RUSI Under 35 Forum: The Geopolitics of Climate Change: From Antarctica to the Arctic
A changing climate will imperil food, water, and energy security. It will affect human health, trade flows, and political stability. And the resulting pressures could check development, undo progress, and place significant strains upon international relations.
Against this backdrop and with particular reference to the Antarctic and the Artic, Professor Klaus Dodds and Duncan Depledge will assess the geopolitics of climate change and provide RUSI Under 35 Forum members with an opportunity to consider how this phenomenon is likely to impact upon global and regional security dynamics in the period ahead.
The session will then be followed by a networking drinks reception.
Professor Klaus Dodds is Professor of Geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London, and conducts research relating to geopolitics, media and the international governance of the Antarctic and the Arctic. His most recent book, The Antarctic: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press: 2012), looks at how the Antarctic has been explored and represented in the last hundred years, and how processes such as globalization mean that the Antarctic is increasingly involved in a wider circuit of ideas, goods, people, trade, and governance - all of which have an impact on the future of the region. His other publications include Geopolitics: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2007), Global Geopolitics: A Critical Introduction (Pearson Education, 2005) and Pink Ice: Britain and the South Atlantic Empire (I B Tauris, 2002). He was an academic consultant on the Discovering the Arctic website operated by the Royal Geographical Society, and in November 2005, he was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize for his achievements in the fields of geopolitics and human geography. In academic year 2010-11, he held the position of visiting fellow at St Cross College, Oxford and HARC fellow at Royal Holloway. He is also a series editor of 'Critical Geopolitics', which publishes monographs and edited volumes on the subject matter.
Duncan Depledge is a Research Analyst at RUSI for the Climate Change & Security Programme. He holds an MPhil in Geographical Research from the University of Cambridge, as well as an MA in Political Theory and a BA (Hons) in History from the University of Sheffield. Duncan is primarily interested in how climate change is impacting global and regional dynamics of security and geopolitics. Since joining RUSI, he has contributed to studies on the security implications of climate change for the UK, Mesoamerica and China. Duncan is currently also undertaking a PhD (expected 2013) under the supervision of Professor Klaus Dodds at Royal Holloway, University of London. His research is exploring the changing geopolitics of the Arctic with a specific focus on the implications for UK maritime security, energy security and scientific research.