again, i want to expend to you and to all of those who labored so hard for this moment, my warmest personal thanks. >> watch real america sunday at 4:00 eastern on american history tv on c-span3. next, a discussion on u.s. climate change policy. this event organized by the world resources institute looked at global, federal, state, and local climate policy. >> good afternoon. thank you all for joining us this afternoon. i'm the global director of the climate program at wri. you toy honor to welcome this event one year later, has the world moved on since

president trump's announcement of the paris agreement? i like to start out by saying my own personal reflection actually actually kicks off on the night. i was at the climate conference at the that time and if anything i witnessed was a renewed commitment to delivering there. it really stood out. what was memorable and what i remember is the steady uptake of countries that continue to ratify the agreement, signifying a steely determination to move on. that's what i remember from that moment. and now 18 months later that same decisiveness is very much evident. trump can announce what he will but the reality on the ground in the u.s. and around the world is that effort to tackle climate -- climate continues.

and as someone who has been involved in that regime for now you can guess several decades i can go witness to the fact that there has been steady progress forward. it has been relentless. so we are really deeply honored today have something distinguished leaders from government and finance in international relations to join us to reflect on where we are, on how the american people had responded and how the world has responded. before i turn over the floor to our very distinguished senior fellow. he will introduce this distinguished speaker. i like to share with you three brief thoughts. whether trump wants to ignore it or not, climate change is real and it's happening now and the impacts are being felt around the world. 2017 was the second hardest -- hottest year on record worldwide.

you all remember what happened in california, the pictures of the wildfires are still very much with us. and in australia they broke 200 records on heat and rainfall. puerto rico is still recovering. and then there is always the place where it is most vulnerable. i won't go into the statistics on the numbers for africa but let me tell you they are daunting and sobering. we would've the trumpet administration is advocating its historic. he is witness to that historic leadership of the u.s. at their advocating that responsibility to lead on climate the u.s. states and cities in businesses are pushing forward with actions that will help to bend the needle on the mission in the

u.s. they know that if they don't keep up they risk being left behind in the near -- in a new future. regardless of what action takes place at federal level. today as an indicator of this havexample, 74 businesses set targets for emission reduction. businesses are walking -- talking the walking. december, california governor jerry brown and the former new york city mayor michael bloomberg launched america's pledge. it was a new effort to mobilized nonfederal climate action. in the initiative was kicked off with the release of analysis was -- that was authored by wri. they found that states, cities and businesses representing more than half of the u.s. economy and population have adopted the politics.

importantly, a similar pocket of production have declared their support for the paris agreement. if they were a country, the u.s. states and cities alone would be the third largest economy in the world. that matters. that speaks. wri is helping to alter the next america's pledge report. a will determine how much these nonfederal efforts can work to drive omissions downward to achieve the 2025 climate goal. my third point is, what about the rest of the world? the momentum continues to grow internationally. since last june, over 20 countries committed to facing out coal power. they all came forward with a nonsense or plan to ban the sale of fossil fuel vehicles by 2024.

committed to reach the net zero missions. -- emissions by 2050. the u.k. indicated that they will follow suit. china announced that it would restore 6.6 million of those in 2018. that is an area equivalent to the side of ireland. the last two countries that have not ratified the paris agreement have now done so. the only outlier is the u.s.. to this, the negotiations are continuing their pace. country negotiators have work to finalize the implementation guidelines of the paris agreement. i think all of this points clearly to the progress that is being made around the world. we are really honest, we need a lot more efficient. we need to do much more if we need to stay with what we committed to in 2015.

companies and businesses have to step up. what is daunting about where we whether we act today or we do not, it is going to determine what the world will look like for centuries to come. our kind of economy societies -- for societies will be viable? we need to avoid locking in a missions trajectories. thinking about this incredible moment that we are at today, i have the privilege to turn the panel in the event over to andrew and he will be moderating what will be a lively and timely conversation. andrew: can i have my speakers during appear the front?

welcome, everyone. welcome, everyone. welcome to those of you who are watching, either on c-span or facebook. let me explain how we are going to run the panel today. monday start with some brief introductions. let me start with some brief introductions. aese panelists represent range of positions and views and experiences. after that, we will open it to you for 25 minutes or so. and then will close the session. let me start with the introductions. to my left, taught start. -- todd stern. negotiator.s. chief

on clean energy investments. architectsof the key of the paris agreement on climate change. lead negotiator and finance for the alliance as well. that oflso director for the u.n. security general support team. he is now a bass that to the united states. next to him, the managing director of corporate sustainability. we have been grumbles, secretary of the environment for the state of maryland.

he is currently also chair of the regional greenhouse -- and if you have. the first mandatory market-based program to reduce emissions with the northeastern and mid-atlantic states. next to ben we have andrew -- angela navarro. previously worked with governor northam. at the end of the row, we have david wass scout. -- woscow. the ultimate aim of strengthening climate action in strengths -- companies in key

sectors. he is a member of the climate community in washington and also -- elsewhere. todd, we are going to start with you. how would you assess the paris agreement has withstood the test of president trump announcement a year ago this week of his intention to withdraw from it? where you seeing signs of leadership? would you think we need more progress? >> thanks for everybody at wri for putting this event on. it is a pleasure to be on the stage with all of my fellow panelists. i think it's a mixed bag. i think the most important piece of good news was that other countries stated. they doubled down in their general determination not to lock away, not to let the united

states, to use the president's words, not to cancel the agreement. that was a very important thing and president she from china president xi showed up in davos and said that everybody was in. we should not look past that. i'm going to can find comments to the international side. we have several people to talk about the domestic side. it, its positive part of is really damaging for the united states to be on the way out. room, you in this probably know that we are not actually get -- out yet. withdrawnliterally be until november 4 of 2020. pure coincidence that

is the day after the 2020 election. we can submit a formal notice of withdrawal in november 2019. that has to layover for a year. the president left the door open in principle to coming back in, as he said. have this announcement that has been made, the president has made clear his intention to withdraw. the sense of things from the senior levels of the trump administration is to be not interested in climate change and not intended to stay in paris. that has a very damaging impact. i have seated in a couple of ways. i went to the intersessional meeting a few weeks ago, i spent three days there. i met with 25 countries.

