Pittsburgh’s Renewing its Global Clean Energy Legacy
The City of Pittsburgh is hosting the Global Clean Energy Action Forum (GCEAF) on September 21-23, a convening of international energy experts with the purpose of invigorating the commitment and action needed to rapidly decarbonize our energy systems. Many key stakeholders are participating on the GCEAF host committee, including Sustainable Pittsburgh, and have been working to ensure voices and perspectives from our region are embedded into this global discussion. Our region must adopt a unified, comprehensive regional decarbonization strategy that centers on equity, builds bridges with sectors and stakeholders, and offers an inclusive platform.
The GCEAF is a joint meeting of the Clean Energy Ministerials (CEM) and Mission Innovation (MI). The Clean Energy Ministerials (CEM) is a global clean energy leadership platform that brings countries, companies and experts together to accelerate clean energy transitions across multiple sectors and provides recommendations for empowering society to take action. The CEM’s work encourages action across coalitions with the purpose of enhancing coordination, communication, and collaboration to enable successful clean energy transitions.
Mission Innovation (MI) is also an international initiative, focusing on research, development and demonstration of ways to make clean energy affordable, attractive and accessible for all. Launched alongside the Paris Agreement in 2015, MI brings multi-disciplinary perspectives together to enable investments and action-oriented cooperation that strengthen our global potential to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Both of these global platforms assembling in Pittsburgh shine the international spotlight on our Steel City of Pittsburgh, “a town that exemplifies how a legacy energy and industrial-dependent economy can be transformed into a technology and innovation powerhouse,” as described by U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. The GCEAF represents an opportunity for our region to continue shaping and shepherding the prospects of our collective energy future by highlighting the need for a comprehensive, equity-driven, long-term, multi-sector decarbonization strategy.
The GCEAF attracts experts from across multiple sectors in business, academia, research, think tanks, and government that focus on markets such as transportation, industry, power and energy, agriculture, land use or buildings. Much like Sustainable Pittsburgh’s work to uncover the regional economic development opportunities of multi-sector decarbonization, the GCEAF will include presentations from innovative CEOs enabling and expanding decarbonization in their own operations and supply chains to secure a competitive advantage in a thriving, decarbonized economy that works for all people.
The GCEAF comes at a pivotal time for our region. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act and funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are rapidly energizing conversations with businesses, local governments, and other stakeholders on the necessary principles, participants, and purpose of a regional decarbonization strategy.
Many know the potential of building a fundamentally equitable, resilient, healthy, and prosperous region through a decarbonization strategy, recognizing that a comprehensive approach leverages our region’s thought-leadership, legacy of innovation, and commitment to our communities. We must work together to ensure our region’s approach is successful for our neighbors and for the globe.
If you or someone you know will be attending the GCEAF, ask them to stop by Room 303 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on Friday, September 23, 2022 from 10:15AM – 11:15AM. Sustainable Pittsburgh and CEOs for Sustainability will be hosting “Innovative CEOs Enabling and Expanding Decarbonization,” a panel of regional CEO leaders discussing their insights on what is needed to enable a comprehensive, equity-driven, long-term, multi-sector decarbonization strategy.