MatchPoints Conference

Talking about and sharing visions of the future we aspire to is not only needed, but essential – and in this, engaging in dialogue with the generations to come is imperative. In this session, five passionate young voices will pitch their thoughts on a sustainable future and a balanced planet in a concise and impactful flash talk-format. Afterwards, they will engage in a lively panel discussion, exploring perspectives, actionable climate solutions, and hopes for Denmark and the world. The discussion will be moderated by Lotte Folke.

Listen as they passionately pitch pressing climate issues – and afterwards unite around key questions and perspectives on reaching the climate goals in 2030 and 2050.

Panelists:

Mads Ejsing, Postdoc, Center for Applied Ecological Thinking - Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen
Rethinking and revitalizing existing democracies to solve climate challenges 

Ida Lærke Holm, Member, The Youth Climate Council
Re-designing our economy for the planet to flourish

Amalie Hessellund, PhD fellow, Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Aarhus University
Carbon capture in a net zero society

Mark Nathansen, Spokesman - Climate and Environment, Radikal Ungdom
Reshaping climate action from a burden to an improvement

Sophia Danker, The Green Student Movement 
The Road to a Socio-Ecological Transformation of our Food System

Tommy Ahlers
Chairman of the board, CONCITO and Green Investor
Science can save us

New technologies are crucial for achieving a net-zero economy. However, if we rely solely on well-known, price-competitive technologies, we’ll only cover about 25% of the journey. The remaining 75% requires us to scale existing solutions and push the boundaries with new innovations. This calls for an unprecedented appetite for technical risk across all parts of society—financial institutions, policymakers, and industries alike.

But how do we foster this level of risk-taking, especially in a world full of uncertainties? One part of the answer lies in making new technologies desirable and compelling, so their potential becomes irresistible to both individuals and businesses.

Talbot Andrews
Assistant Professor, The College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Government, Cornell University
To Mitigate or Adapt? The Role of Climate Vulnerability and Disaster Experience on Policy Preferences
As the public increasingly experiences disasters made worse by climate change, we might expect growing public support for climate change mitigation in response. However, experiencing the impacts of climate change also highlights one’s own vulnerability to future disasters. Across several experiments in the United States, I find that those who are either primed to think about their own climate vulnerability or who have been recently affected by a wildfire are more concerned about climate change. They are also much more supportive of local adaptation measures, but at the expense of spending on climate change mitigation. These findings shed light on the opportunities to mobilize effective disaster prevention, but underscore one potential challenge of mobilizing broad support for mitigation.

Kristian Steensen Nielsen
Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Society and Communication, Copenhagen Business School
Behavior change for climate change mitigation

Addressing climate change requires unprecedented societal transformations within a short time frame. Behavioral science has an important role to play in informing this transformation, but so far, it has only had a relatively minor role in informing climate change mitigation strategies. In his talk, Kristian Steensen Nielsen will first highlight why behavioral science deserves greater scientific and policy consideration and which aspects of mitigation behavioral science are especially important. He will then characterize the typical behavioral science approach to studying climate-relevant behaviors and pinpoint pertinent limitations and blind spots. As closing, Kristian will offer suggestions for how to increase behavioral science’s contribution to mitigating climate change and its relevance for policymakers and high-level interdisciplinary research collaborations.