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April 9, 2025 • 8:30 am - 5:00 pm est

Columbia Global Energy Summit 2025

The Columbia Global Energy Summit 2024 is an annual event dedicated to thought-provoking discussions around the critical energy and climate challenges facing the global community. 

Summit Event • Lerner Hall
Columbia University
Columbia Global Energy Summit 2025
Climate Change

A Near-Term to Net Zero Alternative to the Social Cost of Carbon for Setting Carbon Prices

External Publications by Noah Kaufman & Peter Marsters • August 17, 2020

Read in Nature Climate Change

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Abstract

The social cost of carbon (SCC) is commonly described and used as the optimal CO2 price. However, the wide range of SCC estimates provides limited practical assistance to policymakers setting specific CO2 prices. Here we describe an alternate near-term to net zero (NT2NZ) approach, estimating CO2 prices needed in the near term for consistency with a net-zero CO2 emissions target. This approach dovetails with the emissions-target-focused approach that frames climate policy discussions around the world, avoids uncertainties in estimates of climate damages and long-term decarbonization costs, offers transparency about sensitivities and enables the consideration of CO2 prices alongside a portfolio of policies. We estimate illustrative NT2NZ CO2 prices for the United States; for a 2050 net-zero CO2 emission target, prices are US$34 to US$64 per metric ton in 2025 and US$77 to US$124 in 2030. These results are most influenced by assumptions about complementary policies and oil prices.

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Energy and Climate Issues During the Trump Administration’s First 100 Days

President Donald Trump has made energy a clear focus for his second term in the White House. Having campaigned on an “America First” platform that highlighted domestic fossil-fuel growth, the reversal of climate policies and clean energy incentives advanced by the Biden administration, and substantial tariffs on key US trading partners, he declared an “energy emergency” on his first day in office.

Blog by Matt Bowen, Anne-Sophie Corbeau, Erica Downs, Jonathan Elkind, Gautam Jain, Robert (RJ) Johnston, Noah Kaufman, Tatiana Mitrova, Richard Nephew, Luisa Palacios, Diego Rivera Rivota, Sagatom Saha, Shayak Sengupta, Vivek Shastry, Trevor Sutton & Karen E. Young • January 23, 2025
Energy and Climate Issues During the Trump Administration’s First 100 Days
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Climate Change

A Near-Term to Net Zero Alternative to the Social Cost of Carbon for Setting Carbon Prices

External Publications by Noah Kaufman & Peter Marsters • August 17, 2020

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