Climate change in the Arctic: Security implications and consequences for military operations – a MCDC project
The opening of the Arctic provides non-Arctic states/actors with easier access to the Arctic Ocean. In combination with changing geopolitical-/strategic conditions and growing political and military tensions, climate change makes the Arctic strategically important for Multinational Forces (MNF) but also exacerbates an already challenging field for operations. These factors increase the need for stronger MNF situational awareness, operational capability, coordination and policy changes.
With these considerations as point of departure the question is, what are the current challenges to the military operating environment caused by climate change and competitive activity in the Arctic and how could existing gaps in operational capability and governance (incl. coordination) of MNF be closed and future capability requirements be met. So far, various capability and governance/coordination gaps (e.g. insufficiency in resources and modern equipment, missing joint command structures) restrict MNF abilities to address the current and future challenges adequately. Enhancing MNF’s Arctic capabilities requires a robust policy framework and better coordination of policies and activities in order to maintain a strong and effective security presence in the region and ensure an operational advantage towards competitors in a rapidly changing - climate and threat-based – environment.
As its main goal, CLIMARCSEC will contribute to the analysis and to making suggestions as to how existing and potential coordination and capability gaps could be closed and how future coordination and capability requirements could be met. To support this main goal, CLIMARCSEC will analyze how the implications and consequences of climate change will impact policy, strategy, arrangement for deterrence and defense, military assistance, planning, preparedness, exercises and operations in the Arctic. It will also inform and consult military and political decision makers of the current and projected state of security operations.
In addition to Norway, 10 MCDC member countries are participating in the project: Canada, Finland, France, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, the United States and Austria. Australia, Brasil, Spain, the Netherlands, South Korea, NATO-ACT and EU-EDA/MS act as observers.
The Multinational Capability Development Campaign (MCDC) is a program with a partnership of 24 countries and international organizations (IGO) designed to develop and assess nonmateriel (non-weaponry) force development solutions. This is done through collaborative multinational efforts, to meet present and future operational needs associated with conducting joint, multinational and coalition operations. It contributes to multinational interoperability by identifying and evaluating potential solutions to multinational capability gaps. MCDC focuses on multinational force development with a global community of interest made up of both traditional and non-traditional partners. Currently the MCDC program community consists of: Australia, Austria, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, European Union-European Defence Agency, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, NATO-Allied Command Transformation (ACT), The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.