The relationship between conflict, environmental degradation, and natural resources is complex and influences national security, state fragility, and can exacerbate geopolitical tensions. With the effects of climate change intensifying, there is growing recognition of the importance of integrating an environmental lens into security studies. This event series seeks to enhance student’s understanding of the nexus between security and the environment as well as foster relationship building between students and leading experts. Over the course of the series, experts will speak about: mineral supply chains and U.S. national security, water security, and the gender impact of climate change urbanization/migration.
Part III: The Gendered Impact of Climate Change
November 4, 2021
Watch recording here
Part 3 of the GW's Elliott School of International Affairs Security Policy Studies (SPS) Student Board's Environmental Security Thought Leadership Series on The Gendered Impact of Climate Change was an hour long roundtable with panelists Dr. Tegan Blaine (USIP), Lauren Herzer Risi (Wilson Center), and Jennifer Grosman Fernandez (GIWPS), facilitated by Allison Shane. The seminar explored the intersecting challenges climate change poses to security, development, natural resource management, migration, and the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). The three environmental and gender security practitioners discussed their experiences working with women in conflict-affected regions, USAID’s strategy and investment for its climate work in Africa, and the challenges climate change poses for nations’ natural resource management.
Dr. Tegan Blaine is the Senior Advisor on Environment and Conflict at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Prior to joining USIP, she led the climate change team in USAID’s Bureau for Africa for over a decade, where she developed USAID’s strategy and investment plan for its climate change work in Africa, and built and led a team that provided thought leadership and technical support to USAID’s Africa missions. Dr. Blaine has a doctorate in oceanography and climate from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and bachelor’s degrees in comparative literature and mathematical ecology from Brown University. She has taught about climate change and international development at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.
Lauren Herzer Risi is the Program Director of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Wilson Center, where she works with policymakers, practitioners, donors, and researchers to generate innovative, transdisciplinary solutions to development and security challenges related to environmental change and natural resource management. Lauren holds a master’s degree in environmental security and peace from the UN-mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica.
Jennifer Grosman Fernandez serves as Climate Diplomacy and Gender Specialist at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. She focuses on the climate-gender-conflict nexus including opportunities to leverage international frameworks to address these issues and best methods to empower women peacebuilders at the grassroots. Previously, Jennifer has worked with the U.S. Department of State Office of Global Change, the UNFCCC Gender Team, and the UN Foundation. She received her MS from Georgetown University's Foreign Service program and holds a BA from the University of Washington in International Studies.
Resources circulated during roundtable:
GIWPS, The Climate-Gender-Conflict Nexus
GIWPS, WPS Index
USIP, Navigating Land Rights in the Transition to Green Energy
USIP, Can the World Go Green Without Destabilizing Oil Pumping Nations?
New Security Beat, The Biden-Harris Administration Releases A (Nearly) Whole-of-Government Response to Climate Security
Lawfare, Latest in Climate Change and Security
Department of Defense, Climate Risk Analysis (2021)
White House, The Report on the Impact of Climate Change on Migration
Office of the Director of National Intelligence, National Intelligence Estimate on Climate Change
Department of Homeland Security, Strategic Framework to Address Climate Change
Part II: Global Water Security
October 7, 2021, Moderated by Jocelyn Trainer
Watch recording here
Availability and access to water are becoming increasingly uncertain in regions around the world due to climate change. A country is water-secure when it has sufficient clean and affordable water for livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development. Insufficient access to water can act as a threat multiplier and increase the levels of energy scarcity, food insecurity, violent conflicts, and transboundary water disputes. In Africa and the Middle East, one of the regions most affected by climate change, violent extremist groups have weaponized water to achieve political and military goals. By 2012, U.S. policymakers began accounting for climate change and water security within national security, development, and economic needs in the future. If properly managed, water can provide a path toward regional stability and cooperation.
Lynette de Silva co-directors the Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation, at Oregon State University. She teaches courses in water resources management; and transforming water conflicts. She has acted as a consultant to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), offering training to senior water professionals. Over the past 20 years, she has worked in areas emphasizing water resources and land management practices. In 2019, de Silva co-authored the book entitled, “Resolving Environmental Conflicts: Principles and Concepts,” the third edition, through CRC Taylor and Francis Publishers. And, a new book edited by de Silva and Maser, comes out this November, also through CRC Taylor and Francis Publishers, entitled, “Resolving Water Conflicts Workbook”.
Dr. Peter H. Gleick is co-founder and president emeritus of the Pacific Institute in California, an independent research institute creating and advancing solutions to global water problems. Gleick is one of the world’s leading experts on freshwater resources and a hydroclimatologist focused on climate change, water and conflict, and the human right to water – work used by the UN and in human rights court cases. He pioneered the concepts of the “soft path for water” and “peak water” and has worked extensively on issues related to water and international security, including developing the Water Conflict Chronology, the comprehensive database of violence associated with freshwater resources and systems. Gleick is a MacArthur Fellow, member of the US National Academy of Sciences, and winner of the 2018 Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization. He has a BS from Yale University, MS/PhD. from the University of California Berkeley. He is author of many scientific papers and thirteen books, including The World’s Water series, Bottled and Sold, and A 21st Century US Water Policy.
Marcus D. King is John O. Rankin Associate Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Elliott School's Master of Arts in International Affairs Program. He joined the Elliott School in 2011 from the research staff of CNA Corporation’s Center for Naval Analyses where he directed studies on security, resilience, and adaptation aspects of climate change. During the Clinton Administration, he held Presidential appointments in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he represented the United States for negotiation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Dr. King is a member of the Center for Climate and Security’s Advisory Board. His present research focuses on identifying ties between water scarcity and large-scale violence. King received a PhD from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. His most recent publications include Water and Conflict in the Middle East, Water Stress Instability and Violent Extremism in Nigeria, and The Weaponization of Water in Iraq and Syria.