climate-related disasters, a former chief of the Australian defence force has warned.

Retired Admiral Chris Barrie made the comments in an interview with Guardian Australia as he called on the Australian government to pledge at the Glasgow climate conference to cut emissions by more than 50% by 2030, declaring: “We need to all pull together.”

“It is no longer sufficient to say, ‘it doesn’t matter what we do, the defence force will be there to pick up the mess or sweep up the mess afterwards’,” Barrie said.

Barrie, now an executive member of the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group, said Scott Morrison had written to assure it that the government would release a plan before November’s UN summit – but “we haven’t seen enough to be convinced that the government is doing anything serious” about the climate crisis.

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The Guardian, 4 Oct 2021: Confront climate change to stop military being diverted to natural disasters, former ADF chief warns