Discover public national and local events related to learning more about climate change and taking action – whether online, in the streets, or in the auditorium. The more we know, the more effective we will be. And, the more we participate, the more we will build a community of people working for the welfare of our children and our grandchildren.
⭐️ = Of particular national relevance
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Thursday, May 20
1:30 p.m. E.T. | 10:30 a.m. P.T. | 6:30 p.m. B.S.T.
To build a truly sustainable world, we need to fundamentally redesign the economy to replace our linear approach of “take, make, waste,” and create a circular economy promoting sustainability by design. This would reduce carbon, cut pollution and help protect biodiversity – but can a circular economy advance broader systemic change?
Here at the Center on Global Energy Policy, we conduct policy-relevant research, train the next generation of energy and climate leaders, and host convenings on the world’s most pressing energy issues — and our largest annual event is coming soon.
Join us virtually May 18-20, 2021 as energy experts from around the world gather for our seventh annual Columbia Global Energy Summit. This year’s Summit will focus on understanding trends shaping our current energy system, and what’s ahead for energy policy, energy markets, geopolitics, technology and efforts to reduce emissions and address climate change.
Registration for the Summit will begin next week. We are happy to welcome the following speakers and encourage you to stay tuned for more exciting speaker announcements:
H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber
UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Special Envoy for Climate
Dr. Fatih Birol
Executive Director, International Energy Agency
Jason Bordoff
Co-Founding Dean, Climate School, Columbia University
Founding Director, Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA
Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Sophie Brochu
President and Chief Executive Officer, Hydro-Québec
Paula Gold-Williams
President and CEO, CPS Energy
Cheryl LaFleur
Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA
Former Commissioner and Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Bernard Looney
CEO, bp
Gina McCarthy
National Climate Advisor, The White House
Luis Alberto Moreno
Former President, Inter-American Development Bank
Advisory Board Member, Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA
Mary Nichols
Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA
Former Chair, California Air Resources Board
Damilola Ogunbiyi
Chief Executive Officer and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All
Co-Chair of UN-Energy
Tania Ortiz Mena
Chief Executive Officer, IEnova
H.E. Professor Oluyemi Osinbajo, SAN
Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Carmichael Roberts, PhD
Co‐Founder & Managing Partner, Material Impact
Investment Committee Co‐Lead, Breakthrough Energy
Gurdeep Singh
Chairman and Managing Director, NTPC Limited
Dr. Vera Songwe
Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
Lena,
On Wednesday, April 21, Business Forward will welcome U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to kick off our Build Back Better briefing series. This series will cover the Biden administration’s policy priorities across a range of topics, including those covered by the American Jobs Plan and the recently passed American Rescue Plan.
Secretary Buttigieg will discuss the Administration’s plans for infrastructure within the American Jobs Plan, the importance of support from the business community, and opportunities for business leaders to get involved.
Can you join the briefing?
Here are the details:
WHAT: Briefing: Building our Infrastructure Back Better
WITH: Secretary Pete Buttigieg
WHEN: Wednesday, April 21, 2021, 1:30p.m. ET/10:30a.m. PT
Please note: This call is on the record. Please share the invitation with your networks.
Can’t make it? Send me the podcast.
Thanks,
Jim Doyle
President
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
SECRETARY PETE BUTTIGIEG
Pete Buttigieg currently serves as the 19th Secretary of Transportation, having been sworn in on February 3, 2021.
Prior to joining the Biden-Harris Administration, Secretary Buttigieg served two terms as mayor of his hometown of South Bend, Indiana. A graduate of Harvard University and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, Buttigieg served for seven years as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, taking a leave of absence from the mayor’s office for a deployment to Afghanistan in 2014.
He is the son of Joseph Buttigieg, who immigrated to the United States from Malta, and Jennifer Anne Montgomery, a fifth-generation Hoosier. Growing up in South Bend—which was once home to Studebaker car manufacturing—Pete Buttigieg, like many other Americans in the industrial Midwest, grew up surrounded by empty factories and abandoned houses, sometimes hearing that the only way to a good future was to get out.
He returned to the Midwest after school, worked in the private sector, and was elected Mayor of South Bend in 2011 with a focus on delivering a new future for the city through a fresh approach to politics and bold ideas.
Soon known as “Mayor Pete,” Buttigieg worked across the aisle to transform South Bend’s future and improve people’s everyday lives. Household income grew, poverty fell, and unemployment was cut in half. The city established new resources to extend opportunity and access to technology for all residents, and he launched a “Smart Streets” initiative to improve street design in the downtown and the historically under-resourced West Side. This Complete Streets strategy led to benefits that included small business growth along previously neglected corridors, and hundreds of millions of dollars in new private investment in the once-emptying downtown.
His leadership helped spark citywide job growth and facilitated innovative public-private partnerships like Commuters Trust, a benefits program designed to improve the city’s transportation experience for workers.
At the same time, Mayor Pete worked to build a South Bend community where every resident could feel safe and included. His initiative on municipal identification cards for residents helped to bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows, while a small business incubator established in a historically Black neighborhood worked to expand opportunity, and a surge of investment went into repairing or removing abandoned houses in lower-income neighborhoods.
In 2019, he launched his historic campaign for president. Throughout 2020, he campaigned for the election of the Biden-Harris ticket and served on the advisory board for the presidential transition. In December, he was nominated by President-elect Biden to be Secretary of Transportation. He was confirmed by the Senate on February 2, 2021, becoming the first openly gay person confirmed to serve in a president’s Cabinet.
Business Forward
1155 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20036
United States
April 22, 2021 | 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
The Commission on Food, Environment, and Renewable Resources (CFERR), APLU Office of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources (FANR) and the North American Agriculture Advisory Network (NAAAN) are joining together to host an Earth Day virtual event titled Cultivating Climate Resiliency: How North American Public Universities Are Addressing Climate Change. The event will include a list of special presenters and conclude with a panel representing the North American Knowledge Zone featuring speakers from Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Location : Zoom
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | 12:30-2:00 p.m. EDT
Zoom Webinar
Budget reconciliation is a procedure that allows certain legislation to avoid the filibuster in the U.S. Senate. Policies passed through this process require only a majority to pass rather than the 60 votes usually required, which makes it an appealing route to accomplish legislative goals. However, the process comes with constraints. Any measures passed through reconciliation can only affect government spending or revenues and can’t increase the federal deficit beyond 10 years.
Thursday, April 29, 2021 | 4:00-5:30 p.m. EDT
This webinar will be hosted via Zoom. Advance registration is required. Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email with access details. The event will be recorded and the video recording will be added to our website following the event.
Join the Center on Global Energy Policy for our third episode of Columbia Energy Straight Talk, a discussion series hosted by David Hill, CGEP Adjunct Senior Research Scholar, and Cheryl LaFleur, CGEP Distinguished Visiting Fellow. This series focuses on frank, practical, bipartisan discussions on how to make change happen in the energy world. The hosts bring decades of energy experience in the public and private sectors, including David’s service as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Energy and Cheryl’s as Commissioner and Chairman at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.