a whole slew of people from every part of the spectrum. there are two things that i think, to ways that i see the u.s. posture as being undermining and difficult right now, in terms of negotiations. one, it is in the negotiations themselves in the speaking, broadly ambition. on the negotiations side, there are a whole number of follow-on steps that are being negotiated this year, meant to be finished this year. is sometimes referred to in the press as the rule book. it is a bunch of different guidelines and measures meant to implement provisions of paris. it is really important.

there are guidelines for transparency. there are discussions of information you have to submit when you submit your target. there's accounting, there is compliance. there are all sorts of things that have to get dealt with. i think that in the absence of the united states, you have a a fair number of countries trying to pull back a little bit from some of the things that were agreed to. some of the compromises that were reached in paris. there is generally a sense among that, countries in many cases extended themselves past the point where they were entirely comfortable. they saw that this was a big moment, that the united states was walking arm in arm with china at the presidential level. that there were elements of this thing that needed to be done in such a way

that the united states could actually join the agreement, which is never a foregone conclusion. people extended themselves. and the unitedt states says, never mind, that is a very difficult dynamic. observations in my and in many comments from across the spectrum, it may be damaging in terms of finding a way forward on some of these points. thingespect to the other i was going to say, paris -- the targets in paris are not binding. there is a binding transparency and accountability system. but not the targets themselves. it had to be done that way to get brought agreements. it is a feature of paris. if you think, how are we going to get the kind of ambition we need to get over time, there has

to be a growing development of norms and expectations in countries of the world, not just within the negotiating community. to keephe countries ramping up and to ramp up more and more and faster and faster. , theee the united states second biggest emitter. it has been viewed in areas wellbore aunt -- well beyond climate change as being an indispensable power saying, nevermind. what is the impact on that sense of developing norms? obviously not good. we are determined to go forward and implement the agreement. don't underestimate the negative side of the u.s.'s position. andrew: thanks very much. i'm going to bring an ambassador heart and david.

where do you think the coalition got the ambition out of paris? i was working for todd during paris. we all came together in the high ambition coalition. is there to say, we got a much stronger agreement than many of us thought. thosee leaning into negotiations, which is unusual in these kinds of forms. it is right difficult. 190 countries have to agree on the same thing. it makes the senate look easy. in this form we needed everyone to agree to move forward. where do you think we are in terms of holding that ambition together? where do you think we are in that is the coalition going to move forward in this time when the u.s. is on the sidelines in the formal negotiations?

thanks. wri and mye thank other colleagues here, especially my good friend todd stern. manyt across each other long days and nights, usually opposing each other. we nevertheless became friends. i say that to lead into the paris, to what occurred in paris a couple years ago. where, despite enormous ,ifferences around legal form around the intricacies of the agreement and the necessary approaches to solve this global problem, countries collected around a very ambitious agreement. no one got everything they wanted. those targets that todd spoke about to be a very ambitious and legally binding.

we did not get that. everyone decided it was in the best interest, not only of their individual countries and future generations, of the world in general. if we could craft an ambitious respondedeement that to the defining global challenge of our time. despite the decision by the u.s. to withdraw all or announced the withdrawal from the paris agreement, i nevertheless believe that the coalition but delivered the paris agreement remain strong. it was not only a coalition of countries, it was also a coalition of civil society actors and economy actors. we are seeing an amazing amount of mobilization in the real economy around the goals and aspirations of the paris

agreement. i think that that is a very positive sign. region,y in my own because for us, climate change is not some i satiric scientific debate or discussion. it is the reality. in 2017 we saw some of the most devastating and destructive hurricanes that we have ever seen in our entire history. therefore, when we have these discussions on the paris it can have loss-of-life implications. region, governments have decided to be even more ambitious than they were in paris. just last thursday, we had a general election my country where we elected the first female prime minister in our history.

thatas already announced by 2030, barbados will move towards, will transition towards being 100% carbon neutral. the first 100% carbon neutral island in the world. anyone who knows her knows that she will keep that promise. threat the caribbean and in other regions, you are seeing that thereecognize are opportunities, real economy opportunities for taking action on climate change. to your question is that the coalition remain strong. we want the u.s. to be back at the table and engaging in a constructive manner. goingr, countries are not to wait until the u.s. resumes its position of leadership.

