Prime Minister Justin Trudeau describe “Climate change” poses a threat to Canada’s national security, saying global warming has increased the “accessibility” of Russian troops to Canada’s northern Arctic, at a news conference Friday in Cold Lake, Alberta.
Trudeau was also joined by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who all made comments about the dangers of “climate change” to Canada, the United States and Europe’s “security”.
Trudeau claimed Canadian military personnel must change their approach to operations to deal with changing terrain due to “climate change”, which he described as a “risk multiplier” that amplifies the likelihood of armed conflict around the world.
He says:
Yesterday, Secretary-General Stoltenberg and I visited Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. We visited a Northern Warning System site and the Canadian High Arctic Research Station. We spent a lot of time talking to Inuit community leaders.
We have heard global warnings that are changing the Arctic environment and changing the terrain in which our Canadian Armed Forces operate.
Climate change is a risk multiplier, as researchers, military experts, and the Secretary-General and I all know. Not only are wildfires and floods increasing the need for aid to CAFs, but globally, climate change is increasing the risk of conflict. We need to act to address its implications for national and international security.
Stoltenberg uses “climate change” to replace man-made global warming, which he claims is melting Arctic ice. “Climate change has made the High North even more important because the ice is melting and both economic and military activities are more accessible,” he said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the media as he arrives in Berlin, Germany, for a meeting of defense ministers of European Union member states on August 26, 2020. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
“Security Challenges in High Schools The North is exaggerated by climate change,” Stoltenberg added. “Climate change will require us to fundamentally change our approach to security and defense. “
Trudeau agreed with Stoltenberg that “climate change” makes Canada and Europe more vulnerable to a military threat from Russia:
I think we understand that there are many factors that play into the Arctic as a security issue.
To our credit, over the past few decades we have been able to work with partners and adversaries, including Russia, to keep the militarization of the Arctic to a minimum, but that is changing now for two reasons.
Clearly, climate change is creating more access to the Arctic and creating real concerns and challenges.
During the half-hour press conference, Trudeau and Stoltenberg alluded to “climate change” 11 times.
