The Center for Climate and Security is a solutions-oriented, bridge-building research institute focused on tackling systemic climate and ecological security risks. We break down silos across disciplines to ensure climate change considerations are integrated into security policies and security concerns are integrated into climate policy, both in the United States and countries around the globe. We facilitate interdisciplinary policy development, conduct groundbreaking research and analysis, and host resources and communities of practice on the intersection of climate change and security challenges.
Lines Of Effort
- Research and Analysis: We conduct forward-leaning research and publish analysis to examine the impact of climate change on a range of national and international security issues. Our policy-relevant research seeks to translate between disciplinary divides, including on how climate change is exacerbating conflict risk; compounding food, water, and human insecurity; straining institutions, and reshaping geopolitics.
- Policy Engagement: We develop policies for governments and other stakeholders to better address the climate-security nexus, educate policymakers, and track implementation. We convene and engage policymakers and practitioners publicly and privately for discussions, events, and tabletop exercises. We are pragmatic without losing sight of the transformative changes required by climate change.
- Professional Community Development: We offer training, host resources, and cultivate professional communities and networks to develop the security workforce required by a changing climate. These include the Climate Security Working Group (a network of US academics, government officials, NGO analysts, and others), the International Military Council on Climate and Security (an international consortium of security institutions and leaders), and fellowship programs for young people in climate and ecological security. We also act as a resource hub for key climate security documents from governments and international institutions.
The Center for Climate and Security is a non-partisan institute of the Council on Strategic Risks, a non-profit organization. It was founded in 2010 by Francesco Femia and Caitlin Werrell.
Website: For more, visit the Center for Climate and Security website.
Team: See the Center for Climate and Security team here.
Featured Projects and Initiatives
The Military Responses to Climate Hazards Tracker (MiRCH)
Tracking the deployment of military and paramilitary personnel and equipment in response to natural hazards exacerbated by climate change, worldwide.
Feeding Resilience: Food Security and Climate Change Impacts on National Security
Framed under the twin premises that international stability is foundational to U.S. national security and that food security is foundational to stability.
Climate Risks: Fusing Security, Science, and Storytelling
CCS has partnered with scientists at the Woodwell Climate Research Center and regional experts to examine climate security risks in key locations.
Recent content from CCS
For a full list of CCS content, see here.
- 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. The 2023-2024 class of 12 fellows comes from a diverse set of backgrounds and 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. - August 2023 Update: Military Responses to Climate Hazards (MiRCH) Tracker
In August 2023, the Military Responses to Climate Hazards (MiRCH) tracker identified 19 countries in which militaries were deployed in response to climate hazards, often multiple times to different regions and types of hazard. The tracker identified 35 incidents total. - New Analysis of Climate Security Risks in Iran and Türkiye
As extreme weather this summer shows, no place is immune from climate change’s impact on the interconnected natural and human systems that underpin stability and security. - Ecological Risk in a Future Southeast Asia: An Ecological Security Policy Game
The results of this exercise show that loss of ecosystem functions and services—and the acceleration of climate change—may contribute to resource scarcity, food insecurity, economic fragility, community displacement, societal unrest, political instability, civil conflict and increased authoritarianism. - CCS Input on the First National Nature Assessment
CCS broadly supports the themes and framework proposed in the draft prospectus. The themes and cross cutting areas woven throughout them all intersect with the national security of the United States and, in particular, climate and ecological security.