countries are already taking actions to implement or exceed their paris commitment. we need the u.s. back at the table. it is imperative to have the u.s. at the table. were it not for the leadership of the united states, if it was not for the leadership of todd, we have not had a paris agreement. -- we would not have had a paris agreement. had thisnot have ambitious global agreement were not for the leadership of the united states. we absolutely need the u.s. back at the table. andrew: david, same question. how are we in terms of holding together the coalition of ambition? are you seeing new signs of leadership in response to what is happened in the last year? what are the exhilarating moments we should look forward to? what are the signs to look

forward to in the next year, the are after that? >> thanks. i think one of the most remarkable things about what has happened during the trump responseation, and the to the withdrawal announcement or intent to withdraw, has been the reaction. paulo alluded to this earlier. when the election happened, many of us were in america -- -- merrick cash. the sense of determination that one felt throughout the halls there was quite remarkable. the sense that countries, beyond countries. it included cities, states, residents were there. the determination to carry on was palpable. i think that came through as well in the wake a year ago of

the announcement by president trump that he intended to withdraw from the agreement. we saw the outflowing of hundreds of companies in cities and states saying that they are , and the lingo of one of the alliances built in response. i think that has carried on. that then brings us forward to those next moments that really can carry forward the flag. i don't want to suggest that we be naive about the situation. the reality of this administration is something that many are keenly aware of her on the world. and yet there is this clear determination to carry on. some of the things coming down the pipe that i think are those moments that will test that

determination are both with the negotiations and outside of them, the global climate action summit coming up in september in california. it is meant to highlight the that cities and states and businesses and other actors are taking. it will bring a surprising number of countries to the mix as well and shows the ways in which those nonstate actors can work collaboratively with governments. that then will carry us forward, i think. i think we will see a quite potent schilling there. that will carry it forward to cop 24 in poland. really on the cusp of two major decision points. one has to do with a set of rules or guidelines for the paris agreement. this should be seen as the thelizing ingredient,

catalytic agreement for the paris agreement. , but how of structures we put in place the building blocks that are going to allow the paris agreement to come into full life and really have traction on the ground? tontries are very determined get the foundational elements of that set of guidelines and rulebook in place by this cop. there a lot of work left to be done. that is the goal that is -- has been established. the second these have to do with ambition. here, we are in the midst of the first five-year cycle under paris. paris established a series of five-year cycles to increase ambition and strengthen action. this one is less definitively spelled out in the agreement. many countries, we saw this at

the intersessional negotiation several weeks ago. they see that as as an important milestone. objectiveward that and having a clear sense of direction for increasing action by 2020 is another of those milestones. next year, the u.s. secretary general has announced that the one will be holding a major climate summit in new york on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly. while plans for that are still being laid, i think it does become an important moment, especially heading towards 2020. the last thing i will say very quickly is that one of the things we are witnessing is a real change in some of the dynamics internationally around how action is being taken and what the alliances are that are taking action.

we are seeing that in part outside of government action with the cities and states and businesses who abandoned countries, to a remarkable degree. we're also seeing it was governments. india has generated the creation of the international solar alliance, which has over 60 countries as members. it is an intergovernmental organization. it is mostly in tropical , going to drive forward the noble energy options. we are seeing in africa the effort that renewable energy initiative, each has a goal of 300 gigawatts of renewable in africa by 2030. that shows the degree to which we are witnessing a change globally in the types of leadership that we have. it is a distributed leadership model, although we need the u.s. in the game at the end of the

day. it is not one that depends on major parties. it is one that has many more actors in the mix and driving forward. andrew: excellent. .reat segue people keep using the term cop. this is a conference of the theses of the u.n. -- , we are allngs terribly of -- terribly impressed. a week weate, within had jerry brown going to china. a week after president trump makes his rose garden announcement, he goes to china, in the great hall of the people talking climate change. there has been a tremendous

upwelling of this. it goes on and on, these different organizations of businesses and states that have come together. when we go from here? salable bit about your particular insight into the process of building these alliances, creating momentum around them, letting the american people know they exist in a way they never did before. how do you see that leadership unfolding over the next couple of years? let's just go down the line. >> there it is. i want to join everybody and thinking wri for pulling us together. celebration of the actions that have taken place over the last year. with an honor to be here

the state and national and international leaders in this space. citigroup has been quite active in this space. both in terms of our support of the paris agreement leading up to cop 21 in paris as well as our financing of climate solutions. you wanted us to talk a little bit about how we have joined together with other institutions. city iswant to say that the most global bank in the world. we have people on the ground in 98 countries and we do business in 160 countries. we come to this issue partly out of our efforts to live our to enable growth and progress. it is partly because of our role as a global citizen. it is partly because of the business opportunity in the

climate solution space. paula said, one of the things about having sound climate policy is that you want to make sure you are not locking out all the good stuff. the good stuff is really what you see, it is such a huge motivator for so many companies in the climate solution space. for citi we have a goal that we announced in 2015. inhave supported our clients $57 billion with the climate environmental solutions. i think what we have been very we are one voice within thousands of voices that, through either their statements or their business actions, have said, we are still in the paris agreement. we really see this as this

inevitable notion from our clients that are pulling all of us in the right direction in terms of climate solutions. specifically focusing on how we have been able to join together. we have been quite pleased to partner with those competitors and our clients and other ofpanies to make a couple different statements leading up to paris. we joined together with the other major u.s. banks to state our support for a global climate agreement. began, after there was talk about whether or not the united states would stay in, our ceo joined with many other ceos in an open letter published in the "wall street journal" saying that the paris agreement is important for business. after trump announced that he intended for the u.s. to

