INSTITUT Veolia Environnement

Climate 2050

« Climate 2050 : Technology and Policy Solutions »

Reminder of the conference overview - October 24-26, 2007

The conference will explore technology pathways and innovative policies to deliver effective climate action over the next half century.

Conference Concept

With current trends in emissions, greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere will continue to increase over the current century and beyond, leading to dangerous climate disruptions. Preventing such outcomes will require a 60% to 80% reduction in global emissions over the next half century to stabilise atmospheric GHG concentrations in the range of 450-550 ppm.

Around the world, countries and corporations are pursuing a wide range of strategies to begin reducing GHG emissions while maintaining or strengthening economic growth. Many governments are also setting longer-term goals to achieve much greater reductions over the coming decades. Meeting these goals will require sweeping technological advances driven by effective government policies and private sector leadership.

Climate 2050 will bring together notable speakers from government, business and academia to explore the critical technology and policy challenges. In sessions focused on key sectors, the conference will highlight technology potentials and gaps, innovative action in the public and private sectors, and critical policy needs. In cross-cutting sessions, the conference also will examine the broader policies and strategies needed at the national and international levels to mobilize action across economies and the globe.

Through this combination of sectoral and cross-cutting perspectives, the conference will help to identify essential technology and policy pathways between now and 2050 as well as concrete lines of immediate action.

Objectives and Outcomes

The objective of the conference is to generate substantive, multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral discussions to improve understanding of long-term climate change strategies that will lead to meeting the 2050 targets. The conference program will be designed to connect research, business and policy in order to identify solutions to the various sectoral and regional climate change challenges. A summary of the conference discussions will be disseminated.

Audience

In order to generate an action-oriented and cross-sectoral discussion, Climate 2050 will draw representation from a balance of experts, practitioners and decision-makers from the private, public, academic and NGO sectors. The conference will gather high-level experts in climate change policy from across North America and around the world. It is expected that it will attract a majority of participants from North America, with strong representation from Europe and developing countries.