December 7, 3:30 pm Panel Discussion: Catalyzing Climate Solutions in a Time of Public Gridlock

Listen in remotely by connecting via this WebEx link: Join the meeting; Meeting number and access code are both 996 394 069. Contact cari_furiness@ncsu.edu if you have questions.
Join us for a Panel Discussion hosted by the SE CSC Global Change Fellows
Addressing climate change is often framed as a conflict between environmental conservation and economic growth.  In recent months this partisan stalemate has become even more entrenched as the United States plans to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord while simultaneously producing a comprehensive climate report claiming humans are to blame and the consequences severe.  In this seminar, we invite researchers from a broad spectrum of perspectives to discuss novel climate solutions that can shed this history of gridlock in favor of more effective action.
We will open up the discussion with Michael Vandenbergh’s new book: Beyond Politics: The Private Governance Response to Climate Change (Cambridge University Press 2017).  Book summary: Private sector action provides one of the most promising opportunities to reduce the risks of climate change, buying time while governments move slowly or even oppose climate mitigation. Starting with the insight that much of the resistance to climate mitigation is grounded in concern about the role of government, this books draws on law, policy, social science, and climate science to demonstrate how private initiatives are already bypassing government inaction in the United States and around the globe. It makes a persuasive case that private governance can reduce global carbon emissions by a billion tons per year over the next decade. Combining an examination of the growth of private climate initiatives over the last decade, a theory of why private actors are motivated to reduce emissions, and a review of viable next steps, this book speaks to scholars, business and advocacy group managers, philanthropists, policymakers, and anyone interested in climate change.

Featured Panelists

Jason Delborne, NC State
Christopher Galik, NC State
Louie Rivers, NC State
Kathryn Stevenson, NC State
Michael Vandenbergh, Vanderbilt University