withdraw from the paris agreement, we issued a statement saying that we were disappointed . through our statements interactions, we are still in. through our statements and our interactions, we are still in. we want to focus on what is possible today, what is possible tomorrow, bringing solutions to our clients, and i think that is what we have seen, that is an incredible motivator for companies. we understand the importance of this issue. we understand the importance of the paris agreement and policy certainty. hope, through coalitions, is that we can help create the continued momentum to fill the gap with states, with cities, with all the other countries, to

bridge the gap and get us to a place where we are again looking at a successful and wholesome implementation of the paris agreement. andrew: -- >> governor larry hogan directed me to go to bond to be part of cop 23, to learn underscoree and to that there is nothing more practical than the preservation of health and beauty. the key to preserving our health, our environment, our economy in maryland, all of you are not just in the nation's capital right now. you are part of -- in the heart of the chesapeake watershed. the preservation of the beauty bipartisaned to find solutions. the opportunity to learn from so many other countries and to be with states that were united in

the effort to reduce greenhouse work with gases and the business community and the ngo's, it made us very excited in maryland. and looking forward to take next steps and follow through with policies and actions in maryland. think globally, act locally, and invest locally in maryland. all of you. thanks. >> or in virginia. [laughter] up a reallyeen set great conversation about the things that the states are doing. a lot of people would recognize that most of the climate actions that are taking place in the united states was happening at the state level. pre-paris agreement. the work that we are doing

through a variety of the commonwealth is moving forward with the regulatory program where we would place a limit on carbon pollution from power plants. it is linked to the regional greenhouse gas in a fit of -- initiative. these activities were occurring before president trump's announcement. the importance of the work that the states are doing has only been amplified since the announcement. coalition, a lot of this work would have occurred nationally -- naturally. it gave us a galvanizing point. there is so much excitement at the state level in terms of investing in our clean energy economy, growing new businesses around resiliency.

a lot of resiliency is incredibly important. it is something we are thinking about everything all day. there are a lot of opportunities for the states to step forward and take a more leadership role in the absence of the federal government doing so. that is not to say that we would not like to see more federal action. i think consistent regulatory programs nationwide are the preference. our businesses in the commonwealth would appreciate that the consistency of a strong regulatory program rather than piecemeal state approaches. the states are close to the ground. we have to live in reality. we have to take action. we have to be beholden to our constituents and the people who elected my boss and office.

a significant factor in that is addressing the impact of climate change, whether it be reducing carbon pollution through our new regulatory program, looking at advanced transportation, bringing in new businesses, expanding our clean energy economy, and addressing the resiliency of our then, you are chair of the regional greenhouse gas initiative. virginia is now poised to join this. can you say more about the role of these regional trading systems yet how are they

inherently limited? we don't have a national system? what is the future of them? do see a way in which we could imagine reggie taking a step that california is taking? now that it is linked to the providences of ontario and we back. what is the current status of that, and the future? njamin: we certainly enjoy along with maryland several other states who are participants and members, sharing ideas and thoughts about our experiences and it's a tremendous track record over the last decade. these nine states have cut carbon emission in the power plant sector and generated in addition to that the focus on environmental progress, generating $2.9 billion in revenue divided among states for investing in clean energy and energy efficiency and ratepayer assistance and resiliency and

the key to us was that 83 days after the president announced the withdrawal from the us from the paris climate agreement, nine states were extremely diverse geographically, and politically from new england, maryland and delaware agreed to reach consensus to strengthen and extend the program beyond 2030 , and the price question is key for us all to ensure that there are mechanisms like payment -- cost-containment reserves at different safety valves involved in the auction process critically important so each of , the states in the power sector that our constituencies within

those states understand that this strategy for environmental and economic security into the future is also consistent with the theme of not only clean energy, but affordable and reliable energy. it's an auction system based on the market price, but we also have mechanisms such as cost containment reserves if the price gets too high. a really important breakthrough that wri and others in the environmental and academic communities were involved in is that we announced we would be including emission containments as well to ensure that the , limits on overall emissions with the regional effort would -- continue to decrease and we would see environment progress. as we reach out to the commonwealth of virginia and new

jersey, which is also very excited and focused on regional -- rejoining reggie is that we find the right mix of autonomy and flexibility among the states and use price mechanisms to ensure that there won't be unaffordable or unreliable energy in the states, so it's i think one of the most powerful and uplifting messages in the country and around the world that when we become 11 states if that is the case and i hope it will be -- we will have somewhere between the fourth and fifth largest economy in the world when you take those 11 states into account. even though it's focused just on the power sector right now that's still a very powerful and , uplifting message to others in a total bipartisan manner, states in the united states are moving forward and reducing emissions and benefiting their state economy.

>> angela, can you walk us through what it's like to be on the side of trying to emerge into one of these markets. for now, i mean, that really is the future of a pricing system. you have just finished recently your public comment on this. you were with us from the beginning of the last administration into this administration. there's been some tension there with the state legislature already, so how are you growing support for this? how does the process look from the inside of being one of the states on the cusp? angela: a great question. the collaborative effort with the reggie states has been key. i will say virginia started down the pathway a number of years ago. it did not happen overnight. and it started with our stakeholder engagement around the clean power plant in federal regulation covering carbon emission from the power sector. our stakeholder engagement in

talking to industry groups, environmental groups, science -based groups, everyone across the board recognizes the power of a market and the power of establishing a program that was trading-ready, and the beauty of the power plant was that there was flexibility for states to embark upon that type of regulatory program. as we moved through the process of working through our own state regulatory approach to comply with the clean power plant -- the clean power plan was stayed at the federal level by the supreme court and we actually had a meeting of our stakeholders where we asked them, do you want to continue? everyone unanimously said yes, we want to continue working through this because our utilities, our pricing carbon in the long-range plan -- carbon is known as a huge regulatory risk for our manufacturers and industry and so they wanted to continue to have these conversations.

