Help Fight Existential Risks on #GivingTuesday2021

Friends and Colleagues,

2021 has been shaped by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, numerous climate-driven disasters across the globe, rising tensions among nuclear-armed nations, and more. These and other systemic threats will continue to profoundly shape the global security environment in the years and decades ahead. 

Yet there continue to be signs of progress in addressing these risks---including progress being driven by the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR), one of the only nonprofit organizations dedicated specifically to analyzing, anticipating, and addressing systemic risks to security, and how those risks interact. 

CSR doesn’t wait for risks to manifest before acting. It is anticipatory, solutions-oriented, and effective. Its team is developing innovative ideas for reducing nuclear threats, driving progress against the security risks of climate change, kickstarting a first-of-its-kind program to address ecological disruption, mentoring the next generation of leaders in countering biological threats, and more. 

Many of CSR’s successes stem from its future-oriented and coalition-driven approach. We bring together diverse experts and practitioners to get ahead of tomorrow’s risks. Together, we focus on creating bold and implementable ideas---ones that are commensurate to the scale of the risks facing the world. 

Many of you have contributed to CSR’s accomplishments in 2021, including the following:

Elevating Climate to the Top of the Security Agenda: President Biden opened his administration by signing a landmark Executive Order on climate change and declared climate change to be an essential element of national security and foreign policy. A range of U.S. policy documents now draw heavily from our Climate Security Plan for America, including measures that require all national security agencies to integrate climate considerations into strategic planning. In June, NATO released an ambitious Climate Change and Security Plan of Action that a senior NATO official said would not have been possible without the work of the International Military Council on Climate and Security, a group CSR founded and continues to lead with its European partners.

Shaping Action Against Catastrophic Biological Risks: The U.S. government and international community are pivoting significant resources toward preventing future pandemics and addressing deliberate biological threats. CSR’s influence has been enhanced by its Alliance to End Biological Threats that convenes public and private sector leaders for solutions-oriented discussions. Through 2021, CSR’s work has been echoed in documents and by key leaders from the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Security Council, Congress, and various cabinet agencies.

Establishing CSR’s Ecological Security Program: Building on a first-of-its-kind ecological security report addressing unprecedented global ecological disruption and what the U.S. can do about it, CSR is significantly expanding this work by fostering a networked community of practitioners, launching a fellowship program, raising awareness through an innovative communications strategy, and more.

Developing Ideas for Reducing Nuclear Risks: Throughout the year, CSR hosted high-level, multinational dialogues with government and nongovernmental experts to explore specific steps that countries may take to reduce nuclear risks. This work is showcasing that the United States and other nations have a range of options to meet their mutual security interests.

Expanding a World Class Team: To confront the systemic risks of our time, CSR is continually growing its world-class team of experts who are on the cutting edge of the climate, biological risks, ecological security, and nuclear fields and bring significant experience across the non-profit, government, business, and academic sectors.

Your tax-deductible support will help us to continue driving progress against many of the world’s greatest threats. 

This includes many exciting initiatives planned for 2022 and beyond, such as:

- Tapping CSR’s Alliance to End Biological Threats to expand public education and policy-maker outreach

- Investing in the next generation of diverse climate and ecological security leaders by expanding our successful fellowship programs

- Investigating how to re-energize U.S. leadership on security, safety, and nonproliferation surrounding nuclear energy in light of efforts to address the climate crisis

Continuing dialogues regarding the future of nuclear arms control and multilateral mechanisms for improving biosecurity and biosafety

- Launching the third annual World Climate and Security Report, the only one of its kind

- Building on our partnerships with cutting-edge partners, such as a 2021 collaboration with the Woodwell Climate Research Center to produce unique case studies highlighting climate risks in nuclear-armed nations (including North Korea)

Thank you for your support!