Mitigation

Our program works on MITIGATION, or limiting the magnitude of emissions and pollutants in respect to reducing the drivers of climate change. We accomplish this through addressing critical issues in:

Energy
Climate
Food and Agriculture

ENERGY

For over 40 years the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Program has served as the preeminent, independent, non-partisan venue for energy leaders and policy experts to gather and discuss the major issues confronting the energy industry. The goal of our work is to create a balanced environment for deep discussion that encourages candor and the freedom to explore new ideas among leading experts.

CLIMATE

The Aspen Institute’s strength as a moderator of open and non-partisan dialogue and expertise in convening the highest level strategy groups is unparalleled, and its traditional dialogue method has proven a strong tool in Track II convening. Dialogues are grounded in the presupposition that authentic concordance among a group of people with expertise in various disciplines, representing diverse interests, must be grounded in shared values. Learn more about our Track II climate programming below.

India-U.S. Track II Dialogue on Energy and Climate Change

During the past several years, our co-chairs have assembled a high-level group of about twenty-five experts from government, NGOs, academia, and the business community in the US and India to build on initiatives originally launched in the energy MOU signed between President Obama and Prime Minister Singh at the 2009 summit in Washington and to help define a constructive bilateral agenda on critical energy and climate concerns. The co-chairs and participants of the Track II Dialogue uniformly agree that a constructive, civil-society dialogue focused on climate change and clean energy is needed to strengthen and enhance the strategic partnership between India and the U.S. The Dialogue is dedicated to positively impacting how the two countries interact bilaterally while also demonstrating genuine leadership multi-laterally on climate change.
China-U.S. Track II Dialogue

The U.S.-China High-Level Dialogue on Energy and Climate Change is hosted by the Counselors Office of the State Council of China (COSC) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) in partnership with the Aspen Institute. The Dialogue strengthens U.S.-China collaboration on energy, climate change and sustainable development by convening 30 high-level Chinese and U.S. energy and climate experts for 1-2 days of private dialogue, alternating in China and the U.S. The Dialogue brings together technical and policy experts, opinion leaders, and other experts from think tanks, academia, private and non-profit sectors, and from government. The Dialogue emphasizes the importance of U.S.-China collaboration, and is designed to ensure strong follow-through for the new phase of climate action beyond the Paris Agreement. To date, the group has convened in Beijing for three dialogues, and most recently the US hosted the Chinese in San Francisco in July 2018.
Climate and National Security

Threats to national security can be understood through many pathways, including: public health, food, water, and energy security, migration, and economic and political stability. As seen with food shocks and shortages in the Middle East, droughts in sub-Saharan Africa, and sea-level rise in Southeast Asia, climate change can lead to instability and security threats across a region and around the world. Yet, despite the escalating risks posed by climate change impacts, the body of scholarship on the topic is remarkably thin and little infrastructure exists to encourage or support further research. The initiative aims to explore and define the nexus of national and international climate and security issues, build nonpartisan relationships and cooperative policy approaches, identify critical areas for further research, and broaden the national and international community of engaged stakeholders.

FOOD & AGRICULTURE

Today’s food security challenges reflect larger trends in health, security, governance and sustainability—from managing the impact of climate change on agriculture, to mitigating the negative health impacts of food insecurity in the U.S., to anticipating volatility caused by international market forces or political conflict. These challenges require a new level of innovation and cross-sector coordination of industry leaders, philanthropists, multinational organizations and policymakers. The Institute’s Food programming explores these challenges through dialogues on international food security coordination, long term global food security planning, and domestic food issues.

Honor the Harvest Forum

The Honor the Harvest Forum gathers leaders to explore how today’s agriculture and food systems co-create food, environmental, and economic security for everyone. We must think not just about this harvest, or this year, or even this decade, but how might food and agriculture be a restorative force for our communities and the planet in the 21st century and for multiple generations to come.
International Forum on Food Security Coordination

The International Forum on Food Security Coordination, hosted by the Aspen Institute’s Energy and Environment Program in May 2016 in Rome, explored how to deepen cross-sector coordination on food security and better link existing initiatives, in the context of an ongoing global humanitarian crisis. This report summarizes the forum roundtable, as participants discussed the new context affecting food security and strategies for improving international alignment and financing of humanitarian aid.
Food Security Strategy Group

Food Security Strategy Group was a high-level, non-partisan, and international dialogue series hosted in 2012-2015. It was comprised of prominent and influential leaders in business, government, non-profit organizations and academia brought together to address the urgent need for cross-sector alignment on a long-term vision for food security planning. The group focused on cross-sector solutions between four interlinked areas: population, health and poverty; science, technology and innovation; markets, trade and investment; and environmental sustainability. Read more and explore the group’s final report.
Aspen Dialogue on U.S. Food Insecurity & Healthcare Costs

The Dialogue on U.S. Food Insecurity & Healthcare Costs, hosted in partnership with Aspen’s Health, Medicine & Society Program, was a series of meetings in 2014-2015 that explored the fiscal and policy relationships, trends and tradeoffs between food insecurity and healthcare costs. The final report explores current understandings of the relationship among food insecurity, healthcare costs, poverty, relevant health outcomes, and public and private sector opportunities for addressing food insecurity.
Aspen Institute Food Salons

From 2014-2015, Aspen and James Beard Foundation hosted a series of food-themed salons in NYC, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. For each conversation, Corby Kummer, of The Atlantic and the Aspen Institute, guided a 90-minute discussion of the current state of scientific research, current policy frameworks, and new research on the particular food issue. Each event convened thinkers at the intersection of policy, scientific innovation, corporate responsibility, sustainability, and popular culture. Food Salons topics included: The Sweet Truth: How Much Sugar is Safe?, GMOs, and The Future of Seeds.