Hill Heat

Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing World

Since the biodiversity issue burst on the scene with the 1986 National Forum on Biodiversity, there has been a burgeoning of conservation efforts, organizations, research, education and related activities. Despite many successes, the overall situation is much more precarious today. The driving forces of increased human population, consumption, habitat destruction and degradation, contaminants, and invasive species have been joined by dangerous global climate disruption, globalization, poverty, political instability and other rapid environmental and social changes. Paradoxically, the biodiversity issue has largely fallen off the public agenda, pushed in part by the increased attention to climate change.

There is an urgent need for scientists, conservationists and policymakers to re-examine the biodiversity issue. We must both look retrospectively at a quarter-century of “modern” conservation efforts – what has worked well and what hasn’t, but also prospectively at the greater challenges of the next quarter-century. We need to look broadly at the many scientific discoveries and the many issues involving the use, abuse and conservation of biodiversity including cultivated as well as wild species and ecosystems.

The NCSE conference will bring together some 1000 scientists, conservationists and policymakers to develop a strategy to guide a new US Administration and others working to conserve biodiversity around the world. It will develop an approach for biodiversity management and conservation in a 21st century context, including

• Strategies for Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainable Utilization
• Scientific Needs for Understanding Biodiversity Values, Losses and Consequences
• Expanding Understanding: Information, Education and Communication

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC Metro: Federal Triangle (orange/blue line)

At a time of fiscal belt tightening, when some would put environmental priorities on the back burner, there are many who believe that investing in a green economy now is the best way to achieve both short and long term economic solutions. A recent paper by the Center for American Progress and the University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute, “Green Recovery: A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low Carbon Economy,” finds that to promote economic mobility, growth, job creation, and regain technological leadership in the global innovation marketplace, we must fundamentally change how we produce and consume energy in this country and transform our economy to a low-carbon model. Investing in clean energy and efficiency will enable the United States to regain technological leadership in the global innovation marketplace, grow our economy, reduce global warming emissions, and invest in national security.

Please join the Center for American Progress and three of the country’s leading advocates for investments in a green economy for a discussion on how each step of an economic recovery package (stabilization, stimulus, recovery, and growth) can be greened, and explore both national and state perspectives on policy solutions towards transforming our economy to a low-carbon model.

Copies of Hot, Flat, and Crowded will be available for purchase at the event.

Introduction by:

• Joseph Romm, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

Featured Speakers:

• Governor Ed Rendell (D – PA)
• Thomas Friedman, columnist, New York Times; author, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution—and How It Can Renew America
• Carol Browner, Principal, The Albright Group LLC

Moderated by:

• Bracken Hendricks, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

Live webcast.

Day 1: Cooler Heads Prevailing

Background Briefings on Facts, Trends, Policy and Politics

9:40-10:00: U.S. Transportation Policy – Survey of ISTEA-SAFETEA-LU

• Michael Replogle: Environmental Defense

10:00-10:10: Break

10:10-11:00 Where Are We Going? – Demographic, market and policy trends changing the context for transportation * Chris Leinberger: Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Center; University of Michigan; and

• Rob Puentes: Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Center

11:00-12:15: Tools for Shaping a Low Carbon Transportation Future Panel Discussion and Q & A

Growing Cooler – smart growth and transit

• Geoff Anderson: Smart Growth America; Transportation for America

Enhancing walking and biking

• Kevin Mills: Rails to Trails Conservancy

Intelligent transportation systems and pricing

• Leslie Barras: ITS America

Blueprint Plans

• Mike McKeever: Sacramento Area Council of Governments

12:15-1:30: Lunch

Lunch speaker – New Vision for American Transportation (12:45-1:30)

• Jannette Sadik-Kahn: New York City Department of Transportation

1:30-3:00: Politics and Policy: Transportation and Climate

1:30-1:50: Policy in Brief: A summary of action to date at the state and federal level

• Marty Spitzer: Center for Clean Air Policy

1:50-2:30: Perspectives from the Hill

• Amy Scarton, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
• Susan Binder: Committee on Environment and Public Works

