Climate Action Down on the Farm: Food and Climate Nexus Opportunities in China and the US
Food systems account for 31 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions arise along the whole food supply chain, from production, processing, and packaging to transport, consumption and disposal. Power and transport systems receive the lion share of attention in the global dialogue and response to climate change, while the nexus between food and climate has been largely absent from the climate conversations. To date, very few countries take a comprehensive view of the food system in their climate action plans.
The United States and China, the two largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, both face similar climate change threats to agriculture—from extreme weather patterns, stronger floods, extended droughts to greater pests and diseases. Climate impacts threaten economic and food security. As food market superpowers, the United States and China are well positioned to lead efforts in green agriculture to address climate change. Notably, green and climate resilient agriculture were priorities highlighted in the U.S.-China Climate Crisis Statement and the U.S.-China Glasgow Declaration in 2021.
At this May 10th CEF meeting, panelists will give an overview of the global food-climate challenge and delve into opportunities for China and the United States to target the food system to help reach their carbon neutral and short-lived climate pollutant reduction goals.
David Sandalow, (Center for Global Energy at Columbia University and co-founder of the Food Climate Partnership) will set the stage, discussing the food system and climate change. Next, Sally Qiu and Hörn Halldórudóttir Heiðarsdóttir will share insights on China’s food-related greenhouse gas emissions.
The next two speakers will turn the conversation to the farms with Zhenzhong Si (Waterloo University) offering some insights into the government’s policies and bottom-up agroecological initiatives in China that respond to the social and environmental challenges facing the food system while creating new problems for sustainability. And Karen Mancl (Ohio State University) will examine success in sustainable agriculture in the United States and China and explore policies needed to incentivize farmers.
Patty Fong (Global Alliance for the Future of Food), whose CEF Green Tea Chat laid out the urgency for global food system transformation to address climate change, will be the commentator at this session.
State Department Authorization: Strengthening U.S. Diplomacy for the 21st Century
- Brian McKeon, Deputy Undersecretary for Management and Resources
The FY 2023 budget request has $2.3 billion to support U.S. leadership in addressing the existential climate crisis through diplomacy; scaled-up international climate programs that accelerate the global energy transition to net zero by 2050; support to developing countries to enhance climate resilience; and the prioritization of climate adaptation and sustainability principles in Department and USAID domestic and overseas facilities. This total includes over $1.6 billion for direct programming for climate mitigation and adaptation and over $650 million for the mainstreaming of climate considerations across development programs. Our goal is to deliver climate co-benefits and outcomes in sectors such as agriculture and food security, water and sanitation, and global health.
FY2023 Budget Request for the Environmental Protection Agency
- Faisal Amin, Chief Financial Officer, Environmental Protection Agency
- Michael Regan, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
Nominations of Dr. Kathryn Huff to be Asst. Secretary of Energy (Nuclear), Dr. David Applegate to be USGS Director, Carmen Cantor to be Asst. Secretary of the Interior (Insular and International Affairs), Dr. Evelyn Wang to be ARPA-E Director
The first business meeting will be held on Thursday, April 28, 2022, at 10:00 a.m., immediately preceding the previously scheduled hearing in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.
The purpose of the business meeting is to consider the nomination of Dr. Kathryn Huff to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy (Nuclear Energy).
Following that, the next hearing will be held.
The purpose of the hearing is to consider the nominations of:- Dr. David Applegate to be Director of the United States Geological Survey;
- Ambassador Carmen G. Cantor to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior (Insular and International Affairs); and
- Dr. Evelyn Wang to be Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, Department of Energy.
Briefing on the SEC Climate Disclosure Rule, with Keynote by SEC Chair Gary Gensler
Ceres will host a briefing with Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler about the SEC’s proposed climate disclosure rule.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) just released a proposed rule requiring climate disclosure from all U.S. public companies, called the Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors. Public comments will be accepted until at minimum, May 20.
The mission of the SEC is to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation. With this proposed rule, the SEC is responding to the need by investors for clear, consistent and comparable reporting from companies to produce useful investment insights and ensure financial markets can properly price and act on the physical and transitional risks and opportunities of climate change.
