101104_ci_Climatesummit
Headline: UC Davis to host global climate summit
Layercake: World leaders to seek green solutions
By SARAHNI PECSON
Aggie Staff Writer
UC Davis will be welcoming global leaders for the third Governors’ Global Climate Summit (GGCS3). This two-day event will be held at the Mondavi Center on Nov. 15 and 16.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be hosting the event, along with other state governors of Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington and Oregon. National and subnational leaders such as British Prime Minister David Cameron, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and Gov. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan of Delta State of Nigeria will be attending as guest speakers. Hollywood figures James Cameron, director, and actor Harrison Ford are also featured guests.
GGCS3 will be building on the accomplishments of the past two summits. Over 1,200 guests from more than 70 states, provinces and countries attended last year’s GGCS2 in Los Angeles. During that summit, global leaders signed the Global Climate Solutions Declaration as a commitment to collaborate and pursue green efforts.
“Our past summits brought together leaders and experts from around the world to work on solutions to address climate change,” said Schwarzenegger in a press release. “With the successes from these collaborations, I have seen firsthand the power that states and other regional governments carry in influencing and creating the new ideas that spur clean innovation and the green economy.”
At this year’s summit, the leaders will take another step forward by establishing a new alliance. R20, the Regions of Climate Action, is a subnational alliance among public and private organizations that will work to implement climate change policies. R20’s charter will be signed at the GGCS3.
Within five years, R20 hopes to have at least 20 subnational governments implement low-carbon and other clean energy policies.
“This year’s summit will be an incredible opportunity to build on these previous successes and strengthen the important relationships with our national and international partners to continue developing climate change strategies that will reduce emissions and create jobs,” Schwarzenegger said.
UC Davis was chosen to host this monumental event because of the university’s emphasis on research for green technology, environment and economy. The campus is home to the nation’s first university-based Energy Efficiency Center in 2006. Additionally, Schwarzenegger recently attended the UC Davis’ E3 Roundtable on Economic Prosperity, Energy and the Environment, a discussion on green, sustainable economic solutions.
“We are honored and excited that Gov. Schwarzenegger has chosen UC Davis as the site for his third annual global climate summit,” said UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, in a press release. “The summit focus is a perfect match for the mission and strengths of our university.”
UC Davis researchers will be able to present their findings to the summit members. Aside from the summit events occurring on Nov. 15 and 16, pre-summit events will also be hosted on Nov. 13 and 14.
On Nov. 14, the Regional Solutions Research Appetizer will take place. This event will showcase research from UC Davis experts on environment, agriculture, transportation and business.
Andrew Hargadon, chair in entrepreneurship and professor of technology management, will be one of many university experts to present at this event. He will be speaking on growing green tech entrepreneurs.
“I’ll be describing some of our programs that help identify and make these connections, and help support innovation through the commercialization of green technology research,” Hargadon said.
“There is a fundamental challenge for green technology entrepreneurs: that of navigating a different landscape than most of the entrepreneurs we’re familiar with. Green technology is dominated by established firms, heavily regulated markets and the need for dramatically scalable solutions. To fit within and contribute to these markets, entrepreneurs must quickly build effective networks.”
Students who are interested in attending the event should go to http://conferences.ucdavis.edu/ggcs3_student to apply for free tickets.
SARAHNI PECSON can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
