The United States' historical approach to climate change is failing. American clean technology industries lag dangerously behind their international competitors, threatening U.S. geopolitical and economic influence, and climate change is on track to exceed internationally agreed targets, endangering U.S. national security. CFR’s new Climate Realism Initiative, led by Senior Fellow Varun Sivaram, will chart a fundamentally new course for U.S. climate and energy policy—one that is both realistic in its assessment of the world's climate trajectory fueled by rising emissions outside U.S. borders and realist in its expectation that the United States and other countries will work to advance their own interests in the emerging energy transition.

The launch event on April 7 will bring together leading experts, policymakers, and industry leaders to examine how the United States can prepare for the geopolitical and security consequences of accelerating climate change, build globally competitive and innovative American clean technology industries, and pursue novel approaches—from coordinating strategic trade actions to exploring geoengineering—to prevent the most catastrophic potential climate impacts from endangering U.S. interests.

PLENARY I: Navigating Climate Change—Implications for U.S. National Security
12:20 p.m.–1:35 p.m. (EDT)
Speakers
Sherri Goodman, Author, Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership & the Fight for Global Security; Senior Fellow, Polar Institute and Environmental Change and Security Program, Wilson Center; CFR Member
Julia Nesheiwat, Vice President of Policy and Insights, TC Energy; 10th Homeland Security Advisor to the President; CFR Member
David Wallace-Wells, Opinion Writer, New York Times; Columnist, New York Times Magazine; Author, The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming
Presider
Alice Hill, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment, Council on Foreign Relations

KEYNOTE: A Conversation With Secretary Ernest Moniz
1:45 p.m.–2:30 p.m. (EDT)
Speakers
Ernest J. Moniz, Founder and CEO, Energy Futures Initiative, Former U.S. Secretary of Energy (2013-17); CFR Member
Presider
Mary Louise Kelly, Host, All Things Considered, NPR; CFR Member

PLENARY II: Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and U.S. Competitiveness
2:45 p.m.–3:45 p.m. (EDT)
Speakers
Joshua Freed, Senior Vice President for Climate and Energy, Third Way
David Livingston, Chief Strategy Officer, Galvanize Climate Solutions; CFR Term Member
Rachel Pritzker, President and Founder, Pritzker Innovation Fund
Presider
David M. Hart, Senior Fellow for Climate and Energy, Council on Foreign Relations

PLENARY III: Averting Catastrophic Climate Change
4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. (EDT)
Speakers
Maureen Hinman, Cofounder and Executive Chair, Silverado Policy Accelerator; Former Director for Environment and Natural Resources, Office of the United States Trade Representative (2018-21)
David Keith, Professor and Founding Faculty Director, Climate Systems Engineering Initiative, University of Chicago
David G. Victor, Professor of Innovation and Public Policy; Director, Deep Decarbonization Initiative; University of California San Diego; CFR Member (speaking virtually)
Presider
Varun Sivaram, Senior Fellow for Energy and Climate and Director, Climate Realism Initiative, Council on Foreign Relations

Register below to watch the livestreamed event on April 7, 2025. A link to the livestream will be sent the day before the event. The audio, video, and transcript of this event will be posted on the CFR website. We look forward to your participation.