Participants will:- Hear keynote remarks from SEC Chair Gary Gensler
- Gain insight from Ceres’ high-level summary of the rule
- Listen to reactions of the rule from a panel of distinguished investors
Keeping 1.5 C Alive: Responding to the IPCC Report on Mitigating Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group III report underscores the urgency for rapid, deep and sustained cuts to greenhouse gases for the world to have a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F). This seminal report offers new insights on possible pathways for policymakers, business leaders and others to ramp up their efforts to tackle the climate crisis at the scale and urgency required.
Join World Resources Institute experts and IPCC authors on April 12 for an overview of the IPCC report and learn about the transformative actions across sectors (including energy, transportation, food, forests and much more) needed to curb greenhouse gas emissions and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
This event will be hosted in English with simultaneous interpretation in French and Spanish.
Speakers- Chukwumerije Okereke, Director, Centre for Climate Change and Development, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Nigeria; IPCC Coordinating Lead Author
- Taryn Fransen, Senior Fellow, Climate, World Resources Institute
- Craig Hanson, Vice President for Food, Forest, Water & the Ocean, World Resources Institute
- Jennifer Layke, Global Director, Energy, World Resources Institute
- Preety Bhandari, Senior Advisor, Global Climate Program and the Finance Center, World Resources Institute (Moderator); IPCC Lead Author
Atmospheric methane continues to rocket up at record rates
Atmospheric methane continues to rocket up at record rates, NOAA reported yesterday. As fracking booms, methane levels increased by 17 parts per billion in 2021, breaking the 2020 record of 15.3 ppb. Concentrations of this powerful greenhouse pollutant are now 162 percent of their pre-industrial levels, as the Biden administration pushes for more natural gas production and export.
I will take this moment to remind readers that the EPA is undercounting methane pollution by 77 percent.
The essential Kate Aronoff castigates the incoherence of Democrats in Congress who claim to care about the climate crisis begging oil CEOs to increase fossil-fuel production, instead of acting to take their billions in windfall profits and stop their greenhouse pollution:
Appealing to these CEOs’ better angels is pointless. Although they hand fossil fuel companies billions in subsidies each year, American policymakers mostly confine themselves to begging or berating them into doing what they want.
As Adam Tooze writes in his review of three recent books by Andreas Malm:
To harp on the climate crisis while doing nothing about it is, in the long run, intolerable. Liberals’ failures make Trump look honest. He may deny the science, but at least he’s true to himself.
It’s Electric: Developing the Postal Service Fleet of the Future
On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a hearing to examine the benefits, opportunities, and challenges of electrifying the Postal Service fleet through the acquisition of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV).
Opening Statement Witnesses- Tammy L. Whitcomb, Inspector General, United States Postal Service
- Victoria K. Stephen, Executive Director, Next Generation Delivery Vehicle, United States Postal Service
- Jill M. Naamane, Acting Director, Physical Infrastructure Team, Government Accountability Office
- Joe Britton, Executive Director, Zero Emission Transportation Association
- Kenny Stein, Director, Policy, Institute for Energy Research
“It is critical for our environment and our future that the Postal Service rapidly transition to an electric fleet,” said Chairwoman Maloney. “The federal government should be leading the way, not falling behind private companies that are already moving ahead to save money and curb climate change by electrifying their fleets. I look forward to this critical hearing to examine how the Postal Service can acquire and deploy electric vehicles and the additional steps Congress can take to support the Postal Service’s transition to the fleet of the future.”
In February 2021, the Postal Service awarded Oshkosh Corporation a contract to build its NGDV, which requires Oshkosh to build up to 165,000 internal combustion engine or battery electric vehicles for the Postal Service over ten years. The Postal Service later announced it would purchase only 5,000 electric vehicles in its initial order.
On March 14, 2022, the Oversight Committee requested that the Postal Service Inspector General examine whether the Postal Service had met its environmental obligations in connection with this acquisition.
Ten days later, on March 24, 2022, the Postal Service announced its initial purchase order with Oshkosh for 50,000 NGDVs, of which at least 10,000 will be electric—twice the number of electric vehicles the Postal Service previously planned to purchase in its initial order.
