Achieving the Paris climate goals: The engine of ambition

Delivering on the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement will depend on the “engine of ambition” in which ambitious but feasible targets are set, achieved, communicated, and ratcheted up over time. For the first time, this formalized cycle of ambition requires a deep and efficient conversation between experts and decision-makers—and provides an opportunity to integrate research and policy for near-term targets and longer-term national decarbonization strategies. Universities have a vital role to play in maintaining and advancing this analytical capacity to achieve a 2C pathway, but this will require new collaborative models across multiple stakeholder groups and all levels of government.

Speaker Bio:

Nate Hultman is director of the Center for Global Sustainability and an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. From 2014-2016, he worked on the White House climate and energy policy team, where he helped develop the U.S. Nationally Determined Contribution; worked on bilateral engagements with China, India, Brazil, and others; and participated in the climate negotiations in Lima and Paris. His research focuses on national climate target-setting and assessment, U.S. energy policy, energy transitions, and climate policy. Hultman is also a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.