The Paris Climate Accord presents a rare opportunity and platform for global cooperation toward the 80% or greater decarbonization target established by the UN/IPCC for mid-century.  This target is challenging on its own, but is made more complex by the dramatic changes in the political climate that recent elections in the US, the UK, Italy, and elsewhere inject into the 'sustainability equation.'  In this talk the national and regional systems and economic progress toward sustainability is assessed from a technical and social perspective.  Energy access and climate protection emerge as critical synergistic needs and drivers of a new approach to clean energy and sound land-use management.

Daniel Kammen is a Professor of Energy at the University of California, Berkeley, with parallel appointments in the Energy and Resource Group, the Goldman School of Public Policy, and the department of Nuclear Engineering. Kammen is the founding director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL), and was Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center from 2007 - 2015. He has authored or co-authored 12 books, written more than 300 peer-reviewed journal publications, and is a frequent contributor to or commentator in international news media. Kammen is a fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, and the American Physical Society.

Open Session: The Science and Policy of Sustainable Energy

Audio