2:30-3:30: Perspectives from Off-the-Hill

• Don Ross: Transportation for America
• Art Guzzetti: American Public Transportation Association
• Polly Trottenberg: Building America’s Future
• Joshua Shank: Bipartisan Policy Center
• Bill Ankner: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

3:30-3:45: Break

3:45-5:30: What’s the Vision: A Proposal for the Green Groups and CLEAN

3:45-4:45: Proposal for Platform, with Group Discussion

• Colin Peppard: Friends of the Earth

4:45–5:00: Fundraising

• David Burwell

5:00-5:30: Designing a Winning Green Campaign: Discussion of Goals and Overview of Next Meeting

• Deron Lovaas: Natural Resources Defense Council

5:30-???: Happy Hour

The Pew Environment Group
1025 F Street NW, 9th Floor
Washington, DC 20004

Telephone: (202) 552-2000

RSVP

EcoTuesday is the Sustainable Business Leaders Networking Forum.

This month’s speaker:

• Lynn Miller

What’s The Big deal about Social Media? Miller Strategic Marketing LLC

Lynn Anne Miller is Marketing Maven at Miller Strategic Marketing LLC where she helps organic, green and tech companies navigate marketing and strategy challenges. Lynn is also the creator and voice of the blog OrganicMania, your guide to making sense of healthy green living.

Location:

Tabaq Lounge @ Cafe Tabaq 1336 U St NW Washington, DC, 20009

RSVP here

Carbon Market Insights Americas 2008 Day 3

8:00am Registration Open

9:00am – 12:00pm Modeling & Forecasting Carbon Prices (Advanced)

This workshop will present various approaches used to forecast carbon prices, in Europe and North America.

• Advantages and disadvantages of macro- and micro-economic models
• The role of time in forecasting carbon prices
• Integrating sectors in multi-sector models
• Modeling the supply of offsets

9:00am – 12:00pm Valuation of CDM Projects & Portfolios (Intermediate)

The Price is Right: Assessing Risk and Value in the Clean Development Mechanism

• Understanding political and country risks
• Price and volume risk in CDM offset contracts
• Valuation of carbon assets – state of the art tools and methodologies

Description

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects present many opportunities for investors and project developers who understand the risks and opportunities embedded in the project cycle. Point Carbon presents its unique expertise on CDM projects around the world and its award-winning Carbon Valuation Tool, a web-based tool for valuation and benchmarking of CDM and JI projects and portfolios.

9:00am – 12:00pm Carbon Finance 2.0 (Advanced)

Trading in options on European Union *Allowances: liquidity, prices and pitfalls

• Structured offset products: how to tailor offset products to customer’s risk appetite?
• Bidding strategies in carbon auctions

Description

Back by popular demand, Carbon Finance 2.0 will be presented by Point Carbon jointly with key carbon market experts. The workshop will provide cutting edge analysis on the latest financial structures developed to manage the risks in these markets.

9:00am – 12:00pm The New Offset Landscape: North American Demand, Agriculture & Forestry (Introductory)

Greenhouse gas reduction projects in North America

• Offsets from agriculture and forestry
• The role of offsets under a future cap-and-trade program

Description

This workshop will get into the details of greenhouse gas emissions reduction projects in North America. We will discuss emerging trends in offset types and protocols, especially in forestry and agriculture. Participants will learn what types of emission credits are generated, as well as how they are verified and marketed. We will hear from some of the key players in the North American offset market on preparing for the role of offsets under a future cap-and-trade system.

Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP) invite you to a briefing to discuss one of the most important challenges facing President-elect Obama when he takes office – addressing the interrelated problems of climate change and energy and economic security. In September, the Global Carbon Project reported that CO2 emissions – mainly from burning fossil fuels – have grown three percent from 2006 to 2007, a rate faster than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted last year in its worst-case scenario. The world’s leaders are looking to the new U.S. President for an indication of the kind of leadership and actions he will take to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, especially in preparation for the UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009. In addition, societal economic impacts have been an important piece of the climate debate. The PCAP report seeks to offer concrete, achievable options for both the 44th President and the 111th Congress as a new legislative agenda is set for 2009.