that's not to say they all loved the results but they were all at , the table and part of the discussion and in a state like virginia that is a purple state , where you have the majority republican legislature, but then two consecutive democratic governors, that was key to get the stakeholders in the room to have those conversations. we knew we needed to move forward via an executive action rather than through legislation , because we didn't have the votes in our general assembly to have a more comprehensive approach that would let us solely take advantage of the benefits of reggie. virginia is not directly auctioning allowances and we don't really get the revenue, so -- ben mentioned the significant revenue -- investment that the states have made from the auction revenue that comes, virginia does not have the ability to do that so the revenue will go back to the

utilities and we will essentially refunded back to -- refund this back to customers through their electric utility bills. certainly, bringing those groups together, recognizing that we needed consistent action we saw , there was a uncertainty at the federal level. there was i think momentum, political momentum for us to move in this direction and with the election, so the draft rule when out right after the election at the state election where the governor was elected. to governor committed continuing on the path of moving forward with the regulatory program. one more question, and then people start opening it up. way we think about these kinds of programs, really, you are building a coherent and consistent overall economic system, which is going to create a growth model up to the realities of climate change. groupf the things city-

in,itigroup is involved bloomberg, the task force on climate related finance disclosure. they are trying to come up with recommendations on how to move forward on a system of high risk how to create long-term stability in terms of investments. can you tell us about citi's sup port and how you think it is going? do you feel momentum on the same may be with some of these other programs? >> sure. i earlier talked about our financing of climate solutions. how do financial institutions and companies assess climate risk?

andrew was referring to something called the financial stability board, climate related financial disclosures. and the tcfd recommendations were released by the task force in june of 2017, one year ago. these recommendations ask financial institutions, as well as provide guidance to other, more carbon intensive sectors, to provide disclosure across a whole host of different risks. to providempanies disclosure under climate change governance, -- on their clim ate change governance, metricsx, targets, and there is a particular piece of this that stems a lot of companies.

-- stumps a lot of companies, seeing how your company would perform in different warming scenarios. we have been looking at different interests -- issues and metrics since 2002, including energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. we had a long history of continually ramping up our disclosure in this area on the opportunity side, with our $100 as wellfinance goals, as risk management with our client transactions. the one piece of this around is ate scenario analysis different way of thinking for a want of companies. with 15 otherther banks. we are the only u.s. bank. we banded together with 15 other

banks across the world under the guidance of the united nations environment program finance initiative. we banded together and hired two consultants to help us build methodologies and models for looking at physical risk from climate change and what that would do to our businesses in portfolios as well as transition risk. fortunate to be able to keep warming to 1.5 or two degree scenarios, what does that look like get-go what does the global economy and what does our business look like? we are still in process with , because wehat feel like this will contribute to the overall dialogue. there has been a want to focus on this and attention to how the financial institutions and -- a

and how the on this financial institutions will want to pay attention to this risk. risk to thebe a portfolio, and bank managers could face a different kind of risk. fromis helping managers different sectors, we started with the energy sector and now we are looking at the transportation sector. it makes a company more because you're talking about how climate risk affects your business from an opportunity and risk side. have beenmething i talking about a watch to demystify what it is and what it isn't. lot to demystify what it is and what it isn't. aware andore climate looking at how different warming

scenarios affect us is a really important step. somethingto disclose that hasancial risk been honestly a magic ingredient to the bipartisan success for climate action in the state of maryland. commission change that our state has, one of the most active elected members of that commission is the state elected treasurer. the treasurer recommended a 40% reduction plan in greenhouse gases for the state. the environment needs to track our progress and document to the governor and the general whether we are leading to a net positive impact on jobs and the economy as we go forward

with that 40 by 30 goal. financial risk is also a major reason why the state of the -- the state of maryland, it is the first in the country to ever launch a state-supported climate leadership academy, which is focused on providing training localavel's to governments and businesses to deal with and help prevent andding and storm surge other adverse financial impacts to property and people, and the risk that climate change presents. it is all stemming from an awareness that financial impacts an integral part of a broad collaborative and bipartisan approach to real action on reducing emissions. >> apple comeback to angela

on that question. -- i will come back to angela on that question. let's open it up. do we have someone with microphones? okay. and here, and there, and there. two or three questions, and we'll get answers. please identify your self. i am a journalist for npr and other publications. i was wondering if you can talk a little bit more about what the impact of the u.s. walking away from the agreement that deals not the -- the emissions parts of things. states are doing their own action toward reducing

emissions, but i was wondering if enough is being done to with othergap, financial mechanisms, or that's kind of thing. >> you are making commitments to state companies. >> i am a grad student at arizona state. entities number of recording, when we look at data standards, the structure and what are standards,

the trends you would like to think about for adoption of standards? and did you see investment standards for infrastructure? i represent climate exchange maryland. i am concerned that reggie does not include the transportation sector. i am interested in your thoughts, being the chair, what you think the probability would , should this be expanded to the transportation sector? anotheru believe program, putting the price on could helpa fee

bridge that gap? >> why don't we start with you. a couple of things to say. question, with the in thestates not playing world of providing any kind of puts -- support that national support, that puts something of a damper on overall financing. hopefully other companies will be able to step up and do things , like help fill the first replenishment around for the climate fund. that is part of the kinds of funding that goes into the adaptation. someone thate could fill me in.

