The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability’s 2025 Climate Impact Speaker Series will kick off Sept. 2 with former president of Colombia Iván Duque. He oversaw the country’s dramatic expansion of renewable energy – from 1% of national energy production to more than 10% in four years – when he served as president of Colombia from 2018-2022.

The fireside chat, co-hosted with the Emerging Markets Institute Distinguished Fellows Speaker Series, will take place in the Klarman Hall Auditorium, Sept 2., 5 p.m., with a reception to follow. Registration for the in-person event is now open.

Duque will share his perspective on how to successfully implement pro-environmental policies amid challenging circumstances, according to Miguel Gómez, the David Drinkwater ’94 Faculty Director at Cornell Atkinson.

“Iván Duque offers students and the broader Cornell community insights into how principled leadership and honest communication are critical for tackling complex challenges like climate change,” said Gómez, who is also the Robert G. Tobin Professor of Food Marketing in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, part of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. “Learning from Duque can help students understand that effective climate governance requires both the moral clarity to acknowledge difficult truths about environmental challenges, and the political strength to sustain long-term policy commitments despite short-term challenges.”

Duque is the first of four speakers in this year’s Climate Impact Speaker Series, which is co-sponsored by the 2030 Project. Other speakers are:

• Sept. 11: Katherine Hamilton, chair of 38 North Solutions, a public policy consulting group that manages the nonprofit organization Project for Clean Energy Innovation. Hamilton has led several councils of the World Economic Forum, and she currently serves as a senior executive in clean power and electrification. This seminar is co-hosted with the R.F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in Cornell Engineering.
• Oct. 16: Doreen M. Harris, president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Harris previously served as vice president of large-scale renewables at NYSERDA and spearheaded the development of New York’s land-based renewable and offshore wind resources, including the execution of the state’s offshore wind master plan. This seminar is co-hosted with Cornell Engineering.
• Nov. 12: Roger A. Pielke Jr., senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and professor emeritus at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is also publisher of The Honest Broker newsletter, which explores the intersection of science, policy and politics across topics like climate change, energy development, pandemic response and the politicization of expertise.

Cornell Atkinson’s goal for this speaker series is to expose the Cornell and broader community to the perspectives of professionals who have real-world experience in implementing climate policy, influencing corporate practices and informing public opinion, said Patrick Beary, the Bruce H. Bailey Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at Cornell Atkinson.

“I hope participants will gain a better understanding of the difficult trade-offs and uncertainty that decision-makers are making on these important climate issues. What may look like easy decisions from the outside are not as easy as they look,” Beary said. “Decision-makers have to take into account many stakeholders, stockholders and political realities.

“I hope we can gain some strategic empathy as we think about the research we’re creating and how we can best support decision-makers and communities in navigating these complex challenges.”

Krisy Gashler is a writer for the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.