Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics
Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics
About the Program

The Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program explores how climate change and the responses to it are changing international politics, global governance, and world security. Our work covers topics from the geopolitical implications of decarbonization and environmental breakdown to the challenge of building out clean energy supply chains, alternative protein options, and other challenges of a warming planet.

Projects

The U.S. Foreign Policy for Clean Energy Taskforce

Clean energy and associated products are increasingly essential for the security and prosperity of the United States. But if the United States is to decarbonize its own economy and do its part to cut global emissions to net zero, it will have to effect change beyond its borders.

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Program experts

Bentley Allan

Nonresident Scholar, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program

Katie Auth

Nonresident Scholar, Africa Program

Dan Baer

Senior Vice President for Policy Research, Director, Europe Program

Susan Crawford

Susan Crawford

Senior Fellow, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program

Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar

President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Kelly S. Gallagher

Nonresident Scholar, Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program

Liliana Gamboa

Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie California; Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program

Noah Gordon

Fellow, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program, Fellow, Europe Program

John Kerry

John Kerry

Nonresident Scholar, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program

Sarah Labowitz

Nonresident Scholar, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program

Olivia Lazard

Fellow, Carnegie Europe

Leonardo Martinez-Diaz

Senior Fellow and Director, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program

Jessica Tuchman Mathews

Distinguished Fellow

Milo McBride

Fellow, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program

Satyendra Prasad

Nonresident Senior Fellow, South Asia Program, Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program

Brett Rosenberg

Nonresident Scholar, American Statecraft Program

Anirudh Suri

Nonresident Scholar, Technology and Society Program

Katie Tobin

Nonresident Scholar, American Statecraft Program

Zainab Usman

Senior Fellow and Director, Africa Program

Richard Youngs

Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program

What’s New

What’s New

A hurricane from space
article
Disaster Dollar Database

The rising pace and cost of disasters is cause for alarm, both because of the likelihood of major disruption in so many people’s lives, and because of the potential for systemic failures in the housing and insurance markets that could lead to wider, global economic shocks.

Advanced Orange Industrial Robot Arms Assemble EV Battery Pack on Automated Production Line
paper
Winning the Battery Race: How the United States Can Leapfrog China to Dominate Next-Generation Battery Technologies

The United States battery industry has fallen dangerously behind the global leaders. The main thrust of the U.S. policy response to the battery crisis must be the urgent commercialization of next-generation technologies where the United States can actually enjoy a competitive advantage.

Featured Content

Featured Content

In Case You Missed It

In Case You Missed It

Coffee beans fall off a man's hand and into a big bag of beans
commentary
What the Cobalt Industry Can Learn From Coffee Producers

Policymakers and industry leaders should look to the grocery store for inspiration in regulating the critical mineral industry.

  • Stephen Lezak
Coffee beans fall off a man's hand and into a big bag of beans
commentary
What the Cobalt Industry Can Learn From Coffee Producers

Policymakers and industry leaders should look to the grocery store for inspiration in regulating the critical mineral industry.

  • Stephen Lezak
An aerial view of people standing near destroyed and damaged buildings in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene flooding on October 8, 2024 in Bat Cave, North Carolina.
article
Adaptation Through Shock

Climate shocks, such as recent, devastating Hurricanes Helene and Milton, open windows when the disaster recovery system can encourage and support adaptation to new climate realities.

An aerial view of people standing near destroyed and damaged buildings in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene flooding on October 8, 2024 in Bat Cave, North Carolina.
article
Adaptation Through Shock

Climate shocks, such as recent, devastating Hurricanes Helene and Milton, open windows when the disaster recovery system can encourage and support adaptation to new climate realities.

Ford Motor Company's electric F-150 Lightning on the production line at their Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan on September 8, 2022.
paper
Catching Up or Leaping Ahead? How Energy Innovation Can Secure U.S. Industrial Stature in a Net-Zero World

Chinese companies are dominating the production of technologies essential for a clean energy future. The United States should embrace innovation to preserve its future energy security.

Ford Motor Company's electric F-150 Lightning on the production line at their Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan on September 8, 2022.
paper
Catching Up or Leaping Ahead? How Energy Innovation Can Secure U.S. Industrial Stature in a Net-Zero World

Chinese companies are dominating the production of technologies essential for a clean energy future. The United States should embrace innovation to preserve its future energy security.

About Us

Climate Support Staff

About Us

Climate Support Staff

Aislinn Familetti

Program Coordinator, South Asia and Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Programs

Debbra Goh

James C. Gaither Junior Fellow, Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program

Debbra Goh is a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow in the Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program.

Daniel Helmeci

Research Assistant, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program

Daniel Helmeci is a research assistant in the Carnegie Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program.

