BG Robert Barnes, USA (Ret.)

Brigadier General Robert “Bob” Barnes, USA (Ret.) is a member of the Council on Strategic Risks Board of Directors. He is also a Senior Policy Advisor and member of the Advisory Board at the Center for Climate and Security, where he provides policy advice on addressing the national and international security implications of climate change. He is a recognized expert on environmental security, interagency and public-private collaboration on climate change and other environmental matters with national security implications.  From 2002 to 2014, General Barnes served as a Senior Policy Advisor for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), focusing on the intersection of the protection, conservation, and restoration of natural systems and biodiversity and national security.  His duties at TNC included coordinating all relationships between TNC and elements of DoD, with special emphasis on cooperative programs that facilitated military readiness activities while at the same time enhancing terrestrial and marine conservation.

General Barnes retired from the Army in 2001, where his last assignment was as the Assistant Judge Advocate General (Civil Law and Litigations).  Previous assignments included serving as the Assistant Judge Advocate General (Military Law and Operations); Staff Judge Advocate for Forces Command; Legal Advisor to Joint Task Force-Olympics; and Chief, Administrative Law Division, Office of the Judge Advocate General.  From 1989-91 he served as the Deputy Legal and Legislative Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where his duties included addressing operational, environmental, and other legal issues during Operations Just Cause, Desert Shield/Storm, and other contingency operations.  Following his retirement from the Army, Bob also participated in a two-year MIPT-Kennedy School study on balancing security and civil liberties and served as a consultant to the World Bank on ethics and integrity.”