Join us for C2GLearn and C2GDiscuss!

By Janos Pasztor / 11 August 2020

As the world continues to face travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, C2G together with more than 50 international experts is rolling out a new series of online events, to learn about and discuss the governance of emerging climate-altering approaches.

These events aim to serve several functions: to address the pandemic-related drop in traditional face-to-face meetings (that are so important in building governance); to create a standing online resource which can alert policymakers to consider some of the difficult decisions that lie ahead; and to inspire others to pursue their own governance and learning initiatives.

The series will have two broad streams:

C2GLearn will provide the latest information and research about emerging climate-altering approaches and their governance, from varying perspectives.
C2GDiscuss will moderate in-depth conversations between diverse experts on some of the governance challenges facing decision makers, now and in the future.

Addressing the knowledge gap

C2G believes that a shared understanding of evidence-based information remains crucial to effective governance. For the moment, decision-makers, not to mention societies, simply do not know enough to chart the right way ahead, and many serious knowledge gaps need to be addressed.

Many communities and governments are exploring opportunities to increase climate mitigation and adaptation measures as part of their COVID-19 recovery programmes. Some are also exploring the additional use of large-scale Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) measures, so they can balance out remaining emissions in order to achieve net zero. However, few are thinking about how to achieve net negative emissions in the second half of this century, and the huge scale of effort that will be required to achieve it.

This is despite clarity by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its 2018 special report, that large-scale CDR will be needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C. No single option will be enough to achieve the scale of action needed, and big governance challenges remain, which could take decades to overcome.

The IPCC also noted that Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) approaches are not well understood, and not taken into account in pathways and scenarios. This will change with IPCC’s 6th assessment report (AR6), due for release in 2022. Governments have asked for AR6 to include progress on understanding large-scale CDR and SRM and their potential impacts on pathways and scenarios.

C2GLearn and C2GDiscuss aim to alert decision-makers and their advisors to some of the big questions they soon face, and to start building a sense of what will be needed to address them. This should also help C2G’s catalytic mission to find internationally-trusted actors to integrate these ideas into their own work, in a sustained way.

Open to everyone

C2G takes an expansive view of governance, requiring broad based participation from people and groups from across society – and it will strive to achieve a diversity of views and backgrounds across all C2GLearn and C2GDiscuss events.

It will not always be possible to achieve that in all circumstances, due to issues of availability and familiarity, but C2G aims over time to expand the range of contributors able to address its issues, subject to the broad principles outlined in its mission statement.

To that end, it is always open to feedback and suggestions regarding future participants and topics, to ensure a range of perspectives by sector, gender, race, geography, age and other dimensions.

C2GLearn will include events designed both for those completely new to the topic (e.g. Introduction to the governance of climate-altering approaches) and for those wanting to explore specific issues in more depth (e.g. Governance of nature-based approaches, or Governance of marine cloud brightening). Each topic will include regular webinars and related ‘campfire’ discussions, including livestreamed presentations and Q&A sessions, in which participants will be able engage the experts.

Events are free for anyone to join, but registration is required, and spaces are limited. Presentations and events will be recorded in case you wish to catch up on any you miss. For more information on speakers, times and background reading, please visit the C2GLearn and C2GDiscuss landing pages.

The C2G team is busy adding new events every week, so register now and sign-up for updates on C2G in general, and the events coming online in the weeks and months ahead:

This has been a big team effort in C2G, and I am grateful to all my colleagues, some of whom have worked very hard to get us to this. I expect this to be a significant part of our work moving forwards.

So, whether you are new to the topic of climate-altering approaches and their governance, or want more in-depth insights in the policy and governance issues they are raising, please join us, and let’s learn more together.