CLIMATE INVESTING:
TRANSITION TO A LOW-CARBON WORLD
Interdisciplinary Conference
Conference Dates: September 29-30, 2015
Location: McKenna Hall, University of Notre Dame
Background
Climate change is considered by many thoughtful observers to be the defining issue of
our time. Business executives, religious and political leaders, scientists and citizens are
increasingly calling for effective cooperative action. Later this year climate change will be the
subject of a major papal encyclical. In December, the United Nations Conference on Climate
Change in Paris will be seeking agreements on carbon limits from all the world’s nations.
The challenges are daunting. The latest reports from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that it is still possible to keep an increase in global warming
under 2°C, but this will take an unprecedented level of swift, global, cooperative action.1 The
International Energy Agency reports that the world’s current trajectory of energy use puts us on a
course for a 3.6°C increase. To have even a 50-50 chance of staying under the 2°C ceiling will
require an estimated investment of $53 trillion dollars from now through 2035.2 This will
demand a far different allocation of capital than is in place today, and it will necessitate the
development of a new generation of investment vehicles. In the most detailed study to date, the
journal Nature recently announced that in order to achieve the 2°C target, 80% of the world’s
coal, 50% of its gas, and 30% of its oil will need to remain in the ground forever.3 Such
potentially stranded assets require a redefinition of risk as we accelerate the move to renewable
fuels.
Segments of the business community have become increasingly involved over the last
decade. Groups such as the Carbon Disclosure Project, Plan B, the Investor Network on Climate
Risk, the UN Environmental Program Finance Initiative, the Investor Responsibility Research
Center, CERES, and others are drawing attention to an indisputable fact—climate mitigation will
require a concerted partnership between the private and public sectors in order to protect the
climate commons both now and for future generations.
In addition to climate mitigation, climate adaptation is a central policy issue. How do
communities, regions, nation-states, and businesses adapt to abnormal changes in weather
patterns? In 2010 at the UN sponsored climate change conference in Cancun, donor countries
established the Green Climate Fund with a goal of providing $100 billion annually starting in
Last Revision: 29 Jun 2015
2020 to help developing countries adapt to climate change. This amount is predicated on a 2°C
rise in temperature. The adaptation costs rise exponentially if mitigation strategies are delayed.
The University of Notre Dame is home to ND-GAIN, a global adaptation index that assesses
both the readiness and vulnerability of nation-states in addressing issues of climate change.4
This valuable tool enables policymakers and planners to target aid where it is needed most.
The Opportunity
In all likelihood the next three to four decades will offer unparalleled opportunities for
innovation on a global scale. Radically new technologies, business models, and business
processes will emerge that not only redefine energy, but also commerce as a whole for the
second half of the twenty-first century. Literally tens of trillions of dollars will be invested over
this timeframe.
More importantly, this transition offers the possibility of redefining the very foundations
of society. Is a pattern of consumer-driven, resource-intensive economic growth on a planet
growing to 10 billion people really sustainable? Or is there a possibility for human civilization
to recalibrate itself to conform to a set of values that includes the welfare of all its inhabitants?
Indeed, global issues require global solutions. Any sustainable policy initiatives for climate
change must be workable, to one degree or another, for everyone. If an inclusive orientation is
taken from the outset, it unleashes a more creative logic path and a more innovative set of
proposals.
Conference Structure
Climate Investing for a Resilient World will include keynote talks, panels of experts, and
small group discussions. Conference participants will include business executives, investors,
academics, activists, students and the general public.
Expected Outcome
The goal of the conference is to develop an initial set of design guidelines for climate
investing. To support this goal, the small group sessions of the conference will draw upon two
distinct, but related, methodologies: (1) pattern language developed by architect Christopher
Alexander and associates and (2) design principles for sustainable commons articulated by Nobel
Prize winner Elinor Ostrom.
Conference Agenda (As of May 1)
Tuesday, September 29
8:00 am—9:15 am
9:30 am—9:45 am
9:45 am—10:05 am
10:05 am—10:25 am
10:30 am—11:15 am
11:15 am—12:30 pm
12:30 pm—1:45 pm
1:45 pm—3:00 pm
3:00 pm—3:30 pm
Registration and Continental Breakfast
Welcome and Introduction of Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C.,
President, University of Notre Dame
Fr. Jenkins Introductory Remarks
Overview of the Conference
Keynote Address
Panel I: Climate, Science, and Energy
Conference Lunch
Panel II: Changing Energy Landscape
Refreshment Break
2
3:30 pm—5:00 pm
5:00 pm—6:00 pm
6:00 pm—7:00 pm
7:00 pm—8:00 pm
Wednesday, September 30
8:00 am—9:00 am
9:00 am—9:45 am
9:45 am—11:15 am
11:15 am—11:30 am
11:30 am—1:00 pm
1:00 pm—2:00 pm
2:00 pm—3:30 pm
3:30 pm—3:45 pm
3:45 pm—4:45 pm
4:45 pm—5:00 pm
Principles of Climate Investing—Round One (small group
discussions)
Break
Hors d’oeuvres
Evening Speaker
Continental Breakfast
Keynote Address: Carolyn Woo
Panel III: View from Asia
Refreshment Break
Panel IV: Investment Perspectives
Conference Lunch
Panel V: The Larger Context
Break
Principles of Climate Investing—Round Two (small group
discussions)
Concluding Remarks
Speakers, Panelists and Moderators (Confirmed speakers/panelists as of June 29)
 Jeffrey Bergstrand, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, Mendoza College of
Business, University of Notre Dame
 Laurence Brahm, Founder, Himalayan Consensus
 Mark Campanale, Founder and Executive Director, Carbon Tracker Initiative
 Vincent Cushing, Co-Founder and President, QCoefficient, Inc.
 Paul Dickenson, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Carbon Disclosure Project
 John Fullerton, Founder and President, Capital Institute
 Jessica Hellmann, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
 William Hederman, Deputy Director for Systems Integration and Senior Advisor to the
Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy
 Roger Huang, Dean, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame
 Frank Incropera, Professor of Engineering, University of Notre Dame (Former Dean,
College of Engineering, University of Notre Dame)
 David Martin, Chairman, M-CAM Financial Services; Founder, Global Innovation
Commons
 Mark Orlowski, Founder and Executive Director, Sustainable Endowments Institute
 David Orr, Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, Oberlin
College
 Michael O’Sullivan, Sr. Vice President, NextEra Energy Resources
 Sam Pitroda, former Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Information,
Infrastructure, and Innovation
 Lisette Schuitemaker, Chair, Findhorn Foundation
 Carolyn Y. Woo, President and CEO, Catholic Relief Services (Former Dean, Mendoza
College of Business, University of Notre Dame)
Additional Information
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Climate Investing for a Resilient World is a carbon-neutral conference. This includes
offsetting travel for speakers, panelists, and moderators.
Two hundred participants are expected.
Rooms are reserved at the Morris Inn on campus for speakers, panelists, and moderators.
Updated agenda and other information can be found on the conference website:
http://climateinvesting.nd.edu.
For further information contact:
Prof. Leo Burke
Director, Global Commons Initiative
Email: lburke1@nd.edu
Mobile: (574) 210-0684
1
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, AR5, Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report (Summary for
Policymakers). http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/
2
This includes $39T in energy supply and $14T in energy efficiency. International Energy Agency, World Energy
Investment Outlook, 12 November 2014. http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/publications/weo-2014/
3
Michael Jakob and Jerome Hilaire, “Unburnable Fossil-Fuel Reserves,” Nature, 517, 8 January 2015.
4
See index.gain.org.
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