UPDATE! Online Guest Lecture by Dan Esty: Pathways to a Sustainable Future - Lessons from A Better Planet

Sustainability has emerged as a global priority over the past several years. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals through the United Nations have highlighted the need to address critical challenges such as the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, water shortages, and air pollution. But in the United States, partisan divides, regional disputes, and deep disagreements over core principles have made it nearly impossible to chart a course toward a sustainable future.

Dan Esty will discuss his timely new (edited) book, A BETTER PLANET: 40 Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future which offers fresh thinking and forward-looking solutions from environmental thought leaders across the political spectrum. The book's forty essays cover ecology, environmental justice, Big Data, public health, and climate change, all with an emphasis on sustainability. The book focuses on moving toward sustainability through actionable, bipartisan approaches based on rigorous analytical research. Dan's own essay argues that innovation should be put at the center of the environmental regulatory efforts.

A Better Planet is an initiative of the Yale School od Forestry & Environmental Studies that aims to infuse environmental policy discussions across the country and the world with new energy, recast foundations, and policy breakthroughs.

Dan Esty is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale's School of Forestry & Environmental Studies at Yale Law School. He served as head of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection from 2011 to 2014 and in several leadership roles at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1989 to 1993.