[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
ladies and gentlemen
please welcome the moderator of the very
last session
at globsec 2021 kathleen
[Music]
coke
well welcome everyone now to the final
session of the globe sec forum uh
i would like to think that they saved
the very best
for last well as we all know this um
november
uh the united nations climate change
conference
um otherwise known as cop26 will be
taking place in glasgow and this is the
moment of course
for countries to submit stronger climate
commitments
uh in other words um what we call ndc's
nationally determined contributions now
yes the united states
um has rejoined the paris climate
accords but
the title of our panel is political
leadership on climate change
united we stand question mark
question mark so there's uncertainty
about how unified
the world is on this topic
and what will the ramifications of
disunity be
so we will be uh bringing our audience
into the discussion
um the audience in the room that'll
happen later on
but um obviously our audience online
which
there are some who are watching us on
zoom in the virtual studio or also
watching us via the globe sec app using
slido
you can type your questions in at any
moment
now i have a wonderful panel um one of
my panelists
isn't yet here i will uh introduce her
last and hope
hopefully she'll be able to join us but
who we have with us right now is
first of all jennifer morgan she is
executive director of
greenpeace international david
livingston the senior advisor to the u.s
special envoy for climate john kerry
and hopefully cross fingers soon to be
joining us will be
laurence tubiana who is the ceo of the
european climate foundation
so jennifer i will start with you um
what is your reaction to the
announcement that was made
on sunday at the g7 meeting where the
leaders
did say that they are boosting their uh
climate finance
pledges what do you think about that
well i think unfortunately the g7 as a
whole was
a big disappointment for both climate
and for equity across the board
the financing component of it was
was very very weak we didn't see very
many new
commitments coming in to fill the
pledges of the 100 billion that
developed countries had pledged years
ago
and on the climate part as well yes
there were good directional statements
and yes it's good that
we're in a different situation and
having a president of the united states
who understands the science
but we needed deadlines we needed plans
for those g7 countries of when they're
going to
phase out fossil fuels when they are
going to phase out the
internal combustion engine and we didn't
see that
we saw a great commitment for
international coal financing and phasing
that out
of biology seven uh by next year uh but
the vagueness
is just doesn't match the urgency at
this point in time
david how would you respond to that why
didn't
president biden and the other leaders
you know make a more detailed commitment
well thank you so much for having me and
i'm i'm
so pleased to be able to uh to join this
year's summit virtually i hope to
to be able to be there in person soon um
uh you know let me just say that i i
personally thought this was actually a
a a quite productive year for the g7
um uh in terms of uh international coal
finance uh
as as was mentioned um there was a very
strong signal that was not at all a
foregone conclusion going into the g7
uh and thanks to uh i think some very
constructive diplomacy we were able to
get a very strong signal
um that there will be an absolute and
unequivocal end
to international financing of unabated
uh overseas coal
this year um it's a very strong signal
and now it's important to take that
uh and depress the other large remaining
financiers globally
uh to stop exporting unabated
uh emissions from the the dirtiest uh
most polluting
uh power source that we have globally
which prevents other countries
uh the recipient countries from really
being able to um to step
up and to lay out the climate ambition
and climate action
uh that oftentimes they they would like
to do now when it
comes to uh domestic uh emissions and
and domestic sectors
you know let me just say that um i
thought again there was actually some
some strong coordination across multiple
different sectoral initiatives
so in transport the united states and
other g several other g7 members joined
the
zero emission vehicle uh transitions
council
the united states is going to be we're
only 100 days a little bit more than 100
days into this new administration
but i know that colleagues at epa
department of transportation
are hard at work rolling out uh domestic
policies on the transportation front
and we uh we look forward to watching
that space and uh as those get rolled
out i think you'll see
even more uh specific policy
um action in the united states being
added to the overall vision set by the
g7
the power sector the united states
continued to lay out its vision
for a carbon pollution free power sector
by 2035.
