Skip to main content
Climate
Search

Main navigation

  • Climate 101
    • What We Know
    • What Can Be Done
    • Climate Primer
  • Explore
    • Explainers
    • Ask MIT Climate
    • Podcast
    • For Educators
  • MIT Action
    • News
    • Events
    • Resources
  • Search
MIT

Main navigation

  • Climate 101
    • What We Know
    • What Can Be Done
    • Climate Primer
  • Explore
    • Explainers
    • Ask MIT Climate
    • Podcast
    • For Educators
  • MIT Action
    • News
    • Events
    • Resources
  • Search
PostApril 22, 2019

Letter regarding MIT's upcoming climate change symposia

The following letter was sent to the MIT community on April 23 by President L. Rafael Reif

To the members of the MIT community,

Starting next fall and ending on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day – a year from today – MIT will hold a series of six campus symposia on the urgent challenges of climate change and climate action.

I write now to encourage you to save the date for as many of these conversations as you can.

Closer to the time, we will find a number of ways, including via the climate symposia website, to share the exact campus locations and the speakers. For now, the topics, dates and times:

Progress in Climate Science
October 2, 2019, 1–4 p.m.

The Climate Policy Problem
October 29, 2019, 4–7 p.m.

Decarbonizing the Electricity Sector
December 4, 2019, 3–6 p.m.

Economy-wide Deep Decarbonization – Beyond Electricity!
February 25, 2020, 5–8 p.m.

MIT Initiatives and the Role of Research Universities
April 2, 2020, 2–5 p.m.

Summing Up: “Why are we waiting?"
April 22, 2020, 1–4 p.m.

For the energy and imagination it took to develop this important series, I am deeply grateful to the faculty members who agreed to serve on the MIT Climate Action Symposia Organizing Committee; their names appear below. With the leadership of chair Paul Joskow, Professor Emeritus in economics, the committee gathered ideas for topics and speakers from across the MIT community and used that thoughtful input to shape a compelling series of conversations.

I hope these symposia will deepen our shared knowledge about current climate science and policy, and help inspire us all to find new and more effective ways to achieve the immediate and sustained action it will take to confront this civilizational threat.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the inaugural symposium on October 2.

Sincerely,

L. Rafael Reif

MIT Climate Action Symposia Organizing Committee

John M. Deutch

Kerry A. Emanuel

Paula T. Hammond

Colette L. Heald

Joi Ito

Paul L. Joskow, chair

Ernest J. Moniz

Richard Schmalensee

Evelyn N. Wang

Maria T. Zuber (ex officio)

by MIT News
Topics
Energy
Electrification
Energy Efficiency
Finance & Economics
Government & Policy
MIT Action

Related Posts

PodcastJuly 10, 2025

E8: Transmission: power to the people

TILclimate Podcast
TILclimate logo
PostJuly 2, 2025

3 Questions: How MIT’s venture studio is partnering with MIT labs to solv...

MIT News
David Cohen-Tanugi has been the venture builder for Proto Ventures’ fusion and clean energy channel since 2023.
PostJuly 2, 2025

Confronting the AI/energy conundrum

MIT Energy Initiative
At the 2025 MIT Energy Initiative Spring Symposium, Evelyn Wang (at lectern), the MIT vice president for energy and climate, joined MITEI Director William H. Green to discuss how collaborations across campus can help solve the data center challenge.
PostJune 26, 2025

Evelyn Wang: A new energy source at MIT

MIT News
“There’s no better place than MIT to come up with the transformational solutions that can help shape our world,” says Evelyn Wang, who is also the Ford Professor of Engineering at the Institute.

MIT Climate News in Your Inbox

 
 

MIT Groups Log In

Log In

Footer

  • About
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • Contact
MIT Climate Project
MIT
Communicator Award Winner
Communicator Award Winner