Speakers for this event include:

• Gary Hart (U.S. Senate, ret.), Scholar in Residence and Wirth Chair Professor at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs
• William Becker, Executive Director, Presidential Climate Action Project
• Martha Coven, Senior Legislative Associate for Government Affairs, Center for Budget Policy and Priorities
• Bill Parsons, Legislative Director, office of Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

The Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP), a two-year initiative of the University of Colorado School of Public Affairs, has gathered leaders from the nation’s science, policy, business and civic sectors to provide the 44th President with background information and educational materials on global warming, as well as a broad portfolio of tools and policy options to address this global challenge. The project does not advocate on behalf of specific climate policies, programs, spending or other actions by the President or the federal government; instead, members of PCAP have developed a bold, comprehensive and non-partisan plan for presidential leadership rooted in climate science and designed to ignite innovation at every level of the American economy.

This briefing is free and open to the public. No RSVP required.

For more information, please contact Amy Sauer at [email protected] or (202) 662-1892.

Carbon Market Insights Americas 2008 Day 2

8:00am Registration & Exhibit Hall Open

9:00am Introduction

• Per-Otto Wold, CEO, Point Carbon

9:15am Keynote Address – Communicating Climate Change

• Keynote Speaker: Tom Friedman, New York Times Columnist and Pulitzer Prize Winning Author

Topics:

• What does public opinion tell us about policy alternatives?
• How can emerging communication technologies help us better communicate climate science and policy?
• Are we in danger of climate information fatigue or being overpowered by “green noise”?

10:15am Plenary Session – From Bali to Copenhagen: An International Perspective

• Moderator: Elliot Diringer, Vice President, International Strategies, Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Topics:

• International progress on climate policy
• How to pull together a global agreement
• Realistic options for post-2012

Panel Speakers:

• Fernando Tudela, Under Secretary for Planning and Environment Policy, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Mexico
• Thomas Becker, Head of International Department, Ministry of the Environment, Denmark
• Kuni Shimada, Principal International Policy Coordinator, Ministry of Environment, Japan
• André Odenbreit Carvalho, Head of Division for Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Foreign Relations, Brazil

11.15am Networking Coffee Break

11:45am Financing Technology

• Moderator: Aimée Christensen, Founder & CEO, Christensen Global Strategies

Topics:

• The role and ambitions of the International Clean Technology Fund
• What to expect from carbon capture and storage
• Tradeoffs and complementarities between public and private financing
• Private equity perspectives on the barriers and opportunities for clean energy financing

• Tracy McKibben, Managing Director and Head of Environmental Banking Strategy, Citi
• William A. Pizer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment and Energy, US Department of Treasury
• Glen Robinson, Vice President, Asset Management and Development, Exelon Power
• Mark Cirilli, Co-founder & Managing Director, MissionPoint Capital Partners

11:45am Using REDD To Go Green

• Moderator: Jorend Buen, Director, Point Carbon

Topics:

• The role of offset credits from land use change *How to reward avoided deforestation in a global climate regime
• Market impacts of forest project credits

Panel Speakers:

• Dr. Sandra Brown, Senior Scientist, Winrock’s International Ecosystem Services Unit
• Benoit Bosquet, Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist, The World Bank
• Joanna Durbin, Director of the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance, Conservation International
• Florence Daviet, Associate, World Resources Institute
• Lenny Hochschild, Managing Director, Evolution Markets

1:45pm Carbon Offset Trends

• Moderator: Kyle Danish, Partner, Van Ness Feldman & Counsel, Coalition for Emission Reduction Projects

Topics:

• Agriculture and forestry: new sources of offset supply?
• How much is too much: constraints on offset use in carbon trading programs
• Additionality – what makes a project ‘count’?