i don't know if there are tough sort of negotiation questions right now. adaptation is more important than getting funds to help poor countries do what they need to do. lots of damage is a perennially difficult question. we saw it in 2013 in warsaw, and another step in paris. it is delicate because there are countries like the united states, and other developed countries can't quite get any other hand. i always thought this is an to be looked at by the larger united nations family. cap --e existential existential challenges many we should not and

be shuffling it off. broadening the family of institutions that are focused on it. one comment on the standards with respect to i have hadstandards, a lot of interesting meetings in china, some of negotiation and some on other things. one fascinating guy was the key person in china. green finance on to try andboard, build an entire ecosystem of green finance, too green bonds. is also focused on the issue of green investment. there is a lot of interesting work he is doing. -- passhat, i will past

the baton. selwin: on the adaptation question, i agree with todd that in the actual negotiations, it's not, there are very little difficulties around negotiations on adaptation. the question on the major concern especially from the developing countries has been twofold. the political profile, that meditation gets globally, and the link to the support that adaptation receives, traditionally, it has been around an 80-20 split -- 80% of all finance is going to emission reductions, critically important. and only 20% is going to support adaptation. the green climate fund one of

-- climate fund one of the major , decisions that was taken by the green climate fund during operations was to ensure there was a balance 50-50 split between adaptation and litigation finance. and this is motivated many of the international institutions to adopt a similar approach. the green climate fund has been trying really hard to do this, but i believe many of the international institutions like need tod bank, they work harder in terms of ensuring there is greater distribution of financial support for adaptation and resilience, especially for vulnerable countries. what we will see over the course of the next few months is the recapitalization of the green climate fund.

and whether that coalition i spoke of earlier that remains strong. -- will truly step oup to the plate and fill the void by the u.s., since hte president of he u.s. has made it clear will not play with the green fund, which has been a truly game changing institution. it is focused on transformational change. it has been a long and difficult learning experience. has made a level, it difference, especially in african countries, and some of the most vulnerable countries,

and in latin america. the final point i want to make on the adaptation agenda, i was in south carolina two weeks ago. there was a very close historical link to barbados. mayor, as well as the chief resilience officer in south carolina. and am sure these challenges i am sure these challenges also pursue -- pertain to maryland and virginia. challenges these states face our challenges we face in the caribbean. cannot -- why can't idle states who face many of the same challenges from hurricanes and storms and coastal innovation why don't we form

a coalition to exchange best practices and collaborate on resilience building? i put that to sister city of you fromls, many the great state of maryland. willing to focus on resilience building in the absence of any leadership from the federal government. the question on what it would take to expand rggi to other sectors. maryland's emissions have gone down by half in the power sector since 2010. the process of expanding the program to other sectors?

todd: one of the organizations that maryland is proud to be -- ben: one of the organizations that maryland is proud to be member -- to be a member of is the u.s. climate alliance. question,i specifically with the transportation sector, i would say a couple of things. state is proud to be part of a very active organization, called the transportation and climate initiative. a dozen states are a part of that effort, recognizing that in maryland,s, including increasingly the transportation sector needs to be the focus of attention and collaboration. it is not just the energy sector or the building and housing or the agricultural

sector. on transportation, one of our top priorities right now is having regional meetings among those dozen states that are part of the transportation and climate initiative and hearing about how the transportation sector reduces greenhouse gas emissions and how to do it in a coordinated way, regionally. now,f our priorities right and i say this as a state that has a republican governor, is to push back really hard on epa proposed rollbacks of clean car rules under the clean air act. that is a very important strategy on transportation progress for greenhouse gas initiatives. also a lot of local meetings, citizens, stakeholders, businesses that

are going to be a part of these discussions that you put in in placeon putting some type of cap on carbon emissions. it clearly needs time and discussion among all of the different stakeholder groups. in terms of rggi, our success is to be focused on one sector and make sure we get it right. and the way the program is carried out is run well and successful. each of our states are looking at other strategies to put a price on carbon, to come up with .ollaborative mechanisms it is the power of collaboration , as everyone knows. it is enormous. when you look beyond your own border, to deal with

, that isdary pollution a good start. we are focused on that, but i know it is going to take some to consider, either in an individual states, or a regional approach, broadening the rggi model to other sectors. the scrutiny, with and analysis as well. angela, do you have anything to say on the reliability, getting into nonfederal levels, accounting for them, making sure we can actually measure progress from we areferent factors, if -- as we are working in almost exclusively a nonfederal arena,

and making sure the rest of the world can actually rely on these commitments? mentioned we are both members of the u.s. climate alliance, not something we are doing in a coordinated fashion. of the the bulk regulatory work happens at the state and regulatory level. move to link to rggi is established under the administrative procedure act. enforceable under state laws and air pollution control laws. there are requirements built into our own regulatory programs when it comes to transportation states also have the ability to regulate emissions .nd do it again when we are talking about things like emissions reductions

associated with reducing the loss of forest habitat, that is a bit more difficult. coalitionking with a of nonprofit partners on developing mechanisms to understand the value of our national land, our agricultural sector, there is a carbon footprint associated with that. understanding what that means is incredibly important. for our baseline regulatory programs, energy and trace -- transportation sector programs, those are under state and federal law and have traditional regulatory backing with monetary compliance and enforcement similar to what you get on the federal level. angela: i will just add quickly to that question. first of all, around whether you can trust to be commitment of companies.

