The predicted effects of climate change over the coming decades include extreme weather events, drought, flooding, sea level rise, retreating glaciers, habitat shifts, and the increased spread of life-threatening diseases. These conditions have the potential to disrupt societies around the world and force nations to change the way they keep populations safe and secure.

The Global Conference on Oceans, Climate and Security will examine the conditions that are likely to be produced by climate change, how these conditions will affect coastal ecosystems and communities, and how they may affect human and national security interests. It will focus on three specific themes examining the overall problem from three different perspectives with a unified goal of enabling us to understand how to mitigate the effects that we can control and adapt to those that we cannot control. The three themes are:

• Raising Visibility and Fostering Literacy
• Science and Technology Needs
• Security Policy & Governance Implications

The Raising Visibility and Fostering Literacy Track will discuss what needs to be done to raise the overall global awareness of the impacts of climate change to human and national security and our oceans and work towards determining ways to increase literacy on these subjects. Success stories of how organizations world-wide are currently raising awareness of the climate change threats to our oceans and human and national security will be highlighted and used as a starting point in the discussion to determine what needs to be done in the near future to raise the visibility of these important subjects. Potential session topics for which abstracts are welcome include, but are not limited to:

• Media Literacy – Ensuring communications to the public are accurate and educational
• Marine Spatial Planning – Spreading the knowledge
• Human Security – What changes in climate will mean to the security of daily human life.
• Communications and Outreach - Best time/Best forms of communication to the public, government officials, etc.

The Science and Technology Needs Track will focus on identifying and prioritizing the best science, technology and applied research practices, and identifying the critical knowledge gaps to enable the most efficient and effective adaptation planning and decision-making for emerging climate change, ocean, and security threats to coastal ecosystems and communities. Topics to be discussed under this track may include, but are not be limited to:

• Marine Bioinvasions – Increasing temperatures and invasive species
• Ecological and Economic Effects on Fisheries
• Chemical Changes - Acidification, Changes in Nutrient Cycles, etc
• Sustainable Aquaculture Practices – Tracking Our Food Sources
• Climate Change – Model Availability, Applicability and Effectiveness

The Security Policy and Governance Implications Track will look at government, industry, and private enterprise-based actions to adapt to emerging climate change impacts and future needs. When environmental conditions deteriorate to the point that it is necessary to alter our current way of life, societies can be stressed, sometimes to the point of collapse. In some areas, new defense facilities will have to be built. Loss of agricultural areas will result in the need to ship large amounts of food to impacted areas. The shipping of food and other essential items puts pressure on security forces to protect shipping from pirating. Further, escalation of conflicts over food and fresh water resources will break out around the globe, putting pressure on government and security forces to maintain stability in those areas. National security consequences of climate change will have to be fully integrated into our national strategies. Topics discussed under this theme will include, but are not limited to:

• Security Implications of Ocean Change Impacts on Coastal Infrastructure, Vessels and Vessel Routing
• Mass Migrations from Rising Sea Levels – Stresses on Resources
• Security and Governance Implications of Arctic Changes
• Severe Storms - Securing the Public in Coastal, Ocean and Littoral Regions
• Security Implications of Ocean Changes on Resource Availability through Ports, Harbors and Sea Lanes