Please note: This is a hybrid event. Registration for in-person attendance has reached capacity. Should additional space open, this message will be updated. Virtual attendance is still open and we invite you to join us remotely.

Background:

Foreign direct investment can contribute significantly to sustainable development through tax revenues, the transfer of capital and technology, job creation, linkages with local industries, infrastructure development, and capacity building. However, the extent to which these benefits actually accrue to host countries depends heavily on the policies of the host country and the investor, the regulatory and legal framework governing their relationship, and the institutions available to find mutually satisfactory outcomes for both parties. Nowhere are the stakes higher than with extractive industries, where oil, gas and mining have sometimes been a springboard to development and at other times a source of corruption, social degradation, and environmental catastrophe. As the resources are non-renewable, countries have a one-shot opportunity to transform the resource wealth into development.

Objective:

This event, co-hosted by the Center on Global Energy Policy and Columbia Global Centers | Rio de Janeiro, will provide a basic knowledge of the transformative potential, benefits and risks of the extractive-industry and the role of industry, governments and civil society. Participants will have the opportunity to learn and interact with experts from Columbia University and Fundação Getúlio Vargas to discuss the interlinkages of oil, gas and mining in Brazil and the U.S.

Speakers:

• Lisa Sachs

Director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. Since joining CCSI in 2008, she established and now oversees CCSI’s robust research portfolio in its cross-cutting areas of expertise, and has overseen advisory work in Chile, Guinea, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Paraguay, Tanzania and Timor-Leste, among other countries. She teaches a masters seminar at Columbia Law School and Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs on Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development, and lectures at Externado University in Colombia on International Investment Law. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Harvard University, and earned her Juris Doctor and a Masters degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, where she was a James Kent Scholar and recipient of the Parker School Certificate in International and Comparative Law.

• Fernanda Delgado

PHD trained in Energetic Planning (engineering), with petroleum geopolitics emphasis, Master degrees in Management Engineering and in International Finance. Two published books on Petropolitics, and an affiliated professor of Oil Geopolitics in Brazilian Navy Officers University. Professional experience in relevant companies, in Brazil and abroad, as Deloitte, Vale S.A., Gama Filho University, Royal Shipping Services and Dickinson Maritime Agency. Skilled on business plans design and construction, project financial viability studies and business valuation. Long experience in strategic planning, merger and acquisition, business analysis, economic and financial evaluation and competitive intelligence.

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Please note: This is a hybrid event. Registration for in-person attendance has reached capacity. Should additional space open, this message will be updated. Virtual attendance is still open and we invite you to join us remotely.

Advance registration is required. Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email with access details.

For more information about the event, please contact energypolicyevents@columbia.edu.

Please join the Center on Global Energy Policy for a Women in Energy lunch and roundtable discussion with Dr. Pratima Rangarajan, the Chief Executive Officer of the newly-formed investment company, OGCI Climate Investments and Rhea Hamilton, Ventures Director of OGCI Climate Investments. Dr. Rangarajanand and Ms. Hamilton will discuss their job history, career paths, and perspectives on what it means to be a female leader in the energy industry. About OGCI Investments  Jointly funded by 10 Oil and Gas majors, OGCI Climate Investments (CI) intends to invest $1 billion over the next ten years to develop and demonstrate innovative technologies that have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CI plans to enhance the impact of the investments via strategic partnerships and with others working on low emissions technologies and solutions. Biographies Dr. Pratima Rangarajan Before joining OGCI Climate Investments, Dr. Rangarajan was the General Manager for GE’s Onshore Wind Product Line and the General Manager for GE’s Energy Storage startup. She had previously held the role of Deputy Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Emerging Technology and Research at Vestas Wind Systems. Pratima has a PhD in chemical engineering from Princeton University and a BS in chemical engineering from MIT. She is based in London.  Rhea Hamilton Previously, Ms. Hamilton was a Managing Director for a European family office heading private equity/venture capital direct investments in clean technology and renewable energy. Prior to this, she was an Investment Director at RobecoSAM Private Equity, formerly part of the greater Rabobank Group. Ms. Hamilton started her career with Royal Dutch Shell, where she held various positions including CFO of Shell Hydrogen. Rhea holds a Geological Engineering degree with a specialisation in Geophysics, from the University of British Columbia, and an MBA from IESE in Barcelona, Spain. This event is open only to current female grad students.  Space is limited therefore please register only if you can commit to attending the roundtable. Lunch will be provided.  If you have any questions, please contact: jem2245@sipa.columbia.edu

