Keynote speaker for Climate Change Conference 2021 - Salvo Grasso
Sandra J Garren
Hofstra University, USA
Title : Climate Policy: Lessons learned from around the World

Abstract:

Global carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations have been gradually increasing from 315 parts per million (ppm) in 1959 to 408 ppm from 2018. In 2017, the largest source by far of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions came from China with 9,839 metric tons of CO2 (MtCO2) which is nearly double that of the United States (5,270 MtCO2). However, when examining per person emissions, the US has nearly double that of the Chinese (16 versus 7 tons of carbon dioxide/per person). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported that a rapid decrease of GHG emissions is what will be needed to mitigate some of the worst damage resulting from climate change. Global efforts to address the threat began globally with the Kyoto Protocol which has now progressed into the Paris Accord; however, the United States is currently not a part of it and has no current plans to nationally reduce GHG emissions. Other nations have adopted climate policy (i.e., 39 nations and 23 sub-national jurisdictions have adopted carbon pricing with either a carbon tax or cap-and-trade scheme) and other schemes have been proposed (e.g., the carbon fee and dividend scheme advocated by James Hansen).  How effective have these policies been on reducing GHG emissions and what are the lessons that can be learned from these disparate policy responses across the globe. This talk will explore the source of GHG emissions and national and sub-national climate policies across the world.

Presentation Learning Outcome

  • The audience will learn the current status of climate policy around the world which will help them make research decisions (this is assuming the audience is mostly academic)?
  • The knowledge learned in this session may help the audience in their job depending on what they do for a living?  Other faculty may be able to use this research to expand their research or teaching as a companion policy dataset will be made available to the public?
  • Not every researcher has time to stay updated on policy decisions across the world.  However, policy is important to researchers specifically to translate the practical sustainable solutions needed to solve climate change.  This session will quickly update everyone on the state of climate policy around the world.

Biography:

Sandra Garren is the Director of Sustainability Research at the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.  She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology, Environment, and Sustainability at Hofstra University. She completed her doctorate in Geography and Environmental Science & Policy Program in the Department of Geosciences at the University of South Florida, Tampa in May 2014. She holds a bachelor’s degree in earth science/geology and a master’s degree in teaching.  In total, Sandra has more than 25 years of experience in both academic and environmental sustainability fields which includes principal investigator, project management and technical expertise for scientific investigations related to sustainability, greenhouse gas accounting, climate change policy, water management, energy, and, environmental regulation. Her research is focused on sustainability, water management, and climate policy issues both globally and nationally (including federal, state, and local governments) and is interdisciplinary and specifically focused on applied science and policy that solve problems and find solutions to the negative impacts of climate change and other environmental challenges. She currently teaches courses in sustainable development, sustainability theory, sustainable energy, and geospatial applications in sustainability.

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