The climate emergency we face has prompted some nations, corporations, and many civil society organizations to greatly expand their decarbonization and climate protection actions. The paths to deeply decarbonizing local, national and regional economies requires innovations in a wide range of areas where new, sustainable, materials design, discovery, and implementation, and most notably highly interdisciplinary social justice work across diverse fields is critically needed, but are all at early stages. The demand for critical, rare-Earth materials, as just one example, is forecast to grown by 1000% by 2030, demanding new approaches to shifting to sustainable materials, recycling and reduce usage strategies that are far beyond what is seen as possible today. The recognition that social injustice is in many ways tied to our existing, fossil-fuel intensive economy has led to important calls for a ‘climate-justice’ nexus to protect the planet, people, and nature. The challenge is to turn that vision into clear initiatives programs, and social movements. We will highlight examples and challenges in materials discovery and deployment, and advance modeling techniques to work within and beyond sectors as examples of challenges where new thinking, entrepreneurs, and approaches to social justice are all needed.
Daniel Kammen is the James and Katherine Lau Distinguished Professor of Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Energy and Resources Group, the Goldman School of Public Policy, and the department of Nuclear Engineering. He also serves as the Senior Advisor for Energy Innovation at the US Agency for International Development (USAID). His work is focused on decarbonization, energy access, and climate justice. Kammen served as Science Envoy for Secretary of State John Kerry (2016- 2017) and was Chief Technical Advisor for Energy at the World Bank (2010-2011). Kammen is a Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Kammen was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020. His research is focused on the science and policy of decarbonized energy systems, energy access, and environmental justice. He has published more than 450 papers, which are available on his laboratory website, the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL)Twitter: @dan_kammen
Friday, October 28, 2022
Daniel Kammen, Director of Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, Professor in the Energy and Resources Group, Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
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