Austin names new DOD chief sustainability officer

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has named his senior climate adviser, Joe Bryan, as the Pentagon's new chief sustainability officer.

Bryan, whose previous title was “senior adviser to the secretary on climate,” is being “redesignated” as the CSO in keeping with a presidential executive order requiring the Defense Department to name a CSO with the “authority to implement sustainability requirements and the responsibility to report to the White House on agency progress,” according to the Pentagon.

“Though the assistant secretary of defense for sustainment was initially designated the CSO last spring, this change is being made due to the efforts required to meet existing and emerging sustainability objectives and the priority this issue holds for the administration and the department,” the Pentagon said. “As CSO, Mr. Bryan will report directly to the secretary and the deputy secretary and will represent the department on sustainability-related matters within the department and in the interagency.”