[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.