Communication is a Climate Solution

Abstract: Communicating climate risks and opportunities is a climate solution. It can help facilitate the transition to a clean future and motivate action to prepare for worsening climate impacts—hotter heat waves, deeper droughts, more intense storms, and bigger wildfires. So far, countries remain far off course in meeting the 2015 Paris agreement goal of keeping temperature increases to well below 2°C pre-industrial temperatures, much less the aspirational goal of 1.5°C. Last year, carbon accumulation in the atmosphere reached its highest level in 4.3 million years, while global average temperatures climbed to record heights. Yet, the causes of and solutions to climate change are largely known. More effective communication could help bolster the resolve to embrace climate solutions.

Bio: Alice Hill is the David M. Rubenstein senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations. Her work at CFR focuses on the risks, consequences, and responses associated with climate change. Ms. Hill previously served as special assistant to President Barack Obama and senior director for resilience policy on the National Security Council staff where she led the development of national policy to build resilience to catastrophic risks, including climate change and biological threats. In 2009, Hill served as senior counselor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). At DHS, she led the formulation of the department's first-ever climate adaptation plan and the development of strategic plans regarding catastrophic biological and chemical threats, including pandemics. Hill also served as a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.