On the Path to Net Zero | Columbia Climate School - State of the Planet
On the Path to Net Zero | Columbia Climate School
On the Path to Net Zero: Critical Minerals, the Climate Crisis, and the Tech Imperium
Even while the climate crisis deepens, the decarbonization of the global economy and the fourth industrial revolution have been subsumed by geopolitics that remain anchored in realist power struggles, now revolving around Sino-American hyper-competition. Access to indispensable minerals for a net zero future has become securitized undermining ties of global interdependence. The panel of interdisciplinary scholars, institutional stakeholders, and industry experts provides insight into this latest manifestation of resource competition and discusses their contributions to the book Critical Minerals, the Climate Crisis, and the Tech Imperium (Springer Nature, 2023).
Panelists
Constantine Karayannopoulos, Former CEO, Neo Performance Materials
Kristin Vekasi, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and School of Policy and International Affairs, University of Maine
Owen Pell, The Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities; Retired Partner, White & Case LLP
Vasileios Tsianos, Director of Corporate Development, Neo Performance Materials
Moderated by
Sophia Kalantzakos, Global Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Public Policy, NYUAD
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”