Panel Speakers:

• Gary Gero, President & CEO, California Climate Action Registry
• David Miller, Director of Research and Commodity Services, Iowa Farm Bureau
• Rick Adcock, SVP, Origination and Investment, CAMCO
• Rich Rosenzweig, COO, Natsource

1:45pm Addressing Competitiveness Concerns

• Moderator: Manik Roy, Vice President, Federal Government Outreach, Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Topics:

• How is a federal climate program likely to affect energy-intensive industries that trade globally?
• How much risk is there that jobs, production, and emissions will move overseas?
• What can be done to address these concerns? Trade measures? Compensating firms with allowance value? Other options?

Panel Speakers:

• Meg McDonald, President, Alcoa Foundation
• Trevor Houser, Director of the Energy and Climate Practice, Rhodium Group & Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
• Robert Baugh, Executive Director, Industrial Union Council, AFL-CIO & Chair, Energy Task Force, AFL-CIO
• Peter Molinaro, Vice President, Federal and State Government Affairs, The Dow Chemical Company
• James Bradbury, Legislative Assistant, Congressman Jay Inslee (WA-1)

3:30pm Focus on Transportation

• Moderator: Vicki Arroyo, Director of Policy Analysis, Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Topics: Panel will cover the three contributing factors to emissions in this sector

• equipment efficiency, carbon content of fuels, and usage patterns—and ways to address them
• How could cap and trade be integrated with renewable- or low-carbon fuel standards?
• Can we find a balance in the use of crops for fuel versus food?

Panel Speakers:

• Mary D. Nichols, Chairman, California Air Resources Board
• David Hone, Climate Change Manager, Shell International
• Margo Oge, Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, EPA
• Beth Lowery, VP, Environment and Energy, General Motors

3:30pm Focus on Electricity, Power and Gas

• Moderator: Jurgen Weiss, Managing Director, Advisory Services, Point Carbon

Topics:

• How will carbon prices influence fuel and power prices?
• How will the power sector meet its target?
• The impact on the gas sector

Panel Speakers:

• Mark Brownstein, Managing Director, Climate and Air Program, Environmental Defense Fund
• Melissa Lavinson, Director, Federal Environmental Affairs and Corporate Responsibility, PG&E
• Swaminathan Venkataraman, Energy Analysis, S&P
• Pat Concessi, Partner, Global Energy Markets Practice, Deloitte & Touche
• Chris Sherman, General Counsel, New England Power Generators Association

Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

Carbon Market Insights Americas 2008

7:00am Registration & Exhibit Hall Open

8:00am Optional Session – Carbon Markets 101

• Optional and free introduction to the carbon markets for all conference delegates.

10:00am Welcome

• Per-Otto Wold CEO, Point Carbon
• Eileen Claussen President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change

10:15am Keynote Address – The Path Forward

• Janos Pasztor, Director, Environment Management Group, United Nations
• President-elect’s Environmental Advisor

Topics:

• Statement of behalf of the Secretary-General
• The new administration’s climate plan
• The impact on ongoing negotiations for a new international agreement
• Timeline and targets for climate policy developments

Description: What will the new administration do about climate change? Will a cap-and-trade bill be passed in the first 100 days of the new presidency? Will the US agree to a new international climate treaty? We’ll hear the latest on this from a key advisor to the president-elect and from a top UN official, who will discuss how the US elections change the landscape of international negotiations on climate change and where the world will head after 2012, when the first compliance period of the Kyoto Protocol ends.

11:00am Plenary – US Climate Policy: What’s Ahead?

• Moderator: Eileen Claussen, President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Topics:

• Steps taken and lessons learned on climate change policy in the 110th Congress
• Expectations for a new Congress and Administration on enacting climate policy in 2009
• Major challenges, including cost-containment and allowance value distribution to enacting cap-and-trade in the US, especially in light of the current financial crisis

Speakers:

• Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee
• Larry J. Schweiger, President & CEO, National Wildlife Federation
• Brian Storms, CEO, APX

Description: With a new Administration and a new Congress, what can we expect to see with regard to US climate policy in 2009? What concrete steps, if any, have the Bush Administration and the 110th Congress taken to advance climate policy and what can we learn from this? If cap and trade is the preferred policy approach, what are the major roadblocks (e.g., target-setting, distribution of allowance value) on the path to successfully enacting the policy? Panelists will discuss these and other important questions policymakers will have to address if the US is to successfully address the issue of climate change.