Daevan Mangalmurti

James C. Gaither Junior Fellow, Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program

Daevan Mangalmurti is a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow in the Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program.

Aislinn Familetti

Program Coordinator, South Asia and Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Programs

Debbra Goh

James C. Gaither Junior Fellow, Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program

Debbra Goh is a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow in the Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program.

Daniel Helmeci

Research Assistant, Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program

Daniel Helmeci is a research assistant in the Carnegie Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program.

Daevan Mangalmurti

James C. Gaither Junior Fellow, Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program

Daevan Mangalmurti is a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow in the Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program.

All work from Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics

filters
523 Results
(From 3rd L to R) Tanzania Vice-President Philip Isdor Mpango, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi, US President Joe Biden, Angola President Joao Lourenco, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema attend the Lobito Corridor Trans-Africa Summit at the Carrinho Food Processing Factory near Benguela on December 4, 2024.
paper
What Private Capital Cannot Do Alone: The Future of Global Infrastructure Development

For Global South governments to treat the United States as a credible partner in their economic development plans, U.S. policymakers must tackle the macroeconomic and structural constraints that kneecap the overall goals of sustainable development.

  • Advait Arun
· December 20, 2024
Photo of windmill energy farm in Oaxaca, Mexico.
article
Toward a Cleaner, Smarter USMCA

Renewal negotiations offer the best—maybe the only—path to strengthening North America's clean energy supply chain.

  • Headshot of C.J. Mahoney in front of a U.S. flag.
· December 17, 2024
A wind turbine factory worker is seen as US President Joe Biden tours CS Wind, the largest wind tower manufacturer in the world, in Pueblo, Colorado, on November 29, 2023.
article
Focusing Industrial Strategy: Which Clean Energy Supply Chains Should Have Priority?

The world is being defined by global value chains, fierce competition, and limited public resources. Must the United States compete in all areas and domains?

· December 12, 2024
in the media
A Surprise Solar Boom Reveals a Fatal Flaw in Our Climate Change Projections

Better models are needed to factor a solar boom into climate change projections.

· December 1, 2024
Vox
in the media
Beyond COP29 – From Despair to Determination

Everything the Blue Pacific does will matter little if the 1.5 Celsius target is lost. Baku has failed to secure this.

· November 27, 2024
Pacific Islands News Association
This general view shows a haze of pollution over Lyon, south-eastern France on October 15, 2021
article
The Case for a New International Climate Policy: Where the U.S. Should Go Next on Climate

Trump likely will again withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement and possibly from the UN climate change framework governing it. U.S. influence on climate affairs may diminish, but the upheaval could give way to other approaches.

  • Sagatom Saha
  • Lilly Lee
· November 27, 2024
Aerial view from a drone down to large solar thermal power station in the dry desert landscape to the horizon
paper
Can the U.S. and China Ease Tensions with a Clean Tech Détente?

To limit the damage from an escalating trade dispute, the United States and China should negotiate a clean tech détente to balance support for domestic industries given the reality of the countries’ economic interdependence.

  • Joshua Busby
  • Jonas Goldman
  • Fabian Villalobos
· November 19, 2024
Aerial photograph of Salem Power Plant in New Jersey.
article
Embracing an All-of-the-Above Strategy for Energy and Economic Development

Nuclear must be part of the mix.

  • Photo of DJ Nordquist.
  • DJ Nordquist
· November 1, 2024
event
Leaping Ahead: U.S. Innovation and the Future of Clean Energy
October 24, 2024

A discussion on the future of U.S. clean industrial policy.

  • +2
  • Costa Samaras
  • Tanya Das
  • Varun Sivaram
  • Lisa Hansmann
  • Milo McBride
in the media
How the United States Can Win the Battery Race

The United States is squandering its best opportunity to compete in the global battery race.

· October 21, 2024
Foreign Policy
Photo of windmill energy farm in Oaxaca, Mexico.
article
Toward a Cleaner, Smarter USMCA
  • Headshot of C.J. Mahoney in front of a U.S. flag.
· December 17, 2024
In The Media
in the media
Beyond COP29 – From Despair to Determination
· November 27, 2024
Pacific Islands News Association
Aerial view from a drone down to large solar thermal power station in the dry desert landscape to the horizon
paper
Can the U.S. and China Ease Tensions with a Clean Tech Détente?
  • Joshua Busby
  • Jonas Goldman
  • Fabian Villalobos
· November 19, 2024
event
Leaping Ahead: U.S. Innovation and the Future of Clean Energy
October 24, 2024
  • +2
  • Costa Samaras
  • Tanya Das
  • Varun Sivaram
  • Lisa Hansmann
  • Milo McBride
In The Media
in the media
How the United States Can Win the Battery Race
· October 21, 2024
Foreign Policy