Video-The Climate for Climage Change Negotiations

On December 11, 2015, the Jean Monnet European Union Centre of Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh held a roundtable discussion entitled "The Climate for Climate Change Negotiations." Panelists included Michaël Aklin, Assistant Professor, Political Science (University of Pittsburgh), Wil Burns, Co-Executive Director, Forum for Climate Engineering Assessment (American University), Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, Research Fellow, European Energy Policy (Jacques Delors Institute), and Leah Stokes, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science (University of California, Santa Barbara). The moderator for this panel was Ron Linden.

From the description of the roundtable discussion;

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP 21 / CMP 11) in Paris November 30-December 11, 2015 sought to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2⁰C. This will not be an easy goal to reach, as many scientists say the gases already emitted into the atmosphere will inevitably lead to a 2 degree increase. Therefore, the largest emitters (the U.S. and China) must commit to both significant reductions and subsidizing developing countries’ commitment to sustainable energy sources. Expectations are high on all sides – with optimists and pessimists alike touting this as our last chance to avert catastrophe. This session of the European Studies Center's Conversations on Europe series of virtual roundtables assembles a panel of experts to provide their views of what was accomplished and what was lost in the negotiations. Were the dire prognostications reasonable? What are the next steps?

A video of the roundtable discussion can be viewed below or on Youtube.