Event details

Climate change has emerged as the defining issue of the twenty-first century, a root cause of social and economic upheavals that will affect multiple generations. In order to meet the 1.5°C global warming target set by the Paris Agreement and minimize the impacts of climate change, global carbon dioxide emissions should reach net zero by 2050. What will it take for us to stabilize and reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere? This conference will explore the science behind the net-zero goals, optimal pathways to achieving the targets, the political and behavioral constraints, and the role of markets. The conference will include presentations by leading climate scientists, economists, and financial industry experts.

Co-sponsored by the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy & Finance, the Center for Policy Research on Energy and Environment, the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, and the High Meadows Environmental Institute.

All sessions will be held virtually via Zoom webinar.

Registration Open !                                      Conference Details

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022 | 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM (EST)

3:10 - 3:15 PM | Welcome and Opening Remarks

Atif Mian, JRCPPF Director & John H. Laporte, Jr. Class of 1967 Professor of Economics, Public Policy and Finance 3:20 - 4:30 PM | Session 1: Why Net Zero 2050?

Zelina Zaiton Ibrahim, Associate Professor of Environmental Management and Statistics, IPCC and University Putra (Malaysia) Kris Ebi, Professor, Center for Health and the Global Environment, University of Washington Leon Clarke, Research Professor; Acting Director of the Center for Global Sustainability, University of Maryland Detlef Van Vuuren, Professor in Integrated Assessment of Global Environmental Change, Utrecht University; Senior Researcher, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency Moderator: Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Director of the Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment (C-PREE), Princeton University 4:40 - 5:30 PM | KEYNOTE

Embracing Net Zero Ambition Barbara Buchner, Global Managing Director; Executive Director for Climate Finance, Climate Policy Initiative Moderator: Chris Greig, Senior Research Scholar, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022 | 9:40 AM - 2:30 PM (EST)

9:40 - 9:45 AM | Welcome/Introduction 

9:45 - 10:55 AM | Session 2: How do we reach the 2050 targets?

Jesse Jenkins, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University Ilissa Ocko *13, Senior Climate Specialist, Environmental Defense Fund Jessika Trancik, Professor at the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, MIT Gunnar Luderer, Professor of Global Energy Systems Analysis, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Moderator: Simon Levin, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University 11:00 AM - 12:10 PM | Session 3: How do we change behaviors and attitudes to support the transition to a                                                 carbon-neutral society?

Connie Hedegaard, (former) EU Commissioner for Climate Sara Kapnick ’04, Managing Director, Senior Climate Scientist & Sustainability Strategist, JP Morgan Chase & Co. Felix Creutzig, Professor for Sustainability Economics of Human Settlements, Mercator Institute and Technical University Berlin Moderator: Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor of Energy & the Environment, Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs, Princeton University 12:20 - 1:10 PM | KEYNOTE

Managing Climate Change-Related Financial Risk Patrick Bolton, Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business, Columbia Business School Moderator: Denise Mauzerall, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Public and International Affairs, Princeton University    1:20 - 2:30 PM | How can we leverage markets to achieve the Net-Zero 2050 targets?

Gernot Wagner, Clinical Associate Professor, New York University Mar Reguant, Associate Professor of Economics, Northwestern University Christian Gollier, Professor of Economics and Executive Director of the Toulouse School of Economics Moderator: Atif Mian 2:30 PM | Closing Remarks

(All times are EST.)