While media attention focuses heavily on the United Nations’ Paris Agreement – including the inadequacy of countries’ pledges and the United States’ plans to withdraw – fortunately that is not the only available venue for making climate progress.  Internationally, in 2016 world governments reached two other significant agreements: the Montreal Protocol’s Kigali Amendment to phase down HFCs, a potent class of greenhouse gases used for refrigeration and air conditioning, and the UN International Civil Aviation Organization’s CORSIA agreement to limit future emissions from international flights to 2020 levels.  What are the prospects for implementing those agreements, and for fulfilling the promise of the Paris Agreement?  And how are states, provinces, and cities, as well as the private sector, contributing to the forward momentum so critically needed to avoid dangerous levels of global warming?   

Presented by Jennifer A. Haverkamp (Executive in Residence, Atkinson Center)

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The 2018 Cornell University Climate Change Seminar meets Monday afternoons through May 7. This university-wide seminar provides important views on the critical issue of climate change, drawing from many perspectives and disciplines. Experts from Cornell University and other universities will present an overview of the science of climate change and climate change models, the implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and food systems, and provide important economic, ethical, and policy insights on the issue.

The seminar is free and open to the Cornell and Ithaca Community at large, and most will be available as a Zoom webinar (register).

Organized and sponsored by the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions, and the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.