Enhancing Resilience Against Climate Risk
Discussion with Chris Marlin and Kathy Baughman McLeod
Over the past three-quarters of a century, the global population has seen remarkable advancements at all levels of society. Today there are historic lows of extreme poverty, child mortality, and illiteracy—and advancements in health, education, and technology continue to accelerate – even during the global pandemic. At the same time, the world currently faces a range of challenges that threaten natural resources and economic progress, political stability, and human safety.
Addressing climate change, migration, and security challenges—affecting all geographies—is more urgent than ever. There is a critical need to build resilience for individuals, communities, and institutions to better understand, prepare for, and withstand these interrelated threats. The Adrienne Arsht–Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center is dedicated to addressing these challenges, transforming ideas into action, and has committed to reaching one billion people with resilience solutions to climate change, migration, and security by 2030. The need is urgent and we are all vulnerable.
Join James Bacchus, Distinguished University Professor of Global Affairs and Director of the Center for Global Economic and Environmental Opportunity (“GEEO”) of the University of Central Florida, as he hosts a conversation between GEEO community fellow Chris Marlin, President of Lennar International and Kathy Baughman McLeod, Sr. VP and Director of the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht – Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center as they discuss plans to reach one billion people with resilience solutions to climate change, migration and security by 2030.
Speaker Biographies:
Chris Marlin
Chris Marlin is founder and president of Lennar International, a division of the largest and most innovative homebuilder in the United States - Lennar. Lennar International serves as Lennar’s global engagement hub, marketing and selling Lennar homes in the U.S. to buyers throughout the world, as well as curating foreign direct investment into Lennar’s portfolio of projects including PropTech, land development and multi-family ventures.
Chris is a leading commentator on cross border investments into the U.S. and has presented at a variety of global forums and events including the World Economic Forum, the Global Future Council on Cities, and Boao Forum for Asia. Chris has also been a featured expert on Bloomberg’s Daybreak Asia, CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia, and Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia.
Chris is a Director of the Atlantic Council, where he supports the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 for peace, justice and strong institutions. Through his involvement with the World Economic Forum’s Cities, Infrastructure and Urban Services platform, Chris is able to support SDG 11 for sustainable cities and communities. In addition, his involvement with the World Economic Forum’s COVID Action Platform allows him to support SDG 3 for good health and well-being.
Chris is a member of the Intellectual Council of the Boao Forum for Asia, A Fellowship for International Real Estate (AFIRE), and the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) – a global network of chief executives. During the summer of 2020, Chris served as Co-Chair of the working group on Digital Infrastructure and Economy for the non-partisan Commission on the National Response Enterprise, which focused on American security interests.
Kathy Baughman McLeod
As Senior Vice President of The Adrienne Arsht – Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, Kathy Baughman McLeod is leading and expanding the Center’s work to develop scalable policy, financial and technological solutions to build the resilience capacity of individuals, communities and institutions. Baughman McLeod comes to the Atlantic Council from Bank of America where she was Global Environmental and Social Risk Executive, and is former managing director of Climate Risk and resilience at The Nature Conservancy. She was an Energy & Climate Commissioner of the state of Florida, a policy fellow of the French Foreign Ministry and holds an MBA and MS in Geography.
She leads creation and execution of the Center’s strategy to achieve its goal of reaching one billion people worldwide with resilience solutions to the challenges of climate change, migration, and security by 2030. She leverages the significant global network, policy expertise, and intellectual capital of the Atlantic Council with strategic partnerships to deliver innovative on-the-ground solutions.
Baughman McLeod is the former senior vice president, Global Environmental & Social Risk, for Bank of America. In this role, she led the bank’s environmental and social risk policy work including climate risk disclosure efforts across the enterprise, in select lines of business and throughout four global regions. She also helped use the bank’s global reach to advance low carbon and climate resilient investments toward reaching the bank’s commitment of deploying $125 billion in capital by 2025.
In her prior role as managing director, Climate Risk & Resilience for the Nature Conservancy, Baughman McLeod led a global team of fifty policy experts, scientists, and financial specialists focused on using natural infrastructure to reduce storm and flood risk throughout Latin America, Australia, Asia, the US, and the Caribbean. She also launched the organization’s insurance initiative that creates market-based products that protect nature and coastal economies, as well as the Conservancy’s humanitarian initiative focused on climate disaster risk reduction called “Nature Protects People.”
A published author and award-winning producer of the documentary film series, The Nature of People, Baughman McLeod was a policy fellow of the French Foreign Ministry and an appointed member of the Florida Energy & Climate Commission. She holds an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, an MS in geography, and a BS in international affairs from Florida State University.
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