NATO’s 2023 Climate Change and Security Impact Assessment demonstrates how extreme weather conditions create operational stress and shorten the life cycles of military equipment, generating additional maintenance and replacement costs.

The assessment focuses on four geographical regions (Europe, North America, the Middle East and North Africa/the Sahel, and the High North), and four of NATO’s operational domains.

It uses three specific case studies to underpin its recommendations on adapting to a climate changed future operating environment: the impact of extreme heat on NATO Mission Iraq; the effects of rising sea levels and storms on Norfolk Naval Station in the US; and those of flooding on the Naval Air Station in Sigonella, Italy.