[DRAFT 11.15.17]
Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership
11th Annual Conference
Co-sponsored with:
Risk Management and Decision Processes Center
Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research
Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy
Penn Program in Environmental Humanities
The End of the World as We Know It?
The Consequences of Extreme Climatic Disruption for Business and Democracy
April 18, 2018
The Wharton School, University ofPennsylvania
JonM. HuntsmanHall, 8thFloor
3730 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA
Conference description: In the wake of a number of extreme weather events in 2017 that are likely to have been either caused or made more severe by climate change and global warming, including Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose, and Maria in the Atlantic Ocean, record-setting wildfires in the western United States, and record-breaking monsoons in Asia, this conference examines the future consequences of an increasing expected frequency of extreme weather events for two of the most fundamental institutions of our civilization: free enterprise and democratic government. The conference will gather experts from academia, business, the military, and national intelligence services to realistically and seriously assess the risks associated with these kinds of extreme weather events and their social consequences, and propose risk management strategies for reducing future losses that are likely to be implemented.
The Paris Agreement gave reason for some optimism that world leaders and almost all nation-states would commit to meaningful reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and other mitigation of the causes of climate change. The Trump Administration’s asserted intention to withdraw from Paris, however, suggests that at least the second largest emitter (behind China) may not adhere to previous commitments made by the United States. Other nation-states may find reason to follow this precedent. In addition, many scientists believe that the mitigation targets of Paris were in any event too modest to prevent serious adverse consequences with respect to extreme weather events.
This conference takes seriously the possibility that the world will not adequately mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and other causes of climate change. A focus on adaptation and other measures is then required. This conference will focus on ways that individuals, communities, and countries are currently managing the changing nature of extreme events. Attention will be given to why individuals and business firms underprepare for disasters and how we can provide short-term incentives and frame the problem in ways that are likely to undertake cost-effective adaptive measures now to preserve communities or relocate to safer places. The economic, social, and political impacts of such changes would be substantial.
We do not aim in this conference to generate fear and foreboding about the future – or to use scare tactics to advance a political agenda. Instead, the conference is expected to take a serious and objective look at likely consequences in a future of more extreme weather events and to think about possible responses that may be planned to make our institutions of business and democracy more resilient in the face of these challenges.