The hearing will examine the significant domestic environmental and public health benefits, as well as valuable cost savings, of transitioning the Postal Service fleet to electric vehicles. Major private sector fleets are increasingly becoming electric because electric vehicles are more cost-effective in the long run due to lower maintenance and fuel costs.
America’s Natural Solutions: The Climate Benefits of Investing in Healthy Ecosystems
This hearing will review the climate benefits of the investments made in ecosystem restoration and conservation through the Great American Outdoors Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It will also examine opportunities for further investment to create healthy and resilient habitats and communities.
Witnesses- Collin O’Mara, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Wildlife Federation (NWF). O’Mara leads the country’s largest wildlife conservation organization, with 52 state and territorial affiliates and nearly six million hunters, anglers, birders, gardeners, hikers, paddlers, and wildlife enthusiasts. Prior to NWF, O’Mara led the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control as Cabinet Secretary from 2009 through 2014.
- Dr. Sherry L. Larkin, Professor and Director of the Florida Sea Grant College Program, University of Florida. A natural resource and environmental economist, Dr. Larkin leads work to conserve coastal and marine resources and enhance economic opportunities across Florida. She has served as an elected member of the executive committee for the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, as well as the president of the North American Association of Fisheries Economics.
- Dr. Cristina Eisenberg, Graduate Faculty at the Forest Ecosystems & Society Department in the College of Forestry, Oregon State University. Dr. Eisenberg works to integrate traditional ecological knowledge into environmental restoration practices in Western North America. She is a Smithsonian Research Associate and served as the Chief Scientist at Earthwatch Institute, where she oversaw a global research program focusing on ecological restoration, social justice for Indigenous peoples, and sustainable production of natural resources.
- Nick Loris, Vice President of Public Policy, C3 Solutions. Loris studies and writes about a wide range of energy and climate policies, including natural resource extraction, energy subsidies, nuclear energy, renewable power, and energy efficiency. He also studies ways in which markets will improve the environment, reduce emissions, and better adapt to a changing climate.
MIT Energy Conference Day Two
The 2022 MIT Energy Conference will return in-person at the Boston Marriott Cambridge after a 2-year hiatus, and we’re also planning on a hybrid format to allow other attendees to tune in virtually from around the globe!
The 2022 conference will also expand its scope to include broader issues in the fight against climate change, both within and outside the energy sector. Please check out the agenda page for more details on our exciting lineup of events. You can find more details on speakers and startups presenting at the Tech Showcase as well.
April 1, 2022 – Day 2, Friday
9:05am – 9:25am: Keynote address by Dr. Maria Zuber: Vice President for Research at MIT
No Time to Lose: The Imperative of Decarbonizing the Global Economy
Maria Zuber is Vice President for Research and the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics at MIT, where she is responsible for research administration and policy. She oversees MIT Lincoln Laboratory and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research laboratories and centers, including the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the MIT Energy and Environmental Solutions Initiatives, the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, the Research Laboratory of Electronics, the Materials Research Laboratory, MIT.nano, and Haystack Observatory. She also oversees MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade.
9:30am – 9:45am: Keynote address (virtual) by Gina McCarthy: National Climate Advisor at the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy
Federal Climate Change Policy
Gina McCarthy is the first National Climate Advisor—the president’s chief advisor on domestic climate policy—and leads the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy focused on mobilizing a whole-of-government approach to tackling the climate crisis, creating good-paying, union jobs, and securing environmental justice. Previously, she served as 13th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and then as President and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). One of the nation’s most trusted and accomplished voices on climate issues, she has been at the forefront of environmental and public health progress in a variety of leading roles for over three decades.
9:50am – 10:30am: PLENARY PANEL: Renewable Energy – Heart Pumping the Energy Transition
Renewable energy is the heart of society’s transition into environmentally friendly energy sources and economies. As of now, the renewable energy sector receives billions of dollars and engages some of the most brilliant minds to solve complex socio-technical challenges. This foundational transition is not dealing with on-demand consumption, but rather human long-term survival on a livable planet for generations to come.
