YSE Experts to Share Pathways to Progress at Climate Week NYC

Last year was the hottest year on record. The World Meteorological Organization confirmed that 2024 was the first calendar year that the average global temperature surpassed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels — a crucial global warming threshold established by the Paris Agreement. While a single year doesn’t define the success or failure of the Paris Agreement, the stark statistic puts a spotlight on the urgent need to build coalitions and develop robust strategies to address the climate crisis. 

There are pathways to advancing climate solutions and building support across party lines in multiple areas, such as the exploration of geothermal energy, a border adjustment tax on the carbon embedded in overseas products, and carbon friendly farming systems, said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC).

Leiserowitz will be moderating the opening panel on rebuilding cross-partisan trust and momentum, “How Did We Get Here — and Where Do We Go? Rebuilding Bipartisanship in the U.S. Environmental Movement,” at the two-day Yale @ Climate Week NYC summit hosted by Yale Planetary Solutions at the Yale Club (Sept. 24-25).

A majority of Americans, he noted, believe global warming is happening, is mostly human-caused, and is affecting the weather. YPCCC studies also have found that a majority of registered voters want federal agencies to increase their efforts to protect people from the health harms of global warming. 

“There is an ongoing climate solutions caucus in Congress and there’s a lot of power of decision making pushed to the state and local level. The climate community needs to lay the groundwork for options that will work across party lines so we are ready when policy windows open again,” said Leiserowitz, the JoshAni-TomKat Professor of Climate Communication.

The bipartisan panel, organized by the Yale Environmental Dialogue, will include U.S Rep. Bruce Westerman ’01 MF, R-AR, former U.S. Reps. Stephanie Murphy, D-FL, and Carlos Curbelo, R-FL, and former U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-LA. 

Climate game changers

Daniel Esty, the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, is moderating several panels on trade policy, international organizations’ climate obligations, and frontier issues in climate and AI. He said the discussions will examine the significant climate work being done across the globe.

“What you will see at Climate Week is a whole world of people who are coming together to say that climate change is too big a problem to let the politics of any one country at any one moment slow down the need for global cooperation and a robust response,” Esty said. “There are thousands across the world working to move the climate agenda forward with a diversity of approaches and that is a great strength.”

Esty, director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy (YCELP), pointed to a landmark opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in July affirming that nations have an obligation under international law to protect people from the urgent threat of climate change and limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial times. Failure to take action may constitute “an internationally wrongful act” and supporting fossil-fuel production is a potential violation of these principles, the opinion stated.

“I think this will shape how international organizations — including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization — carry out their mandates. It establishes principles that countries will find compelling to adopt their own legal frameworks,” said Esty, who was on leave in 2022-2023 to work on developing a sustainability agenda for the World Trade Organization.

Another game changer on climate action, Esty said, is AI’s potential to deliver substantial progress on mitigation efforts. Mobilizing its power while also addressing the challenges it poses — such as its impact on energy usage and electricity demands — is fundamental to moving solutions to climate change forward, he noted.

YCELP is launching a new initiative that will examine how artificial intelligence can address sustainability, including water resources.

“AI represents an incredibly significant opportunity to improve life on Earth broadly and move society toward a sustainable future. It is the most powerful tool to drive efficiency that we have ever seen and must be managed in a way that ensures we are maximizing its positive potential and addressing any negative dimensions seriously and vigorously to ensure they don’t become obstacles,” Esty said.

“Frontier Issues in AI and Climate Change: Seizing the Opportunity, Meeting the Challenge,” panelists include Michel Gelobter, executive director of the Yale Center for Environmental Justice; Uday Khemka, managing trustee of The Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation and director of The Green AI Learning Network; and David Sandalow, host of the AI, Energy and Climate podcast. 

Building trust in carbon markets 

Forests and forest lands absorb almost 30% of carbon dioxide emitted each year and the sale of carbon credits has emerged as a key avenue for the protection and restoration of forests. Yet, there is uncertainty about the quality and integrity of the credits. 

In advance of the Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative’s launch of the online course, “Navigating Corporate Engagement in Carbon Markets,” Eva Garen, ELTI director, and Gillian Bloomfield, associate director of online programs, are facilitating a roundtable discussion with representatives from the corporate sector and carbon market advisors, managers, and experts on how to increase confidence for decision making about forest carbon markets.

“A lot of companies have been building up their capacity to be involved in carbon markets for many years. Some are motivated because they have supply chains that depend on quality environments or they have made commitments as part of net-zero targets and corporate social responsibility, and some are expecting changes in the regulatory market,” Bloomfield said. “They are interested in nature-based solutions and are looking for guidance on how to engage and minimize risk.”

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The Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture (YCNCC) is also organizing a panel aimed at forest-based projects as well as one on enhanced mineral weathering.

Sara Kuebbing, YSE research scientist and director of the Yale Applied Science Synthesis Program, along with Peter Raymond, the Oastler Professor of Biogeochemistry and co-director of YCNCC, will moderate the panel on building external validity of evidence for forest carbon credits.

The “Research Through Deployment” session will examine strategies for improving forest carbon measurement protocols and reducing the cost of high-integrity monitoring, reporting, and verification.

Research is often limited to small field trials and to bring those projects to scale, the academic community of researchers must partner with practitioners, Kuebbing noted.

“We need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Research through deployment is a powerful way to align the academic and practitioner sectors and rebuild trust that we can produce science for solutions,” she said.

Propelling impact across sectors

Peter Boyd, lecturer and resident fellow at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY), is moderating a session on driving climate impact across the finance, policy, and innovation sectors. Maggie Thomas ’15 MEM, former White House senior advisor on climate; Natasha Feshbach ’23 MEM, fellowship manager at Activate; and Steph Speirs, lecturer at the Yale School of Management and former CEO and co-founder of Solstice, will make up the “Turning Purpose Into Practice” panel. Boyd also will launch a new professional development course on Coursera at the Yale Climate Week event in conjunction with the panel. The course, “The Hunt: Job Searching and Career-Building with Purpose,” emphasizes how individual job seekers and professionals can combine self-reflection, networking tactics, and storytelling to land opportunities that align with their values and strengths.

“Now, more than ever, is the time to tune in to purpose to find — or build — our next job. We are excited to provide both practical support and inspiration for rising environmental leaders,” Boyd said.