Cornell to Host Virtual Conference on Global Climate Finance

On October 25, 2024, policymakers, regulators, financial practitioners, and academics will convene for “Global Climate Finance and Risks,” an online conference hosted by the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business in collaboration with the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Financial Research. The event will focus on financial strategies that mitigate both the environmental threats caused by climate change and the financial disruptions resulting from the green economy transition.

“I’m so thrilled that the SC Johnson College can convene thought leaders in this area — from the academy, private sector, and government alike — to move the conversation forward,” said Andrew Karolyi, Charles Field Knight Dean of the SC Johnson College and conference co-chair. “By bringing together these experts in climate finance, we’re telling the world that the environmental challenges we face are not insurmountable.”

Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States; Mark Carney, U.N. Special Envoy for Climate Action and co-chair for the Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero; and Eric Usher, head of the U.N. Environment Programme Finance Initiative, are among the 32 distinguished speakers presenting at the conference. The conference is co-chaired by Karolyi; Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis, visiting assistant professor at the SC Johnson College; and Dasol Kim, research principal at the Office of Financial Research.

“We are living in a world where emissions are still rising,” said Kleinnijenhuis. “There’s a real urgency to get to net zero carbon emissions to avoid potentially catastrophic climate risks.”

Carbon taxation, a policy approach introduced in 1997, had some impact on reducing global carbon emissions but has remained politically unpopular, said Kleinnijenhuis. Only 24 percent of greenhouse gasses are subject to carbon taxes, and those are typically priced at a level far below the social cost of carbon. “The question is, What other policies can reach the speed and scale needed to address climate threats?”

Policymakers, finance practitioners, and academics, including Kleinnijenhuis, have turned to climate finance to complement carbon taxation. Climate finance is an approach that broadly includes scaling finance committed by the public and private sectors to pay for the transition away from fossil fuels towards renewables with the goal of reducing carbon emissions, while also maintaining global financial stability.

Climate finance makes renewables cheaper, while carbon taxation makes fossil fuels more expensive, Kleinnijenhuis said. Both work toward decarbonization.

“Decarbonization is often framed as a moral obligation of the West, given their greater emissions historically and their greater wealth,” Kleinnijenhuis said. “But if you want to move very large sums of money — trillions of dollars — morality or charity is not a strong enough impetus for action. This conference is about the economics of climate finance and the argument for why it is in our economic self-interest.”

The Cornell-OFR Global Climate Finance and Risks Conference takes place just a few weeks before COP29, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, where countries are expected to agree on a new funding goal to help developing nations mitigate and adapt to climate change.

“While $100 billion annually has been pledged under the Paris Agreement, over $1 trillion per year is now required,” said Kleinnijenhuis. “On October 25, we will explore how global climate finance can be scaled through collaboration among governments, the private sector, development institutions, and macroprudential policies. The stakes are high: we either face escalating climate damages, or we can seize the opportunity for economic prosperity.”

The conference is open to the public, and registration is required. For more information, visit the official “Cornell-OFR Conference on Global Climate Finance and Risks” event website.