[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 177 (Wednesday, November 6, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6432-S6433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Climate Change
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I am going to turn to another matter of
importance for U.S. national security, and that is climate change.
Climate change is the most significant challenge our world faces right
now, transcending borders and affecting every aspect of our lives.
Climate change is a threat to human life. It is caused by human
activity, and we must confront it. Our Nation has a moral imperative to
protect the Earth, God's creation, and the people living on that Earth,
particularly children whose health and well-being will be affected--I
would say adversely affected--by climate change in incomprehensible
ways.
For far too long we have discussed climate change, food insecurity,
and political stability in separate silos. However, these issues are
inextricably
[[Page S6433]]
linked, and we must apply an integrated approach to ensuring that
global food supply keeps pace with population growth amidst a
continuing trend of climate change in a way that promotes stable,
transparent democratic societies around the world.
The late Senator Dick Lugar from the State of Indiana asked me to
work with him to introduce the Global Food Security Act way back in the
2007-2008 time period. At that time, Senator Lugar wanted to try to
pass legislation that would authorize USAID's Feed the Future Program.
Senator Johnny Isakson was a steadfast partner in actually passing the
Global Food Security Act. We passed that legislation years after
Senator Lugar and I were starting the work.
The Global Food Security Act is empowering the USAID to develop a
more integrated, interagency approach to food security across
agricultural value chains and expanding farmers' access to local and
international markets through the Feed the Future Program.
We, as a body, must continue to advocate for the next generation of
agricultural policy: Promote sustainable agriculture that will be able
to keep pace with growing global demand, population growth, and climate
change.
As a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry, I am increasingly concerned about our ability to keep pace
with agricultural production as global population grows. The global
population is expected to grow from 7.7 billion to 10 billion by 2050,
and with that, demand for meat and dairy could increase between 59 and
98 percent, according to Columbia University's Earth Institute.
The impact of climate change on food systems across the globe will be
almost incomprehensible, but perhaps nowhere larger than Sub-Saharan
Africa. Now, 90 percent of the region's cropland, meaning Sub-Saharan
Africa--90 percent of that region's cropland is expected to see yield
losses of up to 40 percent--90 percent seeing yield losses of up to 40
percent.
We face some of the same challenges here at home, and we are working
to help farmers adapt to these pressures while also being part of the
solution through climate-friendly agricultural policies.
While we have made advances in recent decades, we still have high
rates of undernourishment and child stunting around the world. The
number of chronically hungry people around the world has increased
today to 821 million people, representing one out of every nine people
on the planet, many of whom are women and children. I will say that
again. The number of chronically hungry people around the world has
increased to one in every nine people on the planet.
The number of children under 5 affected by stunting has decreased by
10 percent in the past 6 years. That is a little bit of good news, but
149 million children are still stunted. This pace is too slow to meet
our United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to cut stunting in half
by 2030--just 11 years away.
Our own intelligence community has linked global food insecurity to
instability, which can lead to a rise in violent extremism and
international crime that will affect the United States. In January
2014, the worldwide threat assessment of the U.S. intelligence
community reported that ``lack of adequate food will be a destabilizing
factor in countries important to [U.S.] national security.''
The ``2010 Quadrennial Defense Review'' marked a turning point in how
the United States grappled with the issue of climate change. For the
first time, in 2010, climate change was cited as a ``threat
multiplier'' by the Department of Defense, noting ``the impacts of
climate change may increase the frequency, scale, and complexity of
future missions.''
From Syria to Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin, but also in urban
upheaval in Sudan, we see the impacts of environmental stress and high
food prices on political stability in regions vital to U.S. national
security interests.
This brings me to political stability. According to the U.S. Global
Food Security Strategy, food insecurity exacerbated by climate change
will contribute to ``social disruptions and political instability. . .
. Projections indicate that more than two-thirds of the world's poor
could be living in fragile countries, where state-society relations are
already strained, by 2030.''
When societies break down because governments are unable to provide
resilient infrastructure against climate events, as well as protect
local markets from vulnerabilities due to climate events, trust in
institutions erodes and nations are ripe for conflict. If we permit
climate change to proceed without aggressive action, investment, and
coordination with partners around the world, we are not only allowing
millions around the world to suffer extreme hunger resulting from
climate-related disasters, but we are also allowing conditions for the
rise of extremism and the breakdown of democratic institutions to
foment unchecked.
For millions of people across Africa, Asia, and Latin America,
climate change means more frequent and intense floods, droughts, and
storms, accounting each year for up to 90 percent of all natural
disasters. These disasters can quickly spiral into full-blown food and
nutrition crises.
I will wrap up with this: As we look to the hard work of
congressional oversight over the Feed the Future Program, I am pleased
that USAID has already begun to bridge its emergency humanitarian
programming with its longer term development efforts to build
resilience for communities affected by conflict and climate change.
The United States cannot do this alone. We need to work together on a
global scale not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also to
mitigate economic risk and ensure that agricultural and food supply
chains can withstand climate events. This administration's decision to
withdraw from the Paris climate agreement was a huge blow to U.S.
leadership in climate policy. I and many Members of Congress and
individuals throughout the U.S. Government, along with our State and
local government partners, as well as leaders in the business community
across the United States, will continue to fight for policies that
bring the United States in line with its Paris goals, ensuring we are
doing our part to address this global threat to human life.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.