now the perhaps not all g7 members were
able to agree on that but we still got a
call for an overwhelmingly decarbonized
power sector in the 2030s
that speaks for itself the necessary
technologies will need to be deployed
uh to the grid um we'll need to deploy
uh and scale up new technologies that
help us address emissions at
existing uh fossil plants if they are to
um to to have a role to play in that
decarbonized power sector in the 2030s
and we have to have a decarbonized power
sector in the 2030s if we're going to
meet our 2050 goals
and then finally let me just note that i
think what was perhaps most notable is
that this g7 didn't just tackle the
low-hanging fruit
or the easy opportunities but also went
to where
emissions abatement is actually quite
difficult the g7 rolled out for the
first time ever a standing group
a standing body on climate and clean
energy the g7 industrial decarbonization
agenda
which is focused on the hardest to abate
sectors
and both supply side technological push
as well as demand side pole for clean
energy
uh technologies for green products such
as green cement green steel etc
which will help lower the cost of those
uh
green products and processes that will
be needed to decarbonize the industrial
sector
which is oftentimes the the most
difficult and the most expensive
in which to reduce emissions and when we
do that is the g7 we
lower the cost of decarbonization not
just for ourselves and our own countries
our own economies
but also for economies around the world
um
and so i think that's going to be a very
important step in showing the path
forward
in sectors like chemical steel cement
fertilizers etc
so i saw quite a bit of good in this
year's g7 i think that these are not
easy wins these are hard-fought wins
we have much more to do the proof will
be in the actions that each country
takes to implement this
uh this broad vision and some of the
very specific targets and commitments
and goals that have been set forward
we have to do more but we also must set
the tone and carry it forward into the
g20
through cop26 and beyond this year in
multilateral fora as well
thank you david jennifer and david can
you both hear me
can you hear me is my microphone working
great you've got me jennifer i wondered
i'd like to take on some of the things
that david mentioned he talked about
pressing
um on coal who do we need to press
well i think um first of all i think
that
there's some benchmarks that are being
set and i i wanted to take um
i mean in europe i think uh it's clear
that we need to press a faster
decarbonization the international energy
agency has noted that developed
countries need to phase out coal by
2030.
right so it's good the 2030s is that
that's the problem
every we have in this decade in the next
decade we have to
actually according to the energy
international energy agency phase out
that coal and in
in slovakia i just wanted to call out
the the government here and and say
they're setting a great pace of
sustaining a 2023 coal phase
out and so that means that other
countries in the region like poland like
like czechia like bulgaria romania need
to move in that direction
obviously also uh developing countries
need to move forward and
included in that is of course china
and looking to see how china which it's
so clearly in its national interest for
air pollution
reasons for climate change reasons uh
economic reasons
uh to also be uh both stopping the
the funding of coal internationally and
joining that g7
uh call hopefully i'll call not just
unabated
call that that's a important little word
for people in the audience who
uh follow this stuff um but also
um their domestic coal so you need to
look
uh in that space i think in india you're
seeing a
tremendous uh progress on solar and just
seeing how much
better for lives and for the for the
well-being of people and the planet that
moving into a renewable energy future
uh is important and that's why i think
it's key to focus on the technologies
that we have now
for those coal nations and those that
include renewable energy it doesn't
include carbon capture and storage it
doesn't include air capture
it doesn't include many of these
technologies that are
more what we would call false solutions
biofuels and really doubling down on
that and
uh the good news is that the prices have
dropped dramatically
the good news is those are great job
creation opportunities this is also
about job creation
and really being an economic driver for
a much more
prosperous and beneficial uh economy
those are some of the places we need to
be focusing on
thank you jennifer and i'm very excited
to say that
la ros tubiano has been able to join us
i'm so glad that the technology is
working with us
um i know that you've missed what uh
both jennifer and david have just said
but we were initially starting out by
discussing the commitments
made by the g7 um on sunday
and jennifer said it was a big
disappointment how how would you
characterize them the commitments on
climate
uh yes i i think uh
the good thing of course and i'm sure
jennifer referred to that
is having all g7 countries which was not
there before committing to net zero by
2050
but what is more worrying is even if
there are
good progress on some of the g7 members
particular uk