i am a big believer in disclosure, and i think in general you can trust that companies are probably making more conservative commitments than you actually going to be able to make. we have certainly made, been able to reach our previous $50 billion climate finance initiative three years early. we are on track to hit our current $100 billion goal early. but we do disclose a lot of information about how we are tracking and accounting and reporting that. and we also disclose a lot of information about the impacts of this financing. as part of our $100 billion commitment, we also committed to report on the environmental and social benefits of that financing because we thought it was helpful to begin to put numbers to some of that as well. for example

for example, i mentioned $57 billion that we financed so far in that initiative. those financings, our clients have under that initiative with our support, help to avoid 4.5 million metric tons of co2 emissions and supported over 100,000 jobs. i want to just sort of put a a -- a plug in here for the world resources institute, which is leader in developing a standard called the greenhouse gas protocol for measuring different kinds of co2 emissions. i lastly just want to address the question around international financing standards. this has been an area that the finance sector has been able to work pretty collaboratively in. we first started in 2003 with the development of the equator principles for project finance which really set out the gold standard for how banks should assess environmental and social risk associated with the project related lending. and more recently you've seen

bond principles, which we also helped to create, a framework of disclosure around green bonds. what is the use of proceeds for bonds issued, what are the impacts? i think that standards and sort of coalescing at the appropriate time around common ways to measure and report is really important. if you have a goal you want to know when you have hit it. but i think that also broad industry framework, that support, that sort of give you comfort about the greenness or the sustainable benefits of a transaction while also allowing for innovation and exploration are equally important. andrew: so let's take a couple more questions, with some quick answers. there were people over here who had their hands up earlier.

>> i'm from the asian development bank. i'm very interested in the climate financing aspect of this. we provided $4.15 million last year for climate financing in the asia-pacific region, which is very small compared to the private sector. i'm very encouraged to hear from both citibank and also the state that the private sector is finally profitable or a good business deal to stay the course. given that the green climate change was supposed to be raising $100 billion per year by 2020 to help with the climate side, and so far has raised a bit more than $10 billion. do you think by the transparency, improving transparency, providing the information for climate risk in terms of private investments, would this have enough potential

to fill the gap that is left by some of the recent developments? >> great. >> thanks for doing this. it is great to no other country has followed the united states out of the agreement, but you know the paris agreement was a work in progress and the promise , was would ratchet up ambition over time, starting in 2022 close the gap between the commitments and under two-degree temperature limit. i wonder if you could say, two questions, what is the effect of on announced u.s. withdrawal other countries to stick with that ratcheting up of ambition, andbe with the dialogue going to the secretary-general summits next september? for out of you hope the global climate action

summit? we have about three minutes, so let's get some quick answers. ache -- give ave clarifying answer to the question about climate financing. it is often a misconception. was never alion --dge to raise that money for green climate funding, per se. private funding, publicly delivered and mobilized by action from the private sector, and all of the regional development banks. the green climate fund is a key it was never intended to be $100 billion. $10 billion is a start.

i want to be clear about that. ambition, i to think there is an element of mobilization created my country's not wanting to give the united states their way. on the one hand, that is a good thing. there has been a tremendous mobilization internally. the point ofto talking about ratcheting up what you were going to do, looking at the united states not acting, some countries people's -- say we are going to do more or less, country by country. agreement,the paris and i agree with the comments on , in then climate fund paris agreement, there are a where -- elements that

were inserted to help countries reach the ambition. chairmannal contributions or climate submitted plans would not be consistent with the targets. everyone knew that. goal of holding the , ital temperature increase was recognized it would be a work in progress, but there were some key elements that countries need to put in place to and othere themselves partners to increase ambition. a key element of the united states was the transparency

system. a country knowing what the other is doing incentivizes countries to be more ambitious. you don't lock in ambition over a 10 year period, and before making a new commission -- commitment, you get an assessment, a review of the science to inform the decision to increase or submit a new number. there were key elements inserted into the paris agreement and some of them are under threat in the ongoing negotiations. on the ambition question, i think countries can do more and we want to do more.

0.00000% of global emissions. >> [laughter] selwin: what we are going to do more. but we are going to do more. to comedership needs from latin countries, countries in south america, that leadership needs to come from all over. >> how can we fill the climate finance gap? profit?nerating witht to share what we see you from the finance sector and i think it should give us hope. there are so many financial beingts you now see benched to a sustainable climate for green outcome.

quite engaged are with project finance and renewable energy products. commodities team is doing power hedges for renewable by priceoducts certainty. you have our ability to securitize lots of small energy efficiency into one aggregated and security, -- into one a ggregated security. you have the green loans area. while the gap is significant, we are all leaning in on this proble and there is real progressm -- problem and there is real progress ahead. >> maryland will definitely be there. one of them is to share lessons learned and the models ggi to others

around the country into the world. the next would be to share our ideas about the climate leadership academy for local government about increasing resiliency due to risk. the third is to put a real, healthyemphasis on soils and regenerative andculture in maryland, making sure this is the case in virginia as well. agriculture is the heart and soul of our heritage and economy and solutions from the land are there. we are really interested in sharing that with others, what maryland agriculture is doing to increase resiliency and greenhouse gas emissions. angela: one of the most significant drivers for renewable energy investment in

