Webinar on the Human Dimensions of a New Carbon Economy

Event
Wednesday, September 19, 2018 - 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm
Event Type: 

Location: Webinar (or Weill Hall 224, Cornell University)

Description: The Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future at Cornell University, the Center for Carbon Removal (CCR), and the New Carbon Economy Consortium (NCEC) invite you to connect with scholars working at the intersection of carbon removal and human dimensions research in order to develop a research agenda on the integration of the social sciences, humanities, and arts in the creation of an economy that is carbon-sequestering rather than carbon-emitting.

Managing the transition to a new carbon economy will entail promoting the adoption of alternative technologies and fuels and radically changing social behavior — what is produced and consumed, where and by whom, as well as how we approach transportation and land use. Therefore, it is imperative that this new carbon economy draw upon experts not only in the natural sciences and engineering, but disciplines such as economics, law, humanities, history, finance, political science, business, communication, sociology, planning, and design. 

During the webinar, we will explore the barriers to carbon dioxide removal (CDR) research, development, and deployment from a human dimensions perspective, addressing the following questions:

  1. How does risk management vary across different CDR methods? Do losses from climate change-associated extreme events provide incentives for transitioning to a new carbon economy? Can the risks and losses be addressed using existing policy and market mechanisms or do new approaches need to be developed?
  2. How do we implement new ways to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, either through storage methods or transforming CO2 into usable products, while still stressing the urgency and need for reducing carbon emissions?
  3. How do we change the way we design buildings, cities, and products in a new carbon economy?
  4. How do we persuade citizens, businesses, and government regulators that this work is not only relevant, but critical and profitable?  What are the decision and behavioral science considerations that inform communication about CDR and incentive structures to promote research, development, and deployment?
  5. How does the study of historical socio-technical transitions inform understanding of this challenge?  How will the system-of-systems transition the infrastructure from a carbon-emitting economy to a carbon-sequestering economy?  How will CDR interact with other parts of the economy? 

What are the most efficient policies for stimulating research, development, and deployment of CDR at the many governance scales required? How large would an incentive need to be to meet given CDR penetration goals?

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