us of course and the other members of
the european union that are part of the
g7
we still of course need particularly a
country like japan and and just to go
forth and probably
what is missing is a uh the good thing
is
they decided uh to stop funding
uh the su to support export to
any core technology which is this is
good
but they didn't they were not clear
finally
with a precise date of phasing out coal
in the domestic field and it's it's
important because we
know and of course g7 referred to ipcc
they believe in science
this says that we have to go to net zero
by 2050
and you know there is no miracle and
unfortunately there is nothing that will
happen
so in a way uh spontaneously in 2049
so this has it's a milestone that the
pathway has to be consistent with what
can be achieved progressively
and this is halving emission global
emission by
2030 and of course it's normally much
more than that for
the developed countries of the g7 so
callies cannot be
part of the picture uh and they have to
set
a final date so i understand the
problems
the the the enormous elements of
transition for
a number of regions that are really the
economy based on coal
but that's why it's not good delay
that's what is good really to anticipate
what has to be done to accompany the
region to diversify
their their activities and not only of
course the source of energy
it's important to see how you retrain
workers
uh and and that if we delay that the
shock the economic shock
will happen much in a much tougher way
so this that's where i i was
disappointed
by the lack of clarity of the g7
and i hope they would in a way take
these
six months to towards glasgow to be much
more precise
uh on a number of sectoral elements by
the way because they have to say
things very clearly on transport uh and
beyond energy so
again good that the direction of travel
is net zero by 2050
uh but what is very important is a clear
pathway and this for the moment
is not there see um david i'd like you
to elaborate a little bit you on one
point that you mentioned um you talked
about by 2035 and
and i guess jennifer implied that wasn't
soon enough that the u.s power um
grid the power structure would be
decarbonized but and in large part by
relying on new technologies
or but or is the u.s relying too heavily
on technologies that don't even exist
yet
i uh that's a confirmation
i understand um
this could be for david also this is a
question for david to elaborate just a
moment
thank you can you hear me david
thank you let me just say i i think we
uh
we absolutely already have technologies
today that we can deploy to reduce
emissions in the power sector we can get
extremely far with uh just existing
technologies that we have today
even as we need to absolutely continue
to innovate technologies that we'll need
to reach deeper and deeper levels of
decarbonization
decades into the future it's a false
dichotomy to think about
uh innovation versus deployment as some
sort of uh
choice that you need to make between the
two in fact one of the best things we
can do to drive further innovation in
clean energy technologies
is deploy at scale today this is why the
binding administration is doing things
like setting the
hydrogen earth shock goal the goal of
achieving one dollar per one kilogram
hydrogen in one decade
one four one in one for the first
element of the periodic table
clean hydrogen which we're going to need
in order to help
not only decarbonize power but more
importantly to decarbonize heavy
industry
some long distance or heavy transport
etcetera
but the point is we get there as well by
deploying
renewables by deploying clean energy
technologies
any zero emissions technology we welcome
because it can help create the the power
production base the clean power
production base that can help drive
green hydrogen and other clean hydrogen
technologies into the system
so this is what we mean is that it's not
just what we do in labs
it's also about innovation through
deployment innovation through learning
and uh it's why you see this
administration only
100 plus days into the biden harris
administration
moving swiftly with the american jobs
plan with multiple other vehicles from
making
major investments in the energy
transition in a way that empowers
workers
and doing so also with a mind towards
both uh
going full speed on the technologies we
have today today to decarbonize
continuing to work on promising
technologies that may give us new
solutions in the future
but not letting the excitement we have
about
tomorrow's technologies and about
technologies that are close to
commercial
scale but not quite there yet not
letting that prevent us from also moving
swiftly ahead with the technologies we
we already have today in many parts of
the united states it's more economic
um uh to to deploy new renewables than
let's say
even to continue running existing fossil
resources um
and so uh you know the market is already
sending these signals to us
we just need to embrace it move forward
with policy and do so
in a way which seizes economic
opportunity and prosperity
uh and then shares that in a uh uh you
know in a very inclusive fashion
across multiple different uh you know
communities and with with american
workers
jennifer i'd like to look ahead now to
to cop 26.
