Adaptation Community, Climate Change, Economy, Energy, New Technologies
Three-Webinar Series: Restoring the Carbon Budget
November 7, 2016
Arizona State University to Host a Three Webinar Series on “Restoring the Carbon Budget”
December 15th 2016
1:00 – 2:30 pm EST
December 15th 2016
1:00 – 2:30 pm EST
The capacity of the Earth’s atmosphere to safely hold excess carbon without too much warming is limited. The situation is growing more urgent. Even after the December 2015 Climate Conference in Paris, the pace to transform economies away from dumping fossil carbon into the atmosphere will likely be too slow to achieve the goal of holding the temperature increase to two degrees Celsius.
Unless that pace is dramatically accelerated, the planet will almost certainly exceed its “carbon budget” within two decades, if it hasn’t already. This concern has led the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to conclude that Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs), which remove CO2 from the air, will be needed to meet climate goals.
However, NETs are still in the research, development or demonstration stages of commercialization and may not be ready in time, or feasible at the necessary scale. That poses a conundrum. Technologies cannot develop without policy drivers; policy cannot lead the way without the assurance of demonstrably affordable and scalable technologies.
Join Arizona State University’ Global institute of Sustainability and the Security and Sustainability Forum in the first of a three-part series where leading experts will address the research, policies, economics and accountability needed to “Restore the Carbon Budget”.
Session 1 Panelists include: Jeffrey Sachs, world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development senior UN advisor, bestselling author, syndicated columnist and former Director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and Kevin Anderson, Professor of Energy and Climate Change in the School of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester. Kevin recently finished a two-year position as director of the Tyndall Centre. David Biello, Science Curator at Ted Talks and former Scientific American Energy and Environment Editor, will moderate the session.