The renewable energy technologies that are powering the transition have improved exponentially since its inception – notably in wind and solar energy (for example, solar cells’ efficiency has more than doubled in 40 years, with the price per Watt decreasing approximately 100 times). Such improvements have allowed renewable energy technologies to increase their competitiveness and deployment all over the world, exhibiting two-digit growth in the last decade. Alas, they still have room for improvement to reach their fullest contribution towards the energy transition.For that to happen, we need multidisciplinary collaboration across the worlds of research, business, government, policy, and finance. Looking forward, key questions arise: what technology improvements will sustain our foundational transition in the years to come? Moreover, how will cross-collaboration accelerate innovation and deployment?
Featured Panelists:- Moderator: Leonardo Beltrán – Distinguished Energy Fellow, Columbia University
- Joaquín Castillo – USA Country Manager – Acciona Energia
- Cheryl Lafleur – Board Chair, ISO New England
- Sam Massey – Executive Director, Renewable Energy, Next Era
- Mary Werner – Solar Energy Tech Lab Program Manager, NREL
10:45am – 11:25am: PLENARY PANEL: Global Climate Action: Strategy to 1.5C
COP26, held in the UK last year, drew attention for being the first climate change agreement to mention coal use restrictions, as well as the fact that more than 90% of the world’s GDP is now covered by net-zero commitments including India’s declaration of going to net-zero in 2070. However, the world still needs to raise its ambition to reach the 1.5-degree target set in the Paris Agreement. In this panel, climate change experts will talk about strategies to help the world reach this target. In particular, the panel will discuss how the international community can work together, including policies on ESG investment and climate-related financial disclosure given the huge amount of financial resources that will be needed to achieve the 1.5C goal. We will also discuss how we could provide assistance to developing countries and how to develop and disseminate clean technologies that are needed to decarbonize the energy system.
Featured Panelists:- Moderator: Amy Harder – Executive Editor, Cipher
- Bhargavi Chevva – Investment & Company Building, Breakthrough Energy
- Amy Jaffe – Managing Director at Climate Policy Lab, The Fletcher School at Tufts University
- Dr. Jean Rogers – Senior Managing Director and Global Head of ESG, Blackstone
11:30am – 12:10pm: PLENARY PANEL: Looking Beyond Li-ion
Electrochemical storage, primarily batteries, currently lead the storage market for portable batteries in our devices and vehicles. Li-ion Batteries or LIBs are the current front runners for most of the electrochemical market space because of their high energy densities. However, the $/kWh figure of LIBs already makes them unfavorable for certain applications such as longer-duration grid storage. Is there an underexplored world of cell chemistries that could dethrone LIBs in the upcoming decade? What are the R&D, policy, and financial priorities that can help scale the commercial deployment of emerging storage technologies?
Featured Panelists:- Moderator: Dr. Scott Litzelman – Program Director, ARPA-E
- Dr. Yang Shao-Horn – Professor, DMSE, MIT
- Scott Burger – Senior Manager, Analytics, Form Energy
- Thomas (TJ) Winter – VP of Strategic Technologies, Fluence
12:10pm – 1:40pm: LUNCH
1:45pm – 2:25pm BREAKAWAY PANEL: Carbon Capture and Utilization: The Path to Expanding Abatement
Decarbonization of emissions from existing mobile and point-source emitters presents a key challenge in achieving our goal of net-zero. Carbon abatement via capture and utilization technologies offers a promising, yet currently underapplied solution to this challenge. Expanding the use of carbon capture technologies relies, in part, on advancements in alternative capture technologies and further development of downstream carbon utilization solutions. In this panel, we look to explore the ongoing efforts to expand abatement through carbon capture and utilization as well as key technology and policy breakthroughs that could help accelerate this expansion.
