The world is facing a crisis from climate change. Many policy proposals and promises have been made, but relatively little action has been taken. This conference of the AICC consortium addresses several aspects of this predicament by lining up international experts and top French economists and other academics.

Since climate change is a global problem, the conference will start by taking a worldwide perspective. The ambitious views of the French climate competence center (CIRED) will be compared with the international view of the OECD. International agreements are crucial, but by their nature much weaker than national commitments.

In the first session of the conference on “The World scene”, French academics will present second-best policy options that take into account political constraints.

In the second session on “Global policies”, academic experts will discuss climate uncertainties, the role of carbon taxes and other policy instruments, and the best transition path towards zero emissions.

The third session on “Urban climate policy” addresses how major conurbations such as Paris can play an important role. The question how a major Paris infrastructure project coped with the challenges of a low carbon future will be debated by top scientists involved in the Grand Paris Express project.

In the fourth session on “Regional and international transport policy and trade”, international scholars will analyze the future of carbon-free cars and aviation. Many studies have shown the emergency of the climate change issue as well as the low-cost recipes to solve it but this did not give rise to an ambitious and sustained climate policy.

Many members of the public and some politicians are either still unaware of the perils of climate change, or choose to ignore them. Experts in marketing, political science and social science are needed to explain why this is the case. The fifth session on “Decision theory and behavioral economics” will discuss the role of risk and ambiguity in forming attitudes; in particular with respect to catastrophic events.

In the Closing session a French academic will review the takeaways from the symposium and the questions and issues that remain.