Climate and Security in an Age of Great Global Disruption

Sherri Goodman

February 4, 2020 at 2:00 P.M. in the Pearl Young Theater
(video within Langley firewall only)

Abstract

What are the critical links between climate change and national security? How does increasing weather and water disruption affect great power competition? America’s national security community has been warning for over a decade that climate change is a growing danger to the security of the United States. It is a threat multiplier for instability in fragile regions of the world that now also dramatically affects our homeland. As the world’s population in vulnerable cities and coastlines increases, climate change also aggravates poverty, social tensions and health catastrophes, fueling a new generation of climate refugees that threaten political stability. As Arctic ice melts, competition for polar trade routes and newly available resources increases. Indeed, as weather disasters increase, military support of strapped local responders will become more needed. NASA’s research and earth observations are an important element in improving our preparation for climate risk and resilience.

Speaker

Sherri Goodman is an experienced leader in the fields of national security and environmental policy. She is credited with educating US military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, fundamentally reshaping national discourse. She is a Senior Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s Environmental Change & Security Program, and a Senior Strategist at the Center for Climate & Security. She was the President and CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership and served as the CNA Senior Vice President and General Counsel and as the founder and Executive Director of the CNA Military Advisory Board. Goodman served as the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense and has twice received the DOD medal for Distinguished Public Service and EPA’s Climate Change Award. Goodman serves on numerous scientific policy boards and she is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A graduate of Amherst College, she has degrees from Harvard Law School and the Kennedy School of Government.