From 20 to 23 March 2024, the Fulbright Commission in Brussels facilitated the participation of 25 current American Fulbrighters and 25 European alumni of EU-funded exchange programs in the 2024 EU-US Young Leaders Seminar on the Security Implications of Climate Change.
The event marked the seventh iteration of the EU-US Young Leaders Seminar, which was first held in April 2017. The initiative, jointly funded by the European Union and the United States, provides a unique opportunity to discuss some of the most important global challenges and the creation of strong transatlantic people-to-people connections. Since its inception, over 300 alumni of U.S. and EU-funded educational exchange programs have participated in Young Leaders Seminars dedicated to topics such as migration, the future of work, disinformation and media literacy, the future of cities, and the future of democracy.
The seminar is co-organized by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, the U.S. Department of State, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Fulbright Commission in Brussels, and the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission.
Seminar highlights
With global warming events and escalating armed conflicts worldwide, the theme “The Security Implications of Climate Change” could not have been more pertinent. Opening keynote speakers included Normunds Popens (Deputy Director-General, DG EAC), Tony Agotha (Special Envoy for Climate and Environment, EEAS), and Greg Pollock (Principal Director for Arctic and Global Resilience, U.S. Department of Defense). Each emphasised the importance of leadership and for a new generation of young leaders to tackle the threats posed by climate change to global security.
The seven discussion panels started with a scene setter opened by Caroline Edery (Head of Unit, DG CLIMA), Greg Pollock, and Katarina Kertysova (Policy Officer Climate and Energy Security Section, NATO). Joanna Darmanin (Head of Unit on Humanitarian Aid Thematic Policies, DG ECHO) and Benjamin Pohl (Head of Programme Climate Diplomacy and Security, Adelphi) presented on how climate change will exacerbate demands on the humanitarian aid sector. Shawn Milrad (Associate Professor, Meteorology, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) provided a sobering account of current global warming trends and their direct environmental consequences.
Christoph Deuster (Project Officer at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre), Tomas Ernst (Displacement and Development Advisor, International Organisation for Migration), and Kristin Alderman (Deputy Representative of the Population, Refugees, and Migration Bureau at the U.S. Mission to the EU) addressed the downstream security consequences of climate change on the involuntary displacement of people. They all conduct research on the implications of internal displacement and, in the case of the IoM, deal with the practical consequences of climate refugees and migration.
Robb Butler (Director of the Division for Communicable Diseases, Environment and Health, World Health Organisation) and Anne Stauffer (Deputy Director, Strategic Lead, Health and Environment Alliance) each presented their work on adapting to and mitigating multiple health emergencies, both chronic and acute. Both emphasized the need for universal outreach, as well as engaging with governments and civil society.
The second day of the seminar invited discussion on potential innovations. “What can be done, where, and by whom?” by Elena Visnar Malinovska (Head of Unit, DG CLIMA), together with Jean-Pascal van Ypersele (Chair, Energy and Climate Working Group, Federal Council for Sustainable Development), advanced the case for speeding up adaptation strategies.
Marc Barnett (Political Officer at the U.S. Mission to NATO) and Linsey Cottrell (Environmental Policy Officer, Conflict and Environmental Observatory) talked about military efforts to reduce and advocate for further reductions of their environmental footprint.
The discussion panels concluded with Swedish Member of Parliament Momodou Malcolm Jallow and Magda Boulabiza (Policy and Advocacy Advisor, Climate and Economic Justice at the European Network Against Racism) speaking on climate justice and the risk that people who have had minimal impact on climate change will disproportionately bear.
The seminar concluded with a training session on developing campaign narratives led by Fotis Filippou from Moblab Collective. Participants worked in groups to create their “Story of Change” and learn about the “Power of a Simple Message.”
During their closing remarks, Brian Glynn (Managing Director of the Americas, EEAS) and Aroosha Rana (Cultural Affairs Officer, U.S. Mission to the European Union) encouraged participants to carry the torch of leadership forward in the transatlantic partnership.
