The impacts of COVID-19 have shown policymakers that we need to invest in infrastructure and shore up existing systems to ensure that they can withstand changing conditions over time, says Alice Hill, former special assistant to President Barack Obama and current senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Resilience, in this week’s New Security Broadcast. “As we go forward, we need to have resilient systems. But we haven’t done that yet, we’re unprepared.” Hill sat down with Sherri Goodman, Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program and former U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense, to her new book, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19, and how the response to COVID-19 can inform approaches to building climate resilience.
“Even as we see the ferocity of events increase, we are seeing that our systems just have not accounted for the future risk, and that is what we need,” says Hill. Investing in preparedness is cost-effective in the long term, she says. Every dollar spent on preventative measures now can save from 6 to 13 dollars in repairing future damages. “If we can discipline ourselves to invest now in resilience, we will save money, save lives, save livelihoods.”
In addition to building resilience and preparing for long-term changes, Hill says that policymakers and experts must also focus on reducing emissions and cutting pollution. “There’s the mitigation—cutting harmful pollution. And there’s the adaptation and resilience—preparing for the impacts. Those two communities have been historically separated,” says Hill. In particular, experts in these communities must work together to ensure that adaptation and mitigation measures receive equal attention in the developing world. “When these events hit the developing world, it can cause a family just to spiral into poverty very quickly,” says Hill. “We need to make deep investments to help these countries understand their risks and warn their populations in advance.”
Hill and Goodman conclude their conversation by encouraging everyone to engage in understanding and responding to climate change. There is a much greater focus on the issue now, says Hill. “One of the things that I find—that has been a wonderful surprise for me—is how exciting it is to be engaged in this field. And feeling as if there are things that I can contribute to, and that I can join with others to build, that will have greater results,” she says. “I just want to encourage people to engage and then, as we engage, we can help build the political will that’s necessary for all of us to understand our risks, and then make choices that will keep us safer.”
Episode 270: John Podesta on the Inflation Reduction Act and a New American Industrial Strategy
Episode 269: The Link Between Food Insecurity and Conflict: A New Report from World Food Program USA
Episode 268: Building Global Collaboration on Infrastructure: A Conversation with Amos Hochstein
Episode 267: New Security Broadcast | Ecoaction's Kostiantyn Krynytskyi on Securing Ukraine's Energy Future
Episode 266: Connecting the Dots: Gender Equality and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Episode 265: Gravity and Hope in Environmental Peacebuilding: Two Young Leaders Share their Stories
Episode 264: New Security Broadcast | US Climate Envoy John Kerry on the Importance of Our Oceans
Episode 263: Invisible Threads: Addressing Migration Through Investments in Women and Girls
Episode 262: Mobile Clinics and Mental Health Crises Care: The NGO Response to Ukraine’s Health Crises
Episode 261: Meeting the Global Energy Transition: A Conversation with Jonathan Pershing
Episode 260: Community-centered Approaches to Green Mineral Mining: Lessons from Pact
Episode 259: How AGWA is Tracking and Shaping Water’s Crucial Role in Climate Adaptation
Episode 258: Alok Sharma: Sustain Progress and Surmount Challenges for Success in Climate Action
Episode 257: Catastrophe and Catalyst: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister on His Nation’s Climate Tragedy
Episode 256: Addressing the Global Food Crisis: CIMMYT Experts Weigh In
Episode 254: Transformative Climate Security: A Conversation with Josh Busby
Episode 253: Clionadh Raleigh on Reframing “Climate Security”
Episode 252: Jeff Colgan on Oil Politics and International Order
Episode 250: Happy World Gorilla Day! A Conversation with Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka on COVID-19’s Impact on Gorilla Conservation and Public Health in Uganda
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