LOCATION: Princeton Club of NY 15 West 43rd Street New York, NY 10036 The Center on Global Energy Policy’s Women in Energy program is hosting a public panel discussion on how shifting energy and environmental policies are impacting the financial sector. Our panel of experts will explore issue related to both conventional and renewable energy including tariffs on solar panels, what policies have the greatest effects on financial markets, short-term and long-term effects of the current administration’s plan to open more drilling areas, and the short-term and long-term views of investments in renewables. The panel will include the following speakers: – Maria Jelescu, CEO, Ardinall Investment Management – Dawn Pasquin, Chief Risk Officer, GE Energy Financial Services – Sarah Valdovinos, Co-Founder, Walden Green Energy – Iany Ianachkova, Director, Cohn Reznick Capital Registration is required. This event is open to press. Please direct media inquiries to Jamie Shellenberger-Bessmann. It will also be livestreamed at: energypolicy.columbia.edu/livestream A podcast of this event (in addition to other past Center events) will be available ~12 days after the date of the event through iTunes or via our website. For more information contact: energypolicy@columbia.edu

Most of the pressure on oil companies to make more environmentally-conscious investments is targeted at companies like Shell and Exxon. But these companies produce only 15 percent of the world’s oil and gas supply. 

The majority of oil production comes from nationally-owned oil companies, and the question of how they will respond to the clean energy transition is especially vital in Latin America where state-owned companies like PDVSA, PetroBras and Pemex dominate the region’s energy sector. 

In this episode, host Jason Bordoff speaks with a leading expert on oil markets and the Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) agenda in Latin America — Dr. Luisa Palacios. She has special insight into this topic as a former board chair of the oil refiner Citgo, an energy firm owned by the Venezuala-based nationalized oil company, PDVSA. 

Dr. Palacios is currently a Senior Research Scholar at CGEP and received a Masters degree at Columbia University. Previously, she was Medley Global Advisor’s Head of Latin America. She also worked at Barclays Capital as a Director in emerging markets research.

Dr. Palacios spoke with Jason about where Venezuela and other Latin American oil majors are headed in a moment of big market shifts. They also took a broader look at the future of oil and ESG practices in the Latin American Region.

Fossil fuel companies are under pressure from shareholders, citizens and the courts to shift their business models to reduce emissions or face huge financial consequences. There are now more than 1,500 large corporations with net-zero emission pledges, including one-quarter of the S&P 500.

In today’s episode, host Bill Loveless speaks with Mindy Lubber — President and CEO of CERES, a sustainability nonprofit that pushes private companies to integrate the risks associated with climate change into their business strategies. 

They spoke about the changes happening in the market and inside boardrooms, and whether any of it is happening fast enough.

India’s energy challenges are diverse and compounded by a growing global commitment to climate change, which has serious implications for India’s reliance on cheap coal to power its cities and villages alike. On this episode, host Jason Bordoff talks with Sunita Narain, Director General of the Center for Science and Environment, one of India’s leading environment NGOs based in Delhi, and one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People for her work on climate change and the poor. They discuss: The role energy access and energy poverty play in India’s energy narrative; How to prevent fossil-fuel addiction among India’s citizens; The challenge of transitioning India off of cheap coal and the role of natural gas in the developing world; The need for smart fuel subsidies; Whether the Paris Agreement is a good deal for India and other developing nations.