The League of Conservation Voters and the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire
Present
Global Tipping Points: Re-Establishing United States Global Climate Diplomacy
Tuesday, December 8th, 2020 (virtual event)
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Speakers:
BGen. Stephen Cheney, USMC (ret.), President of the American Security Project
Todd Stern, Brookings and lead US negotiator for the Paris Climate Accord
Join the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire and the League of Conservation Voters for the final installment in our virtual Global Tipping Points speaker series this Fall! Our December edition will feature President Obama's chief climate negotiator and current Brookings nonresident senior fellow, Todd Stern, as well as President of the American Security Project, Brigadier General Stephen Cheney, as they believe a strategy to combat climate change will look like under a new Biden administration and what the election's results mean for the world's climate future.
This discussion will be moderated by Rob Werner of LCV and WACNH Board Member Maura Sullivan.
Todd Stern is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution concentrating on climate change. Stern served from January 2009 until April 2016 as the special envoy for climate change at the Department of State. He was President Obama’s chief climate negotiator, leading the U.S. effort in negotiating the Paris Agreement and in all bilateral and multilateral climate negotiations in the seven years leading up to Paris. Stern also participated in the development of U.S. domestic climate and clean energy policy.
Stern is currently focused on writing about the climate negotiations during his time as special envoy as well as on writing, speaking, and advising about ongoing efforts on climate change at both the international and domestic levels.
Stern served under President Clinton in the White House from 1993 to 1999, mostly as assistant to the president and staff secretary. From 1997 to 1999, he coordinated the administration’s initiative on global climate change, acting as the senior White House negotiator at the Kyoto and Buenos Aires negotiations. From 1999 to 2001, Stern served as counselor to Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers, advising the secretary on the policy and politics of a broad range of economic and financial issues, and supervising Treasury’s anti-money laundering strategy.
Stern graduated from Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Gen Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret), is the President of the American Security Project (ASP). He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and has over 30 years of experience as a Marine. His career included a wide variety of command and staff positions with the operating forces and the supporting establishment. Gen. Cheney’s primary specialty was artillery, but he focused extensively on entry-level training, commanding at every echelon at both Marine Corps Recruit Depots, to include being the Commanding General at Parris Island. He served several years in Japan and has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and Asia.
Other selected highlights of Gen. Cheney’s military career include tours as Deputy Executive Secretary to Defense Secretaries Cheney and Aspin; ground plans officer for Drug Enforcement Policy in the Pentagon; liaison to the Congressional Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces; and Inspector General of the Marine Corps.
Following retirement from the Marines, Gen. Cheney became the Chief Operating Officer for Business Executives for National Security (BENS), in Washington, D.C., and most recently was President/CEO of the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas.
Gen. Cheney is a graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, the National War College, and the University of Southern California. He was a military fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, where he is a member. Additionally, he was also a member of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board and the Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board.
General Cheney has appeared on CNN, Fox, BBC, NPR, and Sky News, and many other stations worldwide discussing the national security implications of climate change and energy security. His television and public appearances include being on a panel with Vice President Al Gore on his 24 hours of Reality program; on AMHQ at The Weather Channel with Sam Champion; and on stage for Climate Week in New York City with Prime Minister Tony Blair, Richard Branson, and Secretary of State John Kerry. He has been quoted and had articles in Politico, Foreign Affairs, and The New York Times. In 2015 he was recognized by The Weather Channel as a member of the Climate 25 for his leadership in identifying climate change as a national and global security issue. He has spoken at the Chatham House in London, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and in over a dozen cities around the world on this topic. His most recent testimony (2017) was on energy security, climate change, and cyber in front of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the House Committee on Science, Space, Technology, and the EPA.