Water @ Wilson Series Launch: Water, Peace, & Security: New Tools for a New Climate

Dec 6, 2022 | Wilson Center
Washington, DC
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Every day, the headlines make it clear: A rapidly changing climate and shifting demographics mean the future of water resource management may not look like the past. Water is critical. It grows our food, generates our energy, sustains our ecosystems, and ensures our prosperity. Without tackling water insecurity, we cannot address the myriad challenges that stand in the way of building healthy, prosperous, and peaceful communities. On December 6, the Wilson Center will launch a series of events focused on the centrality of water to global prosperity and security. Featuring emerging research, leading thinkers and doers from governments, the private sector, civil society, and academia, the series will explore entry points for more effective responses to global water insecurity from around the world and across sectors.

To kick off the series, the Wilson Center is partnering with the Water, Peace and Security (WPS) partnership to feature transdisciplinary approaches to preventing water-related security risks. As climate change compounds insecurity in new and dynamic ways, the tools we use to prevent and respond to insecurity must also evolve. Join us on December 6th for the launch of the WPS partnership’s early warning tool for conflict, which allows policy makers to anticipate conflict relating to water, food, and energy up to 12 months in advance, creating space for preventive action, and a framework developed by the Wilson Center and NOAA to improve predictive capabilities for climate security risks.

Agenda

Welcome

  • Lauren Herzer Risi, Program Director, Environmental Change & Security Program, Wilson Center

Keynote Remarks

  • Hon. Richard W. Spinrad, PhD., Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator

WPS Tool Launch

  • Alyssa Offutt, WPS Global Capacity Development Lead and Doctoral Candidate, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education
  • Kitty van der Heijden, Director-General International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands

WPS Tool Demonstration

  • Samantha Kuzma, Acting Aqueduct Director, World Resources Institute

"Early Warning Systems for All"

  • Roger Pulwarty, Senior Scientist, Physical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • Alyssa Offutt, WPS Global Capacity Development Lead and Doctoral Candidate, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education
  • Sara Hayat, Lawyer/Climate Change Specialist, Climate Change, Sustainability & Resilience Consultants
  • Moderator: Hon. Sharon Burke, President, Ecospherics; Global Fellow, Wilson Center

Fireside Chat on US Water Policy

  • (Invited) Stephanie Epner, Special Advisor and Acting Senior Director for Climate and Energy, National Security Council, The White House
  • In conversation with Sherri Goodman, Global Fellow, Wilson Center

Event Concludes