what are you feeling what is your mood
are you
optimistic or are you pessimistic and
and what have we learned
um what lessons lauren do you think you
can apply based on what we've
experienced
over the recent years since paris
well i guess i'm optimistic because i
see so many people involved i see
if you look at movements around the
world whether it be
connected to the climate crisis whether
it be connected to
racial justice black lives matters
whether it be relation
you know to vaccine equity you see
people who are getting engaged who are
standing up and who are really fighting
for a better world and i think you're
seeing that
in a way through elections uh it's not
often that you have you know a youth
movement that
gives a mandate to a new european
government you see
a new u.s government with certainly uh
although
i obviously think it needs to be further
it's you know president biden ran on the
most
uh ambitious climate plan that we've
ever seen
you see people um standing up in in
poland
for example farmers fighting so that
there aren't new coal mines that's what
gives me really hope and optimism and i
think that will continue into glasgow
and certainly beyond
and it's an understanding that we really
need to change the
rules of the system that that there's
something not working that the
short-term
uh kind of economic benefits or
uh are are coming ahead of really taking
care of people and the planet
i think where i'm concerned obviously is
the is the pace and scale of change
that's required to
avoid complete climate chaos and that's
why i come back to dates
um uh i think we need to see in glasgow
a stepping up of of all countries to
the command commensurate needs that the
scientific community is telling us right
the laurels mentioned that
the having of emissions by 2030 with the
major lead by developed countries but
also
developing countries coming forward on
that and
we still have a ways to go there and i
think a key piece is really going to be
about solidarity with developing
countries
and that also goes across the board i
think if one message for
for our viewers you know vaccine equity
and supporting the
the trips uh proposal in the wto of
south africa
and uh india as the united states has
done is a key part
of developing countries feeling
solidarity and support in tackling these
crises climate and
a pandemic right now lawrence how would
you characterize
your mood um it's interesting i was
listening to a speech you gave
in the fall in i think it was
in poland and you talked about how the
united states yes had
backed out of the kyoto protocol um you
know had quit the paris
agreement um now the us is back in the
game
so so do you have optimism are you do
can you count on the u.s now
of course yes of course we we cannot but
rejoice
from not only well mainly because of
course
u.s very quickly that was i think the
first measure that president biden took
to come back to paris agreement they
where
u.s has been of course instrumental
together with many other countries to
in a way to agree to to build so that of
course was a very
good new and in a way we we have to
recognize that the
previous administration has done a lot
of damages
not because the paris agreement has
exploded it hasn't
but because in a way it has slowed down
many efforts in many countries
i'm thinking of australia i'm thinking
of brazil
i'm even thinking in mexico so this was
a
bad factor so it's a very positive
factor to see
the biden administration coming in with
as jennifer morgan said
the most encompassing ambitious climate
plan that we have ever seen in the
united states so
just 100 percent happy of that um
never nevertheless and not in that of
course a responsibility
of all the concern we may have for
glasgow
and again i do recognize that there is a
movement which again i would not have
anticipated so much
when we sign up the paris agreement we
put net zero emission by
2050 or soon after as a goal
and now it has in a way diffused that
benchmark for many many actors across
the system
and now the ipcc reinforcing that
to get really to protect the global rise
of temperature
from from beyond 1.5 degrees c
we have really to do that as early as
possible
and this is a positive element is that
this benchmark is now
the benchmark even if of course
countries or government or business are
not only
able to say how they would achieve that
the concern is in my view the problem of
a rising divide which has
how was overcome in paris
between north uh north developed
countries and the south
and the global south it's part of the of
course a coveted crisis
and the debt crisis it's part of the
difficulty of having any sensible
negotiation because of the context
it's part of course of the issue again
and again on climate finance
because again you know insisting on
constructing as a private fund it was
absolutely fine because we need this
private money to invest to be invested
in renewable energy in sustainable
transport etc
