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Event

The Story Behind Climate Security and What it Means for US Foreign Policy

Date & Time

Tuesday
Oct. 1, 2024
10:30am – 12:00pm ET

Location

6th Floor Flom Auditorium, Woodrow Wilson Center
and Online

Overview

Across the globe, record-breaking heat waves, floods, and other climate stressors are eroding communities’ resilience, compounding conflict risks, and deepening inequality. In response, countries have committed to a global energy transition that could bring its own set of geopolitical risks. Understanding how climate change, conflict, and peace interact has therefore become a priority for countries and multilateral institutions, as reflected in the COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery, and Peace.  

Join the Wilson Center, in partnership with the Center for Climate & Security, on October 1 for a dialogue with climate security pioneer Sherri Goodman, environmental journalist Peter Schwartzstein, Middle East expert Merissa Khurma, and Anne Witkowsky, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, US Department of State, to unpack the impact of climate change on security risks around the globe, the evolution of US engagement on climate security, and opportunities to strengthen stability and build cooperation through climate action. The discussion will feature insights from two new books, Sherri Goodman’s Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership, and the Fight for Global Security and Peter Schwartzstein’s The Heat and the Fury: On the Frontlines of Climate Violence


Hosted By

Environmental Change and Security Program

The Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) explores the connections between environmental change, health, and population dynamics and their links to conflict, human insecurity, and foreign policy.  Read more

Africa Program

The Africa Program works to address the most critical issues facing Africa and US-Africa relations, build mutually beneficial US-Africa relations, and enhance knowledge and understanding about Africa in the United States. The Program achieves its mission through in-depth research and analyses, public discussion, working groups, and briefings that bring together policymakers, practitioners, and subject matter experts to analyze and offer practical options for tackling key challenges in Africa and in US-Africa relations.    Read more

Middle East Program

The Wilson Center’s Middle East Program serves as a crucial resource for the policymaking community and beyond, providing analyses and research that helps inform US foreign policymaking, stimulates public debate, and expands knowledge about issues in the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.  Read more

Polar Institute

Since its inception in 2017, the Polar Institute has become a premier forum for discussion and policy analysis of Arctic and Antarctic issues, and is known in Washington, DC and elsewhere as the Arctic Public Square. The Institute holistically studies the central policy issues facing these regions—with an emphasis on Arctic governance, climate change, economic development, scientific research, security, and Indigenous communities—and communicates trusted analysis to policymakers and other stakeholders.   Read more

Thank you for your interest in this event. Please send any feedback or questions to our Events staff.