Home » Posts tagged 'fellowship' (Page 2)
Tag Archives: fellowship
The First-Ever Climate Security Fellowship Summit
By Tom Ellison
From June 20-21, the Center for Climate and Security (CCS) gathered its 2023-2024 Climate Security Fellows in Washington, DC as a culmination of their ten-month program. During this first-ever Climate Security Fellowship Summit, attendees reflected on the program experience and had a chance to engage with distinguished panelists from Department of Defense (DoD) National Security Council (NSC), and State Department backgrounds, and heard career advice from former fellows and CCS staff who now occupy key diplomatic, defense, and peacebuilding roles. Fellows also had a chance to learn more about the Council on Strategic Risk’s other ecological, nuclear, and biological risk fellowships and socialize with the broader fellowship community.
From left to right: Climate Security Fellows Laura Leddy and Kelsey Harpham; former NSC Director for Resilience Nabeela Barbari; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment and Energy Resilience Richard Kidd IV; Climate Security Fellows Audrey Thill, Madeline Craig-Scheckman, and Nadia Seeteram; CCS Deputy Director Tom Ellison; and Climate Security Fellow Benjamin Huynh.
The Fellows represent backgrounds including security cooperation, water diplomacy, climate adaptation and resilience, public health, data science and international relations. From September 2023 through June 2024, participants worked through a curated climate security curriculum covering food and water security, conflict and instability, migration and justice, the energy transition, health, finance, military and intelligence services, strategic competition, and science communication. Fellows then participated in interdisciplinary seminars on each theme with CCS staff and distinguished experts, whose experiences span development, defense, diplomacy, intelligence analysis, climate science, academia, and the private sector (see below).
The Climate Security Fellowship supports a key element of CCS’s theory of change–cultivating a climate-strong national security workforce. As they conclude their fellowship, participants are better equipped to ask and answer the vexing, interdisciplinary questions posed by climate change for peace and security. Looking ahead, CCS aims to continue expanding and strengthening its fellowship programs and alumni community.
Thanks to the speakers and panelists who lent their time to the 2023-24 Climate Security Fellows:
- Alejandra Portillo-Taylor, Policy Advisor, International Committee of the Red Cross
- Alexandra Naegele, Research Scientist, Woodwell Climate Research Center
- Amali Tower: Founder, Climate Refugees and CCS Advisory Board Member
- Brigitte Hugh: Global Resilience Policy Advisor, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Arctic and Global Resilience
- Brittany Croll: Senior Program Officer, US Institute of Peace (USIP)
- Christina Chan: Senior Director, BRAC Climate Hub and former Managing Director for Adaptation, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC)
- Cullen Hendrix: CCS Non-Resident Fellow and Peterson Institute for International Economics Senior Fellow
- Esther Sperling: Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense, Acquisitions and Sustainment
- John Conger: CCS Director Emeritus and Senior Advisor, former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
- Josh Busby: Professor, University of Texas-Austin and former DOD Senior Advisor for Climate
- Julia Duncan: Global Director for Development Finance, Bayer
- Kate Guy: Managing Director for Climate Security and Cross Cutting Issues, SPEC
- Marcus King: Professor of Practice and Director, Master of Science in Environment and International Affairs, Georgetown University and CCS Advisory Board Member
- Nabeela N. Barbari: Executive Vice President, OTH Solutions and former NSC Director for Resilience
- Richard G Kidd: CCS Advisory Board Member and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment and Energy Resilience
- Scott Moore: Director of China Programs and Strategic Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania
- Sherri Goodman: CSR Board Chair and International Military Council on Climate and Security Secretary General
- Tegan Blaine: Director of Climate, Environment and Conflict, USIP
- Zoran Mihailovich: Intelligence Community
BRIEFER: Litio 2040: Sustainably Developing Mexico’s Lithium from Ground to Grid
By Keith Lema, Ecological Security Fellow
Note: This briefer was drafted prior to the June 2024 Presidential Election in Mexico. The views expressed are the author’s own and not necessarily those of the U.S. Government
Executive Summary
In recent years, Mexico’s outgoing President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), has sought to develop lithium resources in the state of Sonora. AMLO and many Mexican policymakers hope to leverage lithium to profit from the rapidly growing value chain of clean energy minerals and technology. Lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles, and other clean energy technologies are attracting skyrocketing sums of capital. Global clean energy investment surpassed investment for fossil fuels in 2016 and by 2023, clean energy investment exceeded that for fossil fuels by over half a trillion dollars.1 This precipitous increase means that Mexico’s lithium reserves may become a crucial asset. However, to harness this resource responsibly, the nation must navigate the delicate balance between economic development and ecological security concerns.