but for many developing countries the
connection with these
trillions are not is not happening
because there is
access to capital markets is not there
for them so there is an element of
uh distrust that has mounted of course
was very strong during
the previous u.s administration is now
growing
and we haven't find the the signs
action that can you know amend that
divide
and i think that's a more urgent thing i
i told that
to many of your colleagues that i think
the uk presidency
everybody has to talk to developing
countries first to show
what kind of solidarity we can
demonstrate and prepare for glasgow
it's like offering really a serious
investment package for africa for
example or renewable energy or
facilitating for india the access to
capital market to deliver their goals
so we need these actions that
trust is building up and then every
country because every country has to
make efforts
uh but every country has to feel that
they are not alone
and it's not a rich people
game or rich people get club and it's
really important
that we see that in a very
comprehensive way it's important that g7
make advance
it's important that g20 adjust again
commit and it can be a very
positive move on the g20 side if things
aren't going well
but we need a very inclusive process
because i can remember
the ambitions paris agreement was a
result of the pressure
of small island state and the less
developed countries
the leadership is there as well and many
times
we forget that the leadership comes from
small
small countries small power in a way in
the big
game of geopolitics and i think that's a
message i i really
we we should really make an effort to
make this
real by glasgow david i'd love to give
you a chance to respond to
uh laws to jennifer and and just to also
help
us understand what is the united states
doing to help bridge that trust gap
thank you very much i mean we're in many
ways we're where we are
even with a passing shot at addressing
this climate crisis because of the
uh the hard work of lawrence and and and
colleagues uh
you know years ago with uh um at the
instantiation of the paris agreement the
hard work that led up to it so
i know we're all very grateful for uh
for for everything that
that has been done to date to give us
the framework in which we can work to
raise global ambition which is exactly
what
this administration and secretary kerry
and his role as special presidential
envoy for climate is doing
now when it comes to climate finance um
there's clearly
uh you know a lot of a lot of time to
make up
a lot of lost opportunities to make up
and this administration again just
a little bit over 100 days in is working
to do that president biden's laid out a
plan
to double climate finance u.s climate
finance
to triple adaptation finance which is
very important that we scale up there's
not enough adaptation finance going
around and the us is working to
to dramatically increase 3x the amount
of adaptation finance that we have
you also saw the u.s leading work
towards the announcement
of the g7 of a new 2 billion
for the accelerating coal transitions
program and other clean energy
transition programs at the climate
investment funds at the sifs
um this is meant to uh as as we
the g7 uh step away from uh
uh you know having anything to do with
public support for international
coal it's important to help countries
with the financial resources and
as as well as the technical uh you know
expertise um
and uh uh and and the uh and the
solutions and technologies needed
to transition away from coal in their
energy sectors towards cleaner energy
sources that by the way are going to
deliver
better benefits in terms of air quality
and oftentimes also in terms of job
quality
in many of these economies around the
world and
including many developing countries now
in addition to this
um uh we you know we also need to be
very focused on
uh addressing where the where the
largest are
it's not in the countries it's not in
small island states it's not the most
vulnerable
these are the ones that have most at
stake in the future of the climate
crisis
and yet they are often the ones uh the
lowest emissions globally
instead we need to focus on uh the
45 percent of global gdp which is not
aligned the largest economies which are
not aligned with keeping 1.5 degrees c
within reach
the united states europe the rest of the
g7 indeed the rest of the oecd
can do as much as it can but we're going
to need to help the rest of the world to
come along with us
together in addressing this climate
crisis i would like to remind
the audience that all of the oecd
economies and missions
combined are less than the emissions of
just china
china's per capita emissions are quickly
catching up
to the oecd average per capita emissions
and so what we it's not to call out any
single country but it is to say
that we need to also be serious about
where the future of energy growth is
where the future of emissions growth is
