The Foreign Service Journal, October 2021

40 OCTOBER 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL ership overseas. By taking advantage of this opportunity, we demonstrate the importance and impact of climate mitigation and adaptation. Perhaps no other foreign policy issue lends itself so readily to integrating policy and operational practice. As has been the case to date, our success will depend criti- cally on the 120 “Green Teams” in the field championing sus- tainable operations at posts around the world. Partnering with other countries and leveraging U.S. expertise in environmental technology and sustainable solutions will also be essential. The work will require mobilization across the department’s func- tional and regional bureaus, as well as support from dozens of internal and external experts, senior department officials and interagency partners. Reframing climate resilience—i.e., antici- pating and preparing for increasingly hazardous climate condi- tions—to be a top priority across our management platform and shifting our operations to meet climate change mitigation goals will be a decadeslong process. A New Working Group To meet White House goals and ensure a coordinated approach, State assembled a new Climate and Sustainability Working Group to identify the best path forward. Established in March, the group contains representatives frommore than a dozen offices across multiple bureaus, including the bureaus of Administration, Overseas Buildings Operations, Information Resource Management and Diplomatic Security, as well as the six regional bureaus. Each year, climate resilience and sustainability goals and milestones will be articulated through two main plans. The Cli- mate Adaptation and Resilience Plan will identify how the State Department is adapting to the effects of climate change around the world and protecting its investments. The 2021 plan, the first since 2014, identifies five priority adaptation actions to improve our overall climate resilience. Over the next year, State will enhance resilience by improving the mobility of our workforce and services; assessing our emergency preparedness for climate-related disasters; building out the capacity to make data-informed decisions and assessments of our overseas cli- mate vulnerabilities; evaluating our supply chains for climate- related vulnerabilities; and working with host governments to improve local infrastructure. The Sustainability Plan spells out the department’s mitiga- tion goals and the actions being taken to meet them. State has published sustainability plans annually since 2010; however, our overseas operations have not previously been measured in a systematic way or had goals applied to them, in part due to the nature of operating in hundreds of different countries with varying policies, conditions and infrastructure. Moving for- ward, the department will set an ambitious agenda for meeting White House goals on energy, water, waste, buildings, fleet and procurement, including developing baselines for our overseas operations. Together, these actions will help us not only to improve the safety and security of our personnel, operations and facilities, but also to protect the investments of the American taxpayer, especially at overseas diplomatic posts. Building on Experience To be successful, the department must develop a climate- literate workforce, one that possesses foundational knowledge of climate change and an understanding of how everyday actions affect and are affected by climate change. We are not starting from scratch. For more than a decade, the GDI has provided sustainability guidance and led depart- mentwide efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, implement energy and water efficiency, waste reduction technologies and programs, and engage with host nations and the private sector on sustainability. Spearheaded by commit- ted and knowledgeable Foreign Service officers and specialists, eligible family members (EFMs) and locally employed (LE) staff, the “Green Teams” at embassies and consulates around the world volunteer their time to create specific eco-diplomacy and sustainability goals to align with their location’s particular needs, making our diplomatic posts exemplars for sustainable and resilient operations. Since 2009, Green Teams have logged more than 300 success stories as a testament to their ongoing efforts. In Cape Town, a team helped drive a conservation campaign that success- fully reduced their water consumption by 70 percent during a yearslong drought. The Bangkok Green Team instituted a “Turn It Off” campaign that reduced their embassy’s electricity usage by 13 percent over a three-month period. Green Teams are also responsible for implementing more than 30 Resilience Innova- Since 2009, Green Teams have logged more than 300 success stories as a testament to their ongoing efforts.