U.S., European Experts Analyze Climate's Security Links at Wilson Center

Feb. 17, 2009

WASHINGTON , Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Climate change is now widely framed as a potential security threat, and scientists and policymakers are examining its links to water scarcity, agricultural productivity, and human migration. Will climate change prove to be a "threat multiplier" and push fragile states to become failed states, increase the frequency of humanitarian missions for security actors, and create new sparring over competing sovereignty claims in the melting Arctic?

On February 19 at the Wilson Center, three U.S. and European experts will share their efforts to assess and address potential security impacts of the climate crisis:

Nick Mabey , chief executive of the UK-based E3G, has worked in the UK Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, the Foreign Commonwealth Office, and WWF-UK. His recent climate security work includes Delivering Climate Security: International Security Responses to a Climate Changed World: http://www.rusi.org/publication/whitehall/ref:I480E2C638B3BC/

Clionadh Raleigh, a lecturer in the department of political science at Trinity College Dublin and a researcher with the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo , will draw upon her co-authored article "Climate Change, Demography, Environmental Degradation, and Armed Conflict": http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/pubs/ECSPReport13_RaleighUrdal.pdf

Sharon Burke , a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), has designed and run a series of dynamic climate change and security simulations. Previously, Burke worked at the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the Office of Technology Assessment. She is co-author of A Strategy for American Power: Energy, Climate, and National Security: http://www.cnas.org/node/119

RSVP/Watch Live Webcast: http://tinyurl.com/custer

What: Climate Security Roundtable: U.S. and EU Research and Policy

Who:

Nick Mabey , Chief Executive, E3G

Clionadh Raleigh, Lecturer, Trinity College Dublin

Sharon Burke , Senior Fellow, CNAS

When: Thursday, February 19 , Noon - 2:00 p.m.

Where:

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 5th Floor Conference Room

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Media planning to cover the event should contact Sharon McCarter at [email protected] or (202) 691-4016.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the living, national memorial to President Wilson established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is a nonpartisan institution, supported by public and private funds, engaged in the study of national and world affairs. http://www.wilsoncenter.org

Since 1994, the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program has explored the connections among environmental challenges and their links to conflict and security. http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ecsp

Sharon McCarter , Outreach and Communications

Phone: (202) 691-4016

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

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