Association of Climate Change Officers: Climate Change Leadership Series: Defense, National Security and Climate Change Workshop

U.S. defense and intelligence communities are increasingly focusing resources on the operational and national security implications of climate change, water and energy. With the most recent quadrennial report identifying climate change as a global destabilizing force for the first time, an intelligence community assessment related global water security, Executive Order 13514 on sustainability across the Federal agencies, and an uncertain and unstable energy market, the challenges before American defense and national security communities to address water, energy and extreme events related risks and opportunities, as well as establish a leaner, more effective operational force in a down economy.

▪ Hear insights from senior Federal officials in the Department of Defense, intelligence organizations and other Federal agencies on existing mandates, operational strategies and opportunities for collaboration

▪ Participate in roundtable sessions with peers across sectors on topics including:

▪ Exploring strategies for addressing water problems (shortages, quality and extreme events) and conducting related vulnerability assessments,

▪ Developing clean energy infrastructure throughout installations and forward operations,

▪ Identifying new technologies for usage in the theater and in U.S. installations,

▪ Overcoming barriers to modernizing facilities management and green design in defense installations,

▪ Operationalizing supply chain programs and modernizing procurement paradigms

▪ Examine implications of the recent Global Water Security assessment, Executive Order 13514, and other recent Congressional and Executive mandates on Department of Defense operations and the national security community

High-powered speaker lineup includes:

• Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont)

• Honorable Sharon E. BurkeAssistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs, U.S. Department of Defense

• Addison (Tad) Davis, IV Command Executive Officer, U.S. Army Reserve Command

• Dr. Dorothy Robyn, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (I&E), U.S. Department of Defense

• Jonathan Pershing, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change, U.S. Department of State

• Michael Aimone – Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Installations & Environment), U.S. Department of Defense

• Esther McClure – Arctic, Energy & Environmental Policy Analyst, Strategy Office, OSD Policy, U.S. Department of Defense

• Michael Werz – Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

• Rebecca Ranich – Principal, Energy and Resource Management, Deloitte Consulting LLP

• MajGen Richard Engel (ret.) – Director, Climate Change and State Stability Program, National Intelligence Council

• Courtney St. John – Climate Change Affairs Officer, Task Force Climate Change, U.S. Navy

• James Kohlhaas – Vice President, Energy Strategy, SAIC