it's not
in the united states it's not in europe
it's in non-oecd asia
it's in africa it's in latin america
it's in central and south asia
this is where we have to work to bend
the emissions curve
and we have to work hand in hand with
these countries we have to
deploy clean energy goods and services
that that we have to offer
uh in order to help these economies bend
their emissions curves as quickly as
possible
and in the meantime while doing it by
the way to bolster their economic and
energy
security that's the only way to get
countries around the world to buy into
this transition
they have a stake in it and so on that
note i just like to say since we're at
globe sec i'd like to highlight
that the cee region in europe is
important is an important place not just
to be deploying clean energy but to
become an
engine of clean energy manufacturing in
fact it's already
the battery of europe the battery
capital of europe in terms of
uh uh building you know gigafactories
that are going to supply batteries for
the electric vehicle
industry of europe into the future i'd
like to see central and eastern europe
also become
a trusted uh source of clean energy
manufacturing in a full range of clean
energy technologies
that we in the united states as well as
our friends in europe can depend upon um
to to feed the the clean energy
deployment we're going to need in our
economies but also around the world
thank you david i want to go to the
audience now with a poll
we we have a poll on slido so those of
you who are on slido if you would pull
it up
we want to talk a little bit about net
zero so this is the first question
how confident are you that your country
will meet the goal of net zero emissions
by 2050
needed in order to limit global warming
to 1.5 degrees c so let's
see how confident folks are that their
country
their own country is doing well and
we'll meet the goal
hmm not
looking very confident let's get all the
results in
okay fascinating
no one has said very confident
well let's go on let me write my notes
here so we've got a 50
let's see our 47 47 and confident five
and very confident zero all right the
next question
how confident are you the the world the
world at large in other words will meet
the goal of net zero emissions
by 2050 needed to limit global warming
to 1.5 degrees c
so will the world do a better job than
your own country how confident are you
let's see do we have the results of the
second poll yet i'm curious
okay wow
not a very optimistic group
so um and i'm not sure um if my
panelists can see these results
but what we are seeing okay you can see
these um
wow well let me take this now to you
jennifer uh there doesn't look like
there's a lot of optimism
out there um you know what what what
does this say to you
well i think partially i it depends on
who the audience is
um i think that i see
more skepticism i would say in corporate
and government circles than i do in
other circles
um because i see quite a lot of wanting
to hang on to the status quo
uh of where things are and if and and
we've seen that happen
very big fights for it for all for the
recovery funds that have happened to
hold on to
uh the fossil fuel economy as we have it
so
that's one question i would ask because
i think uh where i get my optimism from
is not from government or corporate
leaders it's actually from youth
it's from uh people who are on the
ground really trying to
move to um to create a better world
that's one reflection
the second is that i think that there is
still this myth
that there's a dichotomy between
having a prosperous economic
you know well-being for people and
taking care of the environment at the
same time
and i think that we we need to
understand
that those things come together i think
if anybody needs to
hear an answer to that you just need to
hear this listen to president biden say
climate change changes jobs
right and if you want to look at where
uh countries that are moving forward
and trying to bring these different
crises together
you see that climate is at that center
but i think oftentimes
you still see either misinformation
coming forward on that or fear-mongering
on that but actually they belong very
much together
and i wonder if that might be behind
those numbers as well
we got a really interesting question on
slido and i'd like to share it
and our slido viewer says are we seeing
political interest
in cooperating with china on climate
issues is there
a complementary agenda on both sides
do you have any thoughts on that
um i well as uh
david said we don't have the choice no
we we need to cooperate with china to
because if not the climate crisis cannot
be solved
the older issue is about um
so different options when we discuss
cooperation in china
while in chinese
on many other sectors whether human
rights or trade or
and or military whatever so of course in
classical geopolitics
no and this is playing a role of course
but on the other side
you know there are different movement
