IAC Hosts Workshop on Realizing a Sustainable Energy Future

The InterAcademy Council/IAP for Research held a workshop on Realizing a Sustainable Energy Future: Roles and Tasks for the World’s Academies at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in Amsterdam on June 26, 2015. The workshop was organized with support from The Kavli Foundation.

The workshop explored how the global energy scene has changed since the 2007 IAC report Lighting the Way: Toward a Sustainable Energy Future, and the implications. The discussion was led by former US Secretary of Energy and Nobel laureate Steven Chu of Stanford University, who co-chaired the panel that authored Lighting the Way, and Institute for Advanced Study Director Robbert Dijkgraaf, who is also President of the InterAcademy Partnership. Workshop participants were welcomed by KNAW President José van Dijck.

The workshop brought together science and engineering leaders and other experts from the Netherlands and around the world. In addition to exploring the status of global efforts to develop and utilize sustainable energy technologies, participants identified obstacles to progress, and considered steps that academies and inter-academy organizations can take to address these obstacles and chart a path forward. The InterAcademy Partnership will use the workshop discussions as a basis for developing new activities on sustainable energy.

On June 25, 2015, the day before the IAC/IAP workshop, Professor Chu was the guest of honor at the Amsterdam Royal Palace Foundation Symposium and delivered a lecture on ‘Getting from where we are to where we want to be in clean energy.’ A recording of the lecture is available online.

The InterAcademy Council/IAP for Research produces reports on scientific, technological, and health issues related to the great global challenges of our time, providing knowledge and advice to national governments and international organizations.

The InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) is the new umbrella organization of the world’s science and medical academies, including IAC, IAP – The Global Network of Science Academies, The InterAcademy Medical Panel, and regional networks operating in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.