Lance Clark, a former Ambassador of the United Nations with 35 years of experience in international work, is scheduled to speak at Clarkson University on September 12, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Student Center Multi-purpose Rooms. The talk is titled “Climate Change—A Top National Security Threat”.
Clark says most of the talk about climate change, and about the need to curb global warming, doesn’t acknowledge the “elephant in the room,” the threat to national security. When people talk about climate change, they usually only speak about the environmental, economic, and health aspects. Meanwhile, most of us don’t recognize and act on a key part of climate change – the major security threats that climate change is bringing to our country and to our world.
However, the people we entrust with our national security – our military, intelligence, homeland security, and other experts – clearly see these security threats coming from climate change.
We need to recognize and learn more about these threats. And we need to use this information as a powerful tool to drive urgent action to curb climate change. The topic of “Climate Change and National Security” can provide a new and compelling look at climate change, especially for those still on the fence regarding climate change. It can also help us press our political leaders to do the right things to fight climate change for the safety and security of our country,” Clark says.
Clark will talk about the various ways that climate change is making our world a more dangerous place by increasing the probability and scale of violent conflicts, and what we can do about it. He will also screen sections of the film “The Age of Consequences”.
As a former UN and non-governmental organization official, Clark focused his work on emergency relief in conflicts, forcible displacements, early warning of conflicts, and peace operations and peacebuilding. This includes working in places such as Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Rwanda, Iraq, Chechnya, Georgia (former USSR), Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, and other countries. He has served in the United Nations, the Refugee Policy Group, Save the Children, the International Rescue Committee, and the Peace Corps. He has a BA degree in History from Johns Hopkins University and a Masters in Social Psychology from Cornell University. He and his wife Nancy now live in Hague, New York.
Clarkson University educates the leaders of the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as an owner, CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. With its main campus located in Potsdam, N.Y., and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region, Beacon, N.Y., and New York City, Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university with signature areas of academic excellence and research directed toward the world’s pressing issues. Through more than 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, education, sciences and the health professions, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations, and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and innovation with enterprise.