when you look at the
chinese society and even the chinese
leadership
i see that and and probably because of
the
new u.s administration a discussion
in china that was not existing
even two years ago uh and which were
zero carbon and really the
transformation the
even the discussion about what we do
with the pipeline of coal power plants
is open where i can i can tell you it
was not open two years ago
so there is a positive effect of the
global scene
on china internal discussion where
you know whether the genuine national
interest on the environment because
cities are chinese citizens want a
cleaner hair for example
is gaining grounds that were from the
policy makers perspective not
not not an issue it was even a taboo
subject sometimes
so i think this is open now and i don't
think
we will see uh so so we have a window of
opportunity
how to deal with that i believe we have
to in a way consider the climate crisis
and the solution on many fronts
that's why uh in a way pressure from
an action from the business from the
local authorities
is important to say that finally and and
in if i can say
something i believe so much and i very
happy to see
the biden administration in believing
that that
if eu and u.s converge in many of their
decision on their economies
then the global market will respond to
that and that will in a way be the best
incentive for china to join
forces and to decarbonize the economy
just to get
the trade still open and to recognize
that the demand in united states and you
and europe
will be in that direction like and they
they feel of course a signal and they
look at them so i think
maybe it's a practical cooperation and
of course a traditional
in a way discussion between government
has to continue
but we need a vivid discussion between
companies between local authorities and
as much as possible between citizens
that it is a common cause it's not it
should not be a polarized issues where
geopolitical interests are dominating
because that
we can't we can't find if a solution
the zero-sum game which is classical of
course in power politics
cannot be cannot be for practical reason
the response to climate crisis and
that's the same for the vaccine by the
way huh
so you cannot have nationalism if you
want to solve the vaccine crisis and the
covet crisis
but you can't solve the climate crisis
if you bet on nationalism so
giving the right signal having a very
united
europe and united states in the sense we
give to the evolution of the economy and
societies
i think it's a it's a quite safe way in
my view and you see that
i don't want to be too long you see that
the impact on the resolve of the
united states and europe on the
investment in coal where you see china
reconsidering and many countries
reconsidering even in this region
and globsec is such an important
platform for that
you see now countries that finally
withdraw from big coal power plants
when they have a discussion on
investments with china and turn to other
solutions you have seen greece serbia
and many others
and that final china can respond into
offering other seats
and including renewable energy uh so
i i do think that there is a space there
i'd love to go to um a question in the
room we do have our live audience and if
we have any more questions on slido
so does anyone have a question if you
would come to the microphone
or else i have one actually david i'm
going to go ahead and ask you this
because
there was a judge in louisiana who made
a ruling
earlier this week which is a setback
obviously for the biden administration
which had suspended new oil and gas
leases on federal lands and waters and
the judge said
that the president doesn't have the
power to do that that that's congress's
power
since it was the branch that originally
made federal lands and waters eligible
for leasing is so to be too much of a
hardship on uh on the states that we're
trying to exploit the oil and gas
how do you you know push forward this
global goal
when you're getting so much push back at
home
kathleen i'm not familiar with that
individual case i'd have to go back and
look at it
in any case it's not exactly in in my
specific portfolio but what i will say
is the
the you know the us's climate target
including the 2030
uh new enhanced climate target that sets
a goal of reducing emissions 50 to 50
percent uh by 2030 was a result of a
very extensive
uh consultation across the u.s
interagency across the us government
with external stakeholders and it looked
at a wide variety of different scenarios
for implementation
knowing that we have a very unique and
complex system of governance in the
united states a multi-layered
uh federalist system that was you know
has been envisioned for certain reasons
and is
as as strengths weaknesses but has base
proved itself to be durable
and to actually be able to achieve big
things over
you know the decades and the centuries
now a big part of that is
is indeed the fact that uh congress is
