National leaders gather at NPS to problem-solve climate change issues - Monterey Herald
National leaders gather at NPS to problem-solve climate change issues - Monterey Herald
The Naval Postgraduate School hosted a two-day Department of the Navy Climate Tabletop Exercise last week to tackle climate and sustainability initiatives.
The event – held April 27-28 – was the department’s second climate tabletop exercise and was held in partnership with the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. The Naval Postgraduate School signed an education partnership agreement with the school in December in an effort to tackle climate change.
Through the partnership, NPS students and faculty learn and work alongside Stanford students and faculty to research solutions to climate change and energy security issues.
“Building solutions to the challenges of climate change depends on turning knowledge and innovation into impactful solutions,” said Dr. Arun Majumdar, dean of the Doerr School of Sustainability. “This tabletop exercise – along with the broader collaboration between Stanford University and the U.S. Navy – allows us to identify the connections and gaps in our knowledge. It then provides a forum for taking this wealth of insights, data, and information and laying the groundwork for solutions that make a difference.”
The Navy held its first Climate Tabletop Exercise in Washington, D.C. in June 2022 where it examined the impacts of climate change on Navy and Marine Corps missions, readiness and warfighting capacity.
Last week’s event brought together participants from the Department of Defense, federal agencies, Congress, think tanks, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to come up with solutions and initiatives in support of the Department of the Navy’s climate strategy, Climate Action 2030.
Targets and goals included in the Navy’s Climate Action 2030 strategy mention reducing emissions, reducing energy demand, increasing carbon pollution-free electricity and utilizing proper training and equipment needed to operate in a more volatile climate future.
During the two-day event, participants focused on water security, energy security and coastal resilience. Participants were assigned to two teams per focus area and each team worked to identify problem areas, challenges and specific solutions.
Results were briefed to senior leaders from participating agencies. All team members agreed that deeper resolve, commitment to action and further collaboration was necessary in order to tackle climate change.
Each team also emphasized the need to lower barriers to establish and strengthen partnerships between the Department of Defense, industry, academia and civic leaders to combine talents and resources and protect communities.
The senior evaluation group committed to supporting these efforts among other solutions identified during the exercise. The Naval School committed to coordinating a plan of action 90 days after the conclusion of the exercise in order to accomplish the solutions proposed during the event.
Those solutions included: establishing a partnership between the Department of the Navy and the Port of San Diego to share data and testing to improve climate resilience; ensure installations have necessary personnel to develop, manage and advance water policies as well as view water as a shared resource; and develop a master plan that directly connects climate risk with readiness and mission assurance.
“The direction we have received from the President and our nation’s defense leadership is clear – climate action is a national security imperative,” said NPS President and retired Vice Adm. Ann Rondeau. “Our future Navy and Marine Corps warfighters must be prepared to address and account for the effects of climate change in their operational planning. Here at NPS, we are proud to work with the Doerr School of Sustainability to address these challenges and seek out climate solutions that will benefit not only the Department of the Navy, but our nation as a whole.”
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”