WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday joined Foreign Policy’s Virtual Climate Summit: Advancing the Global Dialogue on Climate Action for a solution-focused discussion on addressing climate change as a national security priority.

On why climate change is a national security threat, Murphy said: “[Climate change] is clearly a national security threat to the United States. First of all, our primary duty is to protect our democracy, and we saw how fragile it was just this January as thousands stormed the Capitol. Climate change robs people of the ability to be economically secure and successful as we have to devote more and more money to adaptation in the United States, as storms ravage the country, as our ability to produce goods shifts from certain parts of the United States to others. This is an economic security issue to the United States.”

Murphy continued: “It is, of course, a global security issue as well. And we have dozens of very discrete examples of how more extreme weather leads to greater political instability. Syria is the example that is most often cited in which what happened to lead to the fall of the Assad [regime’s control] was that the massive movement of people from the countryside from farming communities into crowded cities. The government was unable to provide resources with that number of people coming into the cities in such a short amount of time, ultimately it led to political instability. But the reason why people were fleeing the countryside and moving into the cities was because of a series of epic droughts in Syria that are no doubt connected to the changing climate.”

On the Biden administration’s actions to reclaim U.S. leadership in the fight against climate change, Murphy said: “[The Biden administration has] put climate front and center. They have telegraphed in a clear way to the world that if you want to be in business with the United States, if you want to be a friend and an ally, then you have to be meeting your climate goals. Now, we have to be able to not lead just with words, but with actions. And so the president's American Jobs Plan, which is a climate plan, is a big part of our ability to deliver on the promises we made in Paris, but also to be able to effectively push other countries to the table.”

On Congress’s role in implementing Biden’s climate agenda, Murphy said: “It's so important that we pass the American Jobs Plan, which includes, for instance, a massive expansion of electric vehicle usage in the United States in order to be able to lead internationally. And then we've got to do our best to try to make this bipartisan.”

On working across the aisle on climate, Murphy said: “I will tell you this is the most encouraging development in the United States over the last year is the increasing tendency for climate to be approached on a bipartisan basis. Last year, we passed a landmark new regulatory regime on HFCs. Five years ago, [it was] inconceivable we could have done that with Republicans…Every week, I have a new conversation with a Republican senator who I didn't think I could partner with on climate who now wants to come to the table. That kind of bipartisan consensus allows us to have more consistency in our policy, which allows countries to be more willing to do business with us on the issues connected to climate.”

On competition with China as it relates to global climate initiatives, Murphy said: “I do think that the lens through which we view this is increasingly competition with countries like China. There's going to be a country in the world that's going to dominate the future advanced battery market. Why shouldn't it be the United States? Why should we continue to cede leadership on the production of photovoltaics and wind turbines? And so I do think Republicans are coming to the table, in part, because they just see the tremendous lost opportunity when it comes to job impact in the United States.”

Earlier this month, Murphy introduced the United States Climate Leadership in International Mitigation, Adaptation, and Technology Enhancement Act of 2021 (U.S. CLIMATE Act) with U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). In March, Murphy along with U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), U.S. Representative David Cicilline (RI-01), and U.S. Representative Ami Bera (CA-07) proposed a $12 billion increase to the international affairs budget for Fiscal Year 2022 to better address America’s national security challenges. Investing in 21st Century Diplomacy called for the increased funding to be directed towards three specific challenges: (1) competing with China; (2) preparing for the next pandemic in a post COVID-19-era; and (3) fighting climate change. Murphy also penned an op-ed in Foreign Policy earlier this year making the case that America must reclaim global leadership in the fight against climate change.

You can watch Murphy’s full remarks here.

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