critical
for advancing uh climate clean energy
goals but so are states
so our cities or various other
localities one of the
silver linings of the past several years
in which a different administration was
perhaps not quite
at the table on climate change and in
the leadership position like this
administration is
is the fact that you had a network of
different non-federal government actors
governors mayors university presidents
labor leaders uh corporate ceos all
coming together to send the signal that
they were still committed to the paris
agreement
and that they were going to chart out a
course to try and achieve
you know what is necessary to reach net
zero by 2050 regardless of what happens
in washington dc
now that's a really powerful
architecture that we need to build on
we have sub-national champions at every
different level regardless of what
happens in
any one individual court case we have a
much stronger architecture
of sub-national action as well as civil
society and corporate action
than we ever had even four or five years
ago so we need to build on that we need
to work with it
we need to not just harness it but also
empower it to go out and go perhaps even
further than the federal government many
different ways
even as this administration the biden
harris administration sets out the most
ambitious
climate platform domestically and
internationally that's ever existed in
the united states
and so you know when that happens also
we see it happening
according to local economic logic we see
those that see an opportunity in
manufacturing
electric buses down in south carolina
going ahead and embracing that
opportunity
we see those that want to play a role in
providing the steel
uh and the turbines for offshore wind at
let's say
you know revitalize shipyards and
foundries in the gulf coast to louisiana
at facilities in west virginia and
elsewhere across the united states
leaning into that opportunity
so coastal states remember aren't the
only ones that have a lot to gain from
the 30 gigawatts of offshore wind
by 2030 goal that president biden set
and so
you know if we empower and unleash those
different communities those different
actors
you know outside of government and at
different levels of government in the
united states
i do think that we're still going to
make significant progress towards the
shared goals that we have
even as we work with congress to you
know um
to reach those targets and to do it
first and foremost by making investments
uh first and foremost in the communities
and in the technologies and in the
opportunities we need to
because that will start to create the
virtuous cycle of political economy
that we can then build on we got to get
that momentum first and we have to make
those investments
uh at home and you know in various
different communities across the united
states
um jennifer um i'm going to give you
just a moment
to sort of give us your final thoughts
because we're down to two and a half
minutes what is it
that must the key to success do you
think
at cop26 if there's one two things
that you can cite
i think the first thing is that the uk
presidency prioritizes
uh outreach and engagement with
developing countries
and works to make sure that the the
trust is built there
works to ensure that uh there's vaccine
equity that
debt is is cancelled and that there's a
climate finance package there i think
they are on the front line
uh so that is one key thing and the
second
i would just say is that the governments
as a whole listen to people rather than
the corporations
we haven't talked as much about that but
there are efforts right now under why i
buy companies to set
uh net zero goals there's good net zero
goals and there's not so good net zero
goals and so i think it will be
fundamental to make sure
that uh the companies that show up in
paris are really part of the solution
and they're not using
false solutions like offsets uh to try
and delay action
and uh that that is a key piece because
it will empower governments also
to be uh taking that type of uh
increased ambition
moving forward in this kind of job
creating
um different system for the future for
and the signal that can be sent uh that
they're really serious and will get
close
keep that 1.5 degree goal in sight
wonderful
thank you so much to my marvelous panel
you
you you're hopefully everyone is going
to emerge from this a little bit more
optimistic than they were coming in so
thank you to jennifer morgan executive
director of greenpeace international
lawrence tobiano ceo of the european
climate foundation
and david livingston senior advisor to a
special envoy for climate john kerry and
if everyone would please remain in your
seats right now
because we are going to be joining the
maria terracia stage for the wrap-up
and the closing remarks of globe sec
2021.
thank you all thank you for joining us
thanks everyone
thank you
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you