Vice President for Global Initiatives John Bradford contributed to this article about how Saudi Arabia is eyeing to fuel its post-oil future with mineral resources. On January 10th the government revised its estimate of the value of its buried mineral wealth from $1.3trn to $2.5trn. This includes deposits of gold, copper and zinc. January 11, 2024.
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Payne Institute Fellow Steve Griffiths and Benjamin K. Sovacool write about how government leaders and climate negotiators gather in Dubai for the COP28 United Nations climate conference and how an enormous challenge looms over the proceedings: decarbonizing the global industrial sector. November 29, 2023.
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributes to this article about how President Biden is reportedly skipping a global climate change summit for the first time in his presidency. Not attending the conference would mark a significant snub by a president who has vowed to fight global warming. Yet some experts say his absence is unlikely to actually impact the conference’s outcomes, with both his presence and absence playing more of a symbolic role. November 28, 2023.
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributes to this article about how Israel’s military offensive in Gaza following an Oct. 7 attack by the enclave’s ruling Islamist group Hamas has raised calls in the Middle East, particularly from OPEC member Iran, for using oil as a weapon to punish Israel. Analysts and OPEC sources, however, say that the energy world today is far different from 50 years ago, and play down any possibility of a new embargo. November 21, 2023.
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Macdonald Amoah, Gregory Wischer, and Juliet Akamboe write about how minerals still undergird warfighting technology, including defense platforms and munitions. Like previous junctions in human history, the current period will be defined by minerals and the warfighting technology that they enable. November 10, 2023.
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler, and Responsible Gas Program Manager Simon Lomax write about how methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and fast reductions will help stabilize the climate more than any other action we can take in the short term. November 9, 2023.
Ashvin Dayal, Andrew Herscowitz, and Payne Institute Fellow Todd Moss write about how we need an unambiguous agreement that everyone on the planet deserves abundant energy. While higher energy consumption might sound counterproductive to climate goals, the two things can – in fact, must – coexist. At the COP28 Summit later this year, world leaders must commit to a new Modern Energy Minimum of 1,000 kilowatt-hours per person per year. November 7, 2023.
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow H. Sebnem Düzgün is featured in an article about how she is part of a team evaluating efficient and low-emission rebuilding plan for southeastern Türkiye. November 2, 2023.
Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Manager Brad Handler writes about how in mid-October, he had the opportunity to attend and present at the biannual World Investment Forum (WIF), sponsored by the UN Conference on Trade and Development. The WIF’s goal is to spur more sustainable development investment in low- and middle-income economies. The agenda included full-throated support for voluntary carbon markets (VCMs), to lure capital towards the energy transition and to help countries meet decarbonisation commitments set out under their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). October 27, 2023.
Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler writes about the 8th World Investment Forum focused on spurring sustainable development across low and middle income economies. The challenges loomed large, as speakers noted that not only were absolute spending levels far short of what was needed to be “on track” to meet energy transition and SDG targets, but that recent spending in the developing world was far too concentrated in select economies. October 25, 2023.