Climate Action: Can We Avoid Climate Tipping Points Through Global Cooperation?

On 15 December 2023, UNU will host “Climate Action: Can We Avoid Climate Tipping Points Through Global Cooperation?”, a conversation with Dr. Hoesung Lee, former Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2015 to 2023, President of the Carbon Free Alliance and a Special Ambassador for Carbon Free Energy, Republic of Korea. This event will start at 18:30 in the 2F Reception Hall at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo.

The IPCC was established in 1988 as an intergovernmental body of the United Nations to advance scientific knowledge on climate change caused by human activities. Its research and landmark Assessment Reports have contributed substantially to the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), most recently held in Dubai. 

Nonetheless, greenhouse gas emissions have increased nearly every year since the first COP summit was held in 1995, and global emissions need to fall by 43% to reach the Paris Agreement goal of limiting the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Dr. Hoesung Lee will join UNU Rector Tshilidzi Marwala for a conversation exploring the prospects of international cooperation for creating long-term solutions to the global challenge of climate change. Are we at risk of reaching “climate tipping points”? What needs to be done to increase the effectiveness of organizations like the IPCC and UNFCCC secretariat in influencing the climate policies of UN member states? Is it possible to limit emissions without disproportionately affecting the Global South?

The UNU Conversation Series aims to foster audience participation; you are encouraged to engage with the speakers during the conversation and at the reception that will follow, where all event attendees are invited to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks while exchanging ideas and making new contacts.

Please note that this event will be in English. Advance registration (by 14 December) is required. Please click on the REGISTER button above to access the online registration page.

Please be prepared to present identification at check-in.

About the speaker

Dr. Hoesung Lee is the President of Carbon Free Alliance and a Special Ambassador for Carbon Free Energy, Republic of Korea. The Caron Free Alliance is an organization launched in October 2023 by the Government of the Republic of Korea as a public and private sector platform to promote carbon-free energy globally to support climate solutions and economic growth.

Dr. Lee was Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment (2015–2023). He is an economist by training in the fields of climate change, energy and sustainable development. He serves as Chair of the Asian Development Bank President’s Advisory Board on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. He was the founding president of the Korea Energy Economics Institute — a government agency for national energy policy development. He was distinguished research fellow at the Korea Environment Institute, senior adviser to the Minister of Energy and Resources and the Minister of Environment, senior fellow at the Korea Development Institute and economist at Exxon Company USA.

He served as the president of the International Association for Energy Economics, president of the Korea Resources Economics Association, member of the Board of Directors of the Korean Academy of Environmental Sciences, International Advisory Board of the Battelle-Pacific Northwest National Lab (USA), the Board of Directors of Hyundai Corporation and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan, and the Council of the Global Green Growth Institute.

Dr. Lee was Co-Chair of the IPCC Working Group III (the economic and social dimensions of climate change) for the Second Assessment which provided a scientific basis for the UNFCCC’s Kyoto Protocol. He served as Vice-Chair of IPCC from 2008 to 2015, and lead author and review editor for the various IPCC assessments.

He was named to the 2019 TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World. He received the Outstanding Contributions to the Profession Award 2020 from the International Association for Energy Economics. He was named to the 2021 Bloomberg 50 List.

Dr. Lee received his BA from Seoul National University and a PhD in Economics from Rutgers University, USA.