Joint Tabletop Exercise Tackles Climate Change 

By Kristen Fletcher, Faculty Associate–Research, Energy Academic Group

In April 2023, NPS hosted the second Department of the Navy (DoN) Climate Tabletop Exercise (TTX) in partnership with the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. NPS and the Doerr School work together under an Educational Partnership Agreement signed in December 2022.

The event convened a diverse group of participants from the Department of Defense, federal agencies, Congress, think tanks, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector with a scenario-based activity to generate solutions in support of the DoN climate strategy, Climate Action 2030.

In the strategy, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro identified climate change as “one of the most destabilizing forces of our time, exacerbating other national security concerns and posing serious readiness challenges.” Through the strategy, the Secretary charged the DoN with building a climate-ready force by increasing climate resilience and reducing the climate threat. These calls mirror those in the National Security Strategy and several Executive Orders.

To meet these calls to action, TTX participants concentrated on three focus areas – water security, energy security, and coastal resilience. They worked in facilitated small groups to imagine what is possible in the climate realm through innovative partnerships. On the morning of Day 2, the teams briefed their results to senior leaders including the Honorable Meredith Berger, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations, and Environment); NPS President retired Vice Adm. Ann Rondeau; and Dr. Arun Majumdar, Dean of the Doerr School of Sustainability.

Challenges and solutions were identified including lowering barriers to establish and strengthen partnerships and conducting joint applied research to inform solution development. The DoN climate team is developing a plan of action and milestones across participant stakeholders on how to accomplish solutions identified during the exercise. An after action report will be made available in the summer.

LEARN MORE

• The event was organized through the Climate and Security Network. Join at: nps.edu/climate
• The full After Action report can be viewed at https://tinyurl.com/39mmtt2c
• Contact: Kristen Fletcher at kristen.fletcher@nps.edu