LESC at COP25: Systems Transformation for a 1.5 Degree World

December 9-10, 2019
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

The Systems Transformation for a 1.5 Degree World event is a special edition of the Low-Emissions Solutions Conference taking place alongside COP25 in partnership with WBCSD, ICLEI, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

Location: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Date: Monday, 9 December (full day) and Tuesday, 10 December (half day)

With a dialogue between business, government and academia, LESC aims to help UNFCCC negotiators understand how to ramp up ambition on their NDCs and the technologies available to them to populate their Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDs).

This year's event at COP25 will build off the learning from the SDSN's Roadmap to 2050 A Manual for National to Decarbonize by Mid-Century report done in partnership with Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM). The report was written in consultation with more than 60 engineers to catalog the technologies currently available to decarbonize our power, transport, industrial and buildings sectors, and to highlight the sector coupling opportunities available with a systems approach.

By showcasing successful case studies with collaborative storytelling, LESC provides an area alongside COP for collaborative brainstorming, problem solving, and knowledge sharing.

The 2019 LESC will bring together leaders and scientists from businesses, governments, and academia from around the world. The agenda will be built around Low-Emission technologies within the following clusters:

Agenda

09 Dec 8:45AM
Registration
09 Dec 9:15AM
Welcome Remarks
Speaker(s):

Guillermo Cisneros, Rector, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

Masters of Ceremony for Entire Event:
Ruth Carrasco, Associate Director for the SDGs, Industriales UPM
Fernando Valladares, Research Professor, Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC)

09 Dec 9:30AM
Opening Keynotes
Speaker(s):

Juan Carlos Jobet, Minister of Energy, Chile
Jeffrey Sachs, Director, SDSN

09 Dec 10:15AM
Setting the Scene: Roadmap to 2050
Speaker(s):

Paolo Carnevale, Director, FEEM
Maria Mendiluce, Managing Director, WBCSD
Kobie Brand, Regional Director for ICLEI Africa; Director of ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center

09 Dec 10:45AM
Coffee break
09 Dec 11:00AM
Low Carbon Power Generation and Distribution

This session will bring together engineers, companies, and policy makers to discuss the role of new technologies for low-carbon power generation in the future, which solutions will be available to provide flexibility to support a large-scale integration into electricity systems by generation from non-dispatchable RES; and which policies and strategies can support the development and deployment of these new technologies.

Moderator(s):

Manfred Hafner, Coordinator of the Future Energy Research Program, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)

Speaker(s):

Joan Herrera, Director of Energy and Environment, Prat de Llobregat
Santiago Gómez Ramos, Energy Management Director, Acciona
Daniela Mastrangelo, General Director of Innovation and Environmental Quality, City of Rosario, Argentina
Ana Quelhas, Head of Energy Planning, EDP
Jatna Supriatna, Professor, University of Indonesia

09 Dec 12:15PM
Transport and Shipping: Land, Air, Water

This session will focus on the harder to abate transport modes, such as heavy road transport, shipping and aviation. Speakers will agree on the importance of mobility levers (demand reduction, operational efficiency) and outline how these solutions could be integrated in decarbonization pathways for these various transport modes; suggest how decarbonization pathways can consider a portfolio of solutions per transport mode and acknowledge that solutions will vary by region; and highlight cross-cutting technologies and infrastructure which should be priority areas of focus for governments.

Moderator(s):

Renato Mazzoncini, Adjunct Professor, Department of Mechanics, Politecnico di Milano

Speaker(s):

Anirban Ghosh, CSO, Mahindra
José Manuel Vassallo, Professor, Civil Engineering School and Transport Research Centre
Teresa Parejo, Sustainability Director, IBERIA
Phoebe Koundouri, Professor, Athens University of Economics and Business; President Elect European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists
Johannah Christensen, Managing Director and Head of Projects & Programmes, Global Maritime Forum

09 Dec 1:30PM
Lunch break
09 Dec 2:30PM
Hard to abate industrial processes (e.g. steel, cement and chemicals)

In this session, we will hear from industry stakeholders on how they are approaching the decarbonization of these critical sectors and what are some of the early wins that others can follow to increase their decarbonization trajectories in line with 1.5 C. Speakers will agree on the importance of materials efficiency and circularity for carbon mitigation & outline how these dimensions could be integrated in decarbonization pathways; suggest how decarbonization pathways can incorporate a portfolio of solutions per sector and acknowledge that solutions will vary by region; and highlight cross-cutting technologies and infrastructure which should be priority areas of focus for governments.

