This panel brings together investors, frontier energy developers, and scholars at the intersection of capital and clean energy to ask the hard questions: How do you distinguish a bubble from a breakthrough when you're inside the hype? What disciplines keep serious players grounded when markets are not? And what do the technologies that did cross the chasm reveal about how the energy transition actually unfolds—and who wins and loses along the way?

Join a discussion of the challenges facing utility-scale renewable energy siting in the United States. The event will mark the launch of two new Sabin Center reports. Authors of the two reports will discuss their key findings. An expert panel will then explore why renewable energy projects are increasingly contested at the local level, how false and misleading claims contribute to opposition, and what strategies can help move projects forward.

Join New York’s climate leaders and state officials for an inspiring discussion on how climate solutions help the ongoing affordability crisis. Topics include: New York’s Cap-and-Invest program, renewable energy, building efficiency, transportation electrification, and energy storage.

Achieving global climate goals requires deploying clean energy technologies at unprecedented speed and scale, which relies on building supply chains that are resilient, sustainable, and economically beneficial. Recent geopolitical tensions, industrial policies, trade disputes, and national security concerns have fundamentally reshaped how governments and businesses think about clean energy manufacturing and international cooperation. This panel will examine one of the defining challenges of the energy transition: how can countries strengthen energy security and domestic industries without slowing the deployment of affordable clean technologies? Drawing on new research on solar photovoltaics, offshore wind, and electric vehicles, the discussion will explore the evolving relationship between climate policy, industrial competitiveness, and international development.

Marine biologist and policy expert Ayana Elizabeth Johnson hosts deep-sea biologist Dr. Diva Amon and climate investor Ben Wolkon for a conversation that spans science, policy, and the stakes of getting this wrong. Based in Trinidad, Amon is a National Geographic Explorer who has led submarine expeditions to some of the least-explored places on Earth, authored over 80 scientific publications, and worked with the UN on developing nations’ rights to their water resources. Wolkon has spent a decade leading climate investments at MUUS, where he cofounded the venture capital firm MUUS Climate Partners, backing more than 30 climate-focused companies. Now, as CEO of his own firm, Avarna, he's continuing to make early bets on climate solutions, including offshore renewable energy infrastructure.

​As the interlocking ocean and climate crises intensify and accelerate, governments, communities, researchers, investors, and innovators are grappling with how to adapt their responses to the pace and scale required. This event will explore the some of the thorniest challenges at the ocean-climate nexus while spotlighting emerging and potential ocean-based approaches to accelerate the transition to net zero and real zero, clean-up massive amounts of legacy CO₂, repair and restore critical ocean systems, and build global momentum for ocean-climate action. It will also mark the launch of Launchpad 2.0, Ocean Visions’ next phase of support for ocean-climate innovators working to move promising ideas toward responsible development.