Lecture Series on the Future of the Transatlantic Relationship
Third Event on Ecology, Climate Change, and a Just Transition
Dr. Sabrina Schulz, United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network Germany
At the NATO-headquarters in Brussels, member states summoned this week and called for the organization to act as a »forum for democratic values« also facing China’s rising global influence. Earlier this week, the G7-summit in the UK revitalized an important multilateral format, as global leaders made climate a priority using rhetoric of utmost urgency. In their final communique, the year 2021 was called a »turning point for our planet« and summitteers pledged a »green revolution.«
Our third lecture at the Transatlantic Student Summit 2021 addresses ecological and sustainability issues. Facing the climate crisis, ecology and sustainability issues lie at the intersection of security, trade, technology, and energy. The named areas of human activity and their relation with natural resources, air, water, land, flora and fauna has sometimes been underrepresented in more orthodox conceptions of geopolitics and societal discourse. However, latest with the proposed Green (New) Deal(s), ecology and sustainability issues have arrived at the forefront of the global and transatlantic political debate about how to steer transformations ahead like the decarbonization of societies. Studying issues of ecology and sustainability offers a dynamic lens to analyze spheres of tension and cooperation in shouldering the truly global threats in connection to the climate crisis.
In order to learn more about the interaction of foreign policy and the climate, we are honored to have with us Dr. Sabrina Schulz.
Dr. Sabrina Schulz is the Executive Director of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Germany. Before that, she served as Head of the Berlin office at KfW, Germany’s national promotional and international development bank where she represented the interests of KfW Group in the political arena. Previously, from 2012 to 2018, she was the Director of the Berlin office at E3G-Third Generation Environmentalism, an international non-profit climate and energy think tank. Before that, Dr. Schulz worked in various policy capacities for think tanks and consultancies in Germany, the UK, the US and Canada. From 2009 to 2011, she was a Policy Advisor on climate and energy to the British High Commission in Canada and led a project on climate security.
At Das Progressive Zentrum, a Berlin-based think tank, Dr. Schulz volunteers as a Policy Fellow in the program ›Economic and Social Transformation‹ and works on climate, sustainability, and European issues. She holds an MA in Public Policy and Management from the University of Potsdam, for which she also studied at the University of Konstanz and the Université catholique de Louvain, as well as an MA in International Politics and a PhD from the University of Wales at Aberystwyth in the United Kingdom.
The lecture series on the Future of Transatlantic Relations is part of our annual Ohio-Leipzig Transatlantic Student Summit.