Moderator(s):

Maurizio Masi, Head of Chemical Engineering Department, Politecnico di Milano

Speaker(s):

Fábio Cirilo, Sustainability Coordinator, Votorantim Cimentos
Alberto Abánades, Staff Professor, Department of Power Engineering, ETSII-UPM
Martin Pei, EVP Chief Technical Officer SSAB/Chairman Hybrit Development AB
Julio Friedmann, Senior Research Scholar, Columbia University

09 Dec 3:45PM
Zero-Carbon Cities

Despite their many points of leverage, cities face challenges in their efforts to pursue ambitious energy and climate strategies. A city’s ability to advance towards a zero-carbon status based on a renewable energy agenda, depends heavily on local characteristics, including own financial resources, access to external financing, the size of the tax base, economic growth and the local administrative capacity and authority. To strongly raise ambition in greenhouse gas emissions reductions, this session will focus on decarbonization pathways (technology, RE targets, policies, existing barrier and needed solutions) towards zero-carbon cities by 2050.

Moderator(s):

Niccolo’ Aste, Full professor, Building physics and building energy systems, Politecnico di Milano

Speaker(s):

Claudio Del Pero, Senior Researcher, Politecnico di Milano
Isidoro Miranda, Managing Director, LafargeHolcim España
Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Green Building Council
Maryke van Staden, Director, ICLEI’s Bonn Center for Local Climate Action and Reporting
Pamela Lucía Bravo Ortiz, Deputy Secretary of Environmental Planning and Information, City of Lima, Peru

09 Dec 5:00PM
Closing Remarks
Speaker(s):

Ruth Carrasco, Associate Director for the SDGs, Industriales UPM
Fernando Valladares, Research Professor, Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC)

10 Dec 8:30AM
Registration
10 Dec 9:00AM
Welcome Remarks
Speaker(s):

Leire Pajin, Chair, SDSN Spain
Alberto Garrido, Vicerrector de Calidad y Eficiencia de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

10 Dec 9:15AM
Defining Metrics: Ensuring Impact for Sustainable Development

Flexible reporting methodologies give way for greenwashing, providing a free pass to companies and nations who are promising far more than they are prepared or planning to deliver. Rigorous reporting standards are needed to hold entities to their commitments and in other cases, analyze gaps. Such standards will clearly distinguish between good and weak performers in the sectors that need to decarbonize, and offer insight into how various sectors support and overlap with each other. This panel will discuss successful undertakings in terms of developing sustainable development analysis which promote and disclose dynamic incorporation of both emission reduction efforts and sustainable development priorities such as those covered with the SDGs.

Moderator(s):

Perrine Toledano, Head of Extractive Industries, Columbia University Center on Sustainable Investment

Speaker(s):

Carlos Sallé Alonso, Senior Vice-President of Energy Policies and Climate Change, Iberdrola
Mark Lewis, Global Head of Sustainability Research, BNP Paribas Asset Management
Suzanne Greene, Program Manager, Sustainable Supply Chains Initiative, MIT
Matthew Phillips, Reporting & Tracking Team Lead, UNFCCC Global Climate Action Portal

10 Dec 10:30AM
Coffee break
10 Dec 10:45AM
Systems Approach and Sector Coupling

A systems approach recognizes that we have multiple instruments that should be combined in order to achieve multiple goals. No single policy – such as carbon taxation – can by itself address the multiple dimensions of the socio-economic-physical systems needed to combine climate actions with other sustainable development policies. Therefore, a systematic approach needs to penetrate the national and global policy dialogue.

This session will feature speakers who work either as entities that must consider a systems approach to assure a net positive transition, or stakeholders who are currently working in key cross-cutting technologies that will help transition the entire system in a net zero emission world.

Moderator(s):

Jeffrey Sachs, Director, SDSN

Speaker(s):

Amal-Lee Amin, Chief of Climate Change, Inter-American Development Bank
Felipe De León, Advisor to Minister of Environment, Costa Rica
Megan Argyriou, Head of International Programs, ClimateWorks Aus
John Dernbach, Commonwealth Professor of Environmental Law and Sustainability, Widener University Commonwealth Law School

10 Dec 12:00PM
Closing Remarks
Speaker(s):

Ruth Carrasco, Associate Director for the SDGs, Industriales UPM
Fernando Valladares, Research Professor, Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC)

Speakers