Climate Change, Energy, and Maritime Security: Promoting the Dialogue

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) hosted Rear Admiral Philip Cullom, Director of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Readiness Division, and Rear Admiral David Titley, Oceanographer and Navigator of the U.S. Navy, for Climate Change, Energy, and Maritime Security: Promoting the Dialogue. This meeting was part of an ongoing study by CNAS of how the Department of Defense is incorporating concerns about global climate change into strategic planning. CNAS convened participants from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, and select outside experts to contribute to this discussion.

This summer, the Navy launched Task Force Climate Change (in addition to Task Force Energy, launched in April 2009) as a next step in studying the effects of climate change on maritime facilities, capabilities, and missions. The goal of this event will be to derive useful lessons regarding how this and past Navy efforts fit into broader strategic planning by the Navy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the U.S. government. In particular, the meeting focused on the ways in which the Navy is reconciling energy security and climate security and how both have shaped the Navy’s contribution to the QDR.