virginia have been facebook, amazon, and microsoft. they are responsible for over a gigawatt of investment in solar energy. we are seeing tremendous progress from the corporate side and those are driving policy changes at the state level. year, the governor signed a piece of legislation that allows for 5000 more megawatts of solar and wind power in virginia. this would probably not have happened had we not those investments from those large corporate giants, are saying -- you are saying, when customers are demanding it, you will see policy movement, and that is one of the biggest drivers we are seeing in states like virginia. a very quick comment on the finance piece. magnitude, wes of need 100 billion that has to be mobilized by public finance, and

we are over two thirds of the way to that target. we need trillions in finance from multiple sources shifted to climate. that is a matter of shifting green and making sure that is taken on the scale that is needed. i wanted to add to selwin's comment. it is clear many smaller countries are ready to move. midsizedon, we have countries and larger ones that are beginning to demonstrate their readiness. chile isle is that contributionng at countries under the paris climate accords with the goal of increasing its actions.

mexico recently passed a law that put in place a five-year cycle of examining and strengthening action. i think this is a spreading movement. andrew: thank you. manish bapna is executive vice president and managing director here. i want to bring them up for a up final reflections -- him for a few final reflections. manish: a huge round of applause for the panelists. >> [applause] manish: incredibly stimulating, motivating set of remarks. i have the unenviable task of 4022 some up this event -- to sum up this event in three

minutes. i will give it a shot. seven brief takeaways. i think we all recognize and we can appreciate the urgency. so many people spoke about the damage of climate impacts, we're seeing the impact already today. what we know moving forward, the infrastructure stock in the world will double in the next 15 years. the gdp will double in 20, urban population will double in 40 years. the window of getting this right, getting a kind of low climate trajectory bright is not. -- is now. i think we're moving as his earlier in the right direction. we are making the right direction but is not decisive enough. this point but urgency is absolutely central. second point, result. we heard following trump's announcement. coalition around paris agreement remains strong. several people talk about that we are still in movement. the real test will be how do we sustain and enhance that resolve? selwin spoke about what the

immediate tests will be the , recapitalization of the green climate fund. will others step up? the economics of the transition the third point, are becoming increasingly clear and compelling. putting $100nk billion into climate finance? what is three major technology companies investing in gigawatt in solar in the country? how is maryland assessing progress on climate? the interesting thing about the economics it is amazing how , quickly this has shifted over the past seven years. seven years ago it was a choice. the dominant discourse was i did get something on climate or you thought about jobs and growth. three to four years ago we begin to recognize that was a false choice. you could potentially have both. increasingly the discourse is , that they are mutually reinforcing. you cannot have growth without taking climate action. you can take certain climate action without thinking of

growth. that intellectual journey and discipline, hugely important. the fourth point, ambition. the real test is going to be what lies ahead. barbados, 100% renewable energy target, but the real question would be, as we go to david and others spoke about 2020, the ratchet mechanism. will people step up? it is not just on mitigation, but also on adaptation. the fifth point, policy matters. policy matters. we talked about rggi, the importance of getting to design. rulebook forut the the paris agreement.

getting that right sends the right signal. matters oint, politics -- sixth point, politics matters. we saw partisanship around the state level climate action. the clean water act, overwhelmingly partisan, 86-0 in the senate. some of the big questions as we move to the election, will bipartisanship start to move in a more serious way at the -- atthe level get-go national level? we cannot forget about the importance of the vote domestically. with that, it is important to take a long-term view. paul has been with us for a few

years and done a phenomenal job. leaving,on going to be quite unfortunately. she is going to stay within the community and bb managing director -- and be the managing director of climate and water. she will remain in washington dc and be a part of the community. i wanted to recognize her leadership. for most of you who may not know, she was a lead architect of sustainable development goals. and of integrated strategies and bringing climate development together. let's give a warm round of applause. [applause] you to thenk speakers, andrew, and all of you for giving us two hours of your time.

we hope you enjoyed it and you come back next week. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] announcer: washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. this morning, david o'sullivan, the european union ambassador to the united states. reporter talks about retirement planning and financial literacy. miketah republican senator lee discusses his new book, written out of history. washingtonwatch journal, live at seven eastern this morning. join the discussion.

live thursday on the cc it -- on the c-span networks, a conversation on social media and how it influences political debate and democracy in the united states, hosted by the cato institute. two, madeleine albright sits down with david thetius to talk about trump's administration's foreign policy, including talks with north korea. how to use intelligence to assess cyber threats to organizations and companies, also on c-span two. afterwards,ght on jonah goldberg with his book ."uicide of the west he argues nationalism is threatening american democracy.

interviewed by editor of "commentary" magazine. posit western civilization as we understand it is unnatural. what do you mean by that? take all of our education and put it in the natural environment. we would not be having conversations about books and podcasts. we would be defending ourselves against animals. that is what our actual nature is. oft is sort of the point "lord of the flies. you have these kids from a british boarding school. in the second you put them back in a natural environment -- and

be second you put them back in a natural environment, they attack each other. sunday night, on book tv. c-span's coverage of 2018 commencements continues with hillary clinton at yale university. she talks about the 2016 studenttial campaign, activism, and reminisces about her own time at you law school. the former secretary of state is followed by another former secretary of state, rex tillerson, at the virginia military institute. jimdefense secretary mcmanus at the air force academy, and canadian prime minister justin trudeau speaking to nyu. >> [applause] that was great. thank you.