WASHINGTON, June 19, 2020: The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is pleased to announce the launch of the Climate Smart Foreign Policy project. This initiative will establish a new platform to analyze the relationship between climate change and foreign policy and identify new opportunities for the United States to advance its interests through climate leadership and international engagement.
“Climate change is one of the most important policy challenges we face this century,” said Dr. John J. Hamre, CSIS president and CEO. “Solving this problem requires global participation and innovative solutions. This initiative will generate pathways for more effective U.S. leadership and multilateral coordination.”
Over the next year, the project will produce a series of workshops and reports on trade, security, data, foreign policy, and energy with recommendations for policymakers worldwide. It will focus on three main concepts: (1) making climate change a priority for policymakers outside the energy and environmental community; (2) mobilizing consistent U.S. engagement; and (3) restoring faith in multilateral institutions and global cooperation.
“Dealing with climate change at home and around the world is squarely within the U.S. national interest,” said Sarah Ladislaw, senior vice president and director of the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program. “By adopting new and innovative approaches to global engagement on climate change, the United States can build new strategic opportunities for itself while working to build global resilience to the climate challenges we will continue to face.”
Climate change is changing nearly all aspects of domestic and foreign policymaking, from security to trade; development to global health; food security to energy; and nearly all multilateral and bilateral relationships. In order to slow, or even reverse, the trend of global climate change, the world needs to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 while also preparing for the unavoidable impacts of a changing climate. By engaging more deeply and taking a more consistent leadership role, the United States can both make the world safer and create new economic opportunities.
To learn more about the initiative, watch a new video in which CSIS experts explain how climate change affects their area of study. This project is made possible by support from the Hewlett Foundation.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s greatest challenges.