Monetizing this resource is more complex than some Mexican policymakers would hope. Three issues should give Mexican policymakers pause. First, unregulated lithium mining can threaten local ecosystems through pollution and water loss. Second, drug cartels have a track record of co-opting other natural resources in Mexico to diversify their revenue streams. Thus, the potential wealth of lithium production could create security risks for Sonoran residents or workers operating lithium mines. Third, it will take a long time to produce lithium at commercial scale. There are significant economic risks that mining projects could fail to become cost-competitive. If Mexico and Sonoran residents face some ecological damage as a cost of lithium extraction, they should at least have a clear path to shared economic benefits. With a consequential Presidential Election in 2024, now is the time for Mexican political leaders to carefully analyze their options regarding lithium mining and ensure minimal damage to ecological security.
In this context, political leaders in Mexico and community leaders in Sonora should consider the following recommendations:
- Bring Lithium to the Public Square: A new president will be elected in June 2024. Both candidates should develop specific proposals for lithium development as part of a broader clean energy strategy and debate them.
- A Whole-of-Government Approach to Cartels: Cartel influence, violence, and corruption are transnational problems that Mexican leaders will still wrestle with in 2040. Stakeholders in Sonora’s lithium endowment must consider steps to thwart cartel efforts to profit from this critical mineral.
- Shared Benefits and Continual Stakeholder Consultation: Any future mining should adhere to international conventions for Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). Given the poor track record of mining companies in the region, Federal authorities should establish and maintain a monitoring system to analyze water quality and quantity in the local watershed.
CCS Welcomes 2023-2024 Class of the Climate and Security Fellowship
The Center for Climate and Security (CCS) is pleased to announce the 2023-2024 class of the Climate and Security Fellowship.
Extreme weather, food and energy crises, and global competition over clean energy are increasingly underscoring the security implications of climate change, prompting a recognition among U.S. policymakers that climate change must be at the center of U.S. national security and foreign policy. To meet this goal, there is a need for increased integration and capacity in the U.S. security and climate workforces. The Climate Security Fellowship creates a space for mid-career professionals to explore the impact of climate on security and security on climate while building a network of professionals working at this nexus.
The 2023-2024 class of 12 fellows comes from a diverse set of backgrounds and expertise critical to advancing a whole of society response to climate security risks. During their term, they will have opportunities to engage with expert speakers, discuss a syllabus of key climate security topics, and build relationships with the CCS network and one another. The CCS team looks forward to collaborating with them over the next nine months.
(more…)
Call for Applications: Climate Security Fellows 2023-2024
The Center for Climate and Security (CCS), an institute of the Council on Strategic Risks, is pleased to announce a call for applications for the 2023-2024 Climate Security Fellowship.
In the last few years, extreme weather, food and energy crises, and global competition over clean energy have underscored the security implications of climate change, prompting the Biden Administration to order climate change be placed at the center of U.S. national security and foreign policy. To meet this goal, there is a need for increased capacity on the part of the U.S. security and climate workforces to think and act more broadly and deeply on climate security. The Climate Security Fellowship creates a space for mid-career professionals to explore the impact of climate on security and security on climate while building a network of professionals working at this nexus.
The Climate Security Fellowship will run for nine months (September 2023–May 2024) with one two-hour meeting each month, held virtually. Meetings will involve outside speakers, reading, and group discussion exploring different aspects of climate security such as climate finance, food and water security, military and intelligence services, and strategic competition.
(more…)