Join Our Earth Optimism Conversations April 19-21

To mark Earth Day 2021 and in anticipation of the Leaders Summit on Climate hosted by President Biden, the Wilson Center's Global Europe Program is partnering with the Smithsonian Institution and European embassies in Washington D.C. to launch an "Earth Optimism" conversation series focused on solutions and possibilities when it comes to climate risk, conservation and sustainability.

Healthy oceans are a crucial component in regulating the climate on the planet. Although pollution, overfishing, and acidification has seriously affected the health of ocean ecosystems, the ocean can also be a source of innovation and optimism in mitigating the effects of climate change by absorbing heat and carbon. The solutions range from blue carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems or underneath the sea, reviving and protecting coral reefs, to a sustainable use of marine sources.

Hydrogen has been hailed as a green alternative to fossil fuels and the harbinger of a completely new economic model. The EU Commission’s European Green Deal and the Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Plan chart a course that is phasing out fossil fuels and emphasizing the need for investing in green hydrogen to hit emission targets. The hope is to develop an economy with hydrogen as a viable large-scale energy source that can be transported via pipes or trucks as a liquid or gas, similar to oil and natural gas. But can hydrogen live up to the promise?

Offshore wind farms have become an important part of global energy markets with investments steadily rising over the last years. The “Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy” from the European Commission aims to make offshore wind capacity hit at least 60 GW by 2030. The U.S. government just recently announced a plan that sets a target to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, which the administration said would be enough to power 10 million homes and cut 78 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.