Biodefence: Preparing for a new era of biological hazards and threats

12/10/2020 Policy Advice, Publication

This Biodefence Defence Assessment examines Defence’s role across the spectrum of biological hazards and threats facing New Zealand, including how the New Zealand Defence Force supports other government agencies’ biodefence activities. It also considers the context of the wider impacts of biological threats to the security of New Zealand and the wider Pacific in a changing strategic environment.

 

ISBN: 978-1-98-851518-2 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-98-851519-9 (Print)

Biodefence: Preparing for a new era of biological hazards and threats
pdf
7.3 MB
12 Oct 2020

As outlined in the follow-on November 2018 New Zealand Defence Assessment, The Climate Crisis: Defence Readiness and Responsibilities(external link), climate change will be one of the greatest global and regional security challenges in the coming decades. 

As an intensifying disruptor, climate change (alongside bio-technology and globalisation) will exacerbate the vectors for transmission of biological hazards and threats and their impacts across a range of areas, including conservation and biosecurity, and human health. The New Zealand Defence Force and counterparts around the world will be called upon more frequently to respond to biological hazards and threats.