Building resilience together: Military and local government collaboration for climate adaptation

As part of the RAND Corporation's Security 2040 Initiative, the authors explore a critical global challenge that will shape the security landscape over the next 20 years: contending with and preparing for the effects of climate change. They reviewed and analyzed relevant literature, assessed other instances of intergovernmental collaboration, and examined the role of collaboration in the military and local government climate resilience planning. They found that collaboration between military services and local governments improves the collective capacity to address climate change, and they provide insight into the attributes of effective joint planning.

Key findings are:

• A regional, intergovernmental collaborative approach to climate change planning provides several advantages, especially for regions without existing structures that support collaboration.
• However, effective collaboration requires a firm commitment of participants, strong lines of communication, and dedicated funding.

The recommendations are:

• Establish concrete common goals in the initial phases of collaborative arrangements;
• Secure strong commitments from leaders and stakeholders to the collaborative's goals, process, and implementing measures;
• Create durable lines of communication and information-sharing among collaborators and with the public;
• Identify and secure common funding streams and establish financial management processes.