12.00pm Lunch

1:30pm Managing Costs in a Carbon Market

• Moderator: Janet Peace, Vice President, Markets and Business Strategy, Pew Center on Global Climate Change

• Concerns about carbon markets leading to unmanageable costs for participants and the economy
• Discussion of proposed options for containing high costs: offsets, safety-valve, allowance allocation, oversight board, etc.
• How would these options affect the efficiency and performance of the market?

Panel Speakers:

• Mort Webster, Visiting Professor, MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
• Jason Patrick, Vice President, Merrill Lynch
• Steve Corneli, Vice President, Market and Climate Policy, NRG Energy
• Ben Feldman, Executive Director, Environmental Markets Strategy, JP Morgan

1:30pm Evolving Regional & Global Markets

• Moderator: Denny Ellerman, Executive Director, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Sloan School of Management, MIT

• Panel of experts will discuss emissions trading systems around the world
• Comparing carbon market approaches
• Exploring possible linkages

Panel Speakers:

• Margret Kim, Senior Advisor, International Climate Change and China Program Director, California Air Resources Board
• Jill Duggan, Head of International Emissions Trading, United Kingdom
• Peter Zapfel, Directorate General for Environment, European Commission
• Tim Denne, Director, Covec Limited & New Zealand ICAP Representative

3:30pm Carbon Risk Management

• Moderator: Veronique Bugnion, Managing Director, Point Carbon

• The role played by financial institutions in managing carbon risks
• RGGI auctions: who participated and who stayed on the sidelines?
• Canadian carbon intensity based financial instruments: how does it work?

Panel Speakers:

• Annmarie Reynolds, Director, Carbon Exchange, AES
• Patrick Birley, CEO, ECX
• Olivia Hartridge, Vice President, Morgan Stanley Commodities
• Jean-Philippe Brisson, Vice President, Goldman Sachs

3:30pm The Changing Roles of States

• Moderator: Judi Greenwald, Vice President, Innovative Solutions, Pew Center on Global Climate Change

• What are the appropriate respective roles for state and federal government in climate policy?
• Are some complementary policies more effectively implemented at the state level?
• How can federal policy best support and complement these state efforts?

Panel Speakers:

• Michael Murray, Regional Vice President, Sempra Energy
• Janice Adair, Chair, Western Climate Initiative
• Michael Sole, Secretary, Florida Department of Environmental Protection
• Ray Hammarlund, Director, Energy Programs Division, Kansas Corporation Commission
• Peter Iwanowicz, Director, Climate Change Office, New York State DEC

Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington D.C.

Leading national conservation groups will hold an afternoon press conference next Wednesday, November 5th to discuss the unprecedented role of energy and global warming as issues in this year’s elections.

The groups will recap their own political programs and endorsements, outline how candidates up and down the ballot engaged on key issues, and will begin to lay out what a new administration and Congress will mean for clean energy, economic recovery and global warming.

• Gene Karpinski, President, League of Conservation Voters
• Cathy Duvall, Political Director, Sierra Club
• Anna Aurilio, Washington DC Director, Environment America
• Robert Wendelgass, National Deputy Director, Clean Water Action
• Sue Brown, Executive Director, National Wildlife Federation Action Fund

Where:

National Press Club First Amendment Lounge 529 14th St. NW 13th Floor Washington, DC

Visuals will include presentation of group and candidate ads from throughout the campaign

SAIS German Club and Heinrich Böll Stiftung North America: Reinhard Bütifoker, chairman and spokesperson of the German Green Party, will discuss this topic. Refreshments will be served.

Johns Hopkins University Room 812 Rome Building 1619 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C.

For more information and to RSVP, contact [email protected].