Food and Human Innovation
“Food is the real way that we need to use our ingenuity, and what our species has done for so long over millennia is to figure out how to manipulate the enormous bounties of our planet—the biodiversity, genetic resources, water, and recycling apparatus of our planet—combined with our incredible ability to accumulate and share knowledge.”
- Ruth DeFries, Denning Family Chair in Sustainable Development, Columbia University; May 27, 2015
The Employment Impacts of Environmental Policies
“It’s important to understand where job losses are because they are always going to be an important part of the debate. [This is] in part because of the very high emotional and financial costs that unemployment can impose on dislocated workers and their families—and, in some cases, on the whole community.”
- Terry Dinan, Senior Advisor, Congressional Budget Office; May 6, 2015
Energy Leasing Decisions in the US Arctic
“We have a duty to consider the interests of subsistence users, and we take that very seriously. Alaska Natives vary in terms of whether they’re against or for development, but I would say they’re unified in their shared interest to protect [these] resources so they’re around for use.”
- William Brown, Chief Environmental Officer, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management; April 1, 2015
The Upcoming UN Climate Negotiations in Paris
“I don’t think we can leave Paris without an agreement . . . and I think the political situation is different [than in previous years]. The US–China joint declaration [gave] the signal that the world is ready. We see everyone moving, and we see that even those who couldn’t think of making contributions—the poorest countries—are in the process of preparing their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions.”
- Anna Lindstedt, Ambassador for Climate Change, Government of Sweden; April 21, 2015
Encouraging Renewable Energy in China
“The big challenge is [China’s] electricity institution. In China, from my own view, we have no electricity market. In our study, we [assume] that by 2025, China must establish a completely [competitive] market. If by 2025 we cannot establish this electricity market, [there will be] no hope for [high penetration of renewable sources]. So the next 10 years will be very important for China.”
- Wang Zhongying, Director, China National Renewable Energy Center, and Deputy Director General, Energy Research Institute, National Development and Reform Commission (China); April 20, 2015
To view videos and presentations from these events, visit www.rff.org/events.
A version of this article appeared in print in the Fall 2015 issue of Resources magazine.