Featured Panelists:- Moderator: Clint Wood – Partner, McKinsey & Company
- Scott Frazier – CEO, Carbon America
- Emily Grubert – Deputy Assistant Secretary of Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, DOE
- Sean Simpson – Founder, Chief Scientific Officer, LanzaTech
Yogesh Surendranath – Professor, Electrochemical catalysis for CO2 conversion, MIT
1:45pm – 2:25pm: BREAKAWAY PANEL II: Climate Adaptation in Small Island Developing Nations
Small Island Developing Nations (SIDS) are some of the most vulnerable communities to climate change. Some of the challenges facing SIDS include rising sea levels, loss of habitat, and increased occurrence of extreme climate events. These challenges highlight the immediacy of climate change, the urgency of climate change mitigation efforts, and the absolute need for climate change adaptation. The aim of this panel is to highlight issues facing SIDS resulting from climate change and ongoing adaptation efforts occurring in SIDS. The panel hopes to discuss adaptation efforts through political, financial, and human lenses.
Featured Panelists:- Moderator: Sabrina Shankman – Reporter, The Boston Globe
- David Gumbs – Director, RMI Islands Energy Program
- Thilmeeza Hussain – Ambassador / Permanent Representative, UN, Republic of Maldives
2:30pm – 3:10pm: BREAKAWAY PANEL I: Decarbonizing Heavy Industry
Industries like cement and steel manufacturing are among the most emission-intensive. In 2019, approximately 9% of global fossil fuel and industry emissions were related to iron, steel, and cement production. Innovations and a sustainability-focused mindset are required to address and reduce the impact that these industries are having on the environment. In this panel, speakers driving this change in the industry will present their approaches from the start-up, corporate, and policy perspectives.
Featured Panelists:- Moderator: Jeremy Gregory – Executive Director, MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium
- Tadeu Carneiro – Chairman & CEO of Boston Metal
- Josephine Cheung – Director of Research & Development at GCP Applied Technologies
- Leah Ellis – Co-Founder and CEO, Sublime Systems
- Jack Lewnard – Program Director, ARPA-E
2:30pm – 3:10pm: Fireside Chat – My Climate Journey (MCJ) Live Podcast Recording
Join us for this special live recording of the My Climate Journey podcast – featuring a fireside chat between host Jason Jacobs and Dr. Johanna Wolfson. The podcast explores the problem of climate change and the best ways to address it by talking to experts from a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives. The goal is not to convert anyone to a specific worldview, but to enable each listener to have a more informed worldview on the best ways to address the problem of climate change.
- Guest: Dr. Johanna Wolfson
- Podcast host: Jason Jacobs
Johanna is a co-founder and General Partner at Azolla Ventures, and co-founder of Prime Impact Fund. Johanna’s career has focused on accelerating climate technologies from lab to market, spanning university and industry applied research, government, and venture investing. Prior to investing, Johanna was Technology-to-Market Director for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), where she deployed more than $50MM per year into innovative energy projects and companies and also advised DOE, congressional staff, and national labs on effective lab-to-market strategies. Previously, Johanna led start-up engagement at the applied R&D lab Fraunhofer, where she both sourced innovative technologies for Fortune 500 clients and designed demonstration projects for emerging start-ups to ready their products for market entry. Johanna has a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from MIT, where she conducted research on solid-state physics and photonics.
Jason is a longtime entrepreneur, most recently as founder/CEO of Runkeeper, one of the largest mobile fitness apps and communities, which was acquired by ASICS. He is now creator of the My Climate Journey (MCJ) platform, which consists of a podcast, vibrant member community, and fund, focused on helping address the problem of climate change through content, community, and capital.
3:40pm – 5:40pm: Climate & Energy Prize (CEP) @ MIT $100K Pitch Competition Finals
Previously known as the Clean Energy Prize MIT competition, CEP is now the Climate & Energy Prize MIT competition to be inclusive of all climate change-related problems and to move the world closer to net-zero carbon emissions. CEP not only supports student-led entrepreneurs financially but also offers educational resources such as mentorship and startup boot camps to help them realize their vision.
CEP is the largest and longest-running competition for student-led climate startups in the world with over 550 applicants, over 200 mentored teams, and over $2.8 million in awarded cash prizes. Over 220 CEP @ MIT companies have successfully launched from the competition and raised over $1.1 billion in follow-on funding.