Beyond Politics: The Private Governance Response to Climate Change—February 9, Harrisburg

Professor Michael Vandenbergh of Vanderbilt Law School will be speaking at Widener University Commonwealth Law School on Friday, Feb. 9, at noon (bring along your lunch), in Room A180 of the Administration Building, 3737 Vartan Way, Harrisburg, Pa., about a topic that could help reduce current political partisanship on climate change.  He will explain how private companies, on their own, can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by a billion tons per year over the next decade.

The talk is based on a new book, Michael P. Vandenbergh & Jonathan M. Gilligan, Beyond Politics: The Private Governance Response to Climate Change (Cambridge University Press 2017).

He will explain that private sector action provides one of the most promising opportunities to reduce the risks of climate change, buying time while governments move slowly or oppose climate mitigation. Starting with the insight that much of the resistance to climate mitigation is grounded in concern about the role of government, the talk will draw on law, policy, social science and climate science to demonstrate how private initiatives are already bypassing government inaction in the United States and around the globe.

The talk will combine an examination of the growth of private climate initiatives over the last decade, a theory of why private actors are motivated to reduce emissions, and a review of viable next steps.

This is an important talk about an important topic.  The program is free and open to all the Widener community and to the public. In addition, one free CLE (substantive) credit is available. Registration is not necessary.

A campus map, showing the administration building, is available here:  https://commonwealthlaw.widener.edu/current-students/resources-for-current-students/campus-map/