The San Diego World Affairs Council Presents
featuring acclaimed UC San Diego Professor
David G. Victor
presenting:
"Climate Policy and Decarbonization
in the Trump 2.0 Era"
Wednesday June 18, 2025
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Royal India Miramar
8990 Miramar Road #200 ,San Diego, CA 92126
About the Program
These are truly turbulent times…on an historic scale. Huge policy changes regarding US decarbonization, green energy investment, and global warming/climate research are being largely eclipsed in the media by tariff news and the geopolitical transformation of the global order being driven by the Trump 2.0 White House.
Nevertheless, Trump 2.0 environmental policy changes are likely to be consequential – for the US and the planet. Those changes may also come to have geopolitical implications. New global leadership may emerge. Furthermore, some Trump 2.0 shifts seem likely to find ready audiences in other parts of the world.
Drawing on his deep experience and awareness, David G. Victor will discuss the impacts and consequences of US policy changes toward global warming and decarbonization. Beyond discussing the impact of the of the first five months of Trump 2.0, David will step back and take the long view…across the arc of a decade or two – or three. What has happened…and where do we go from here? What will be the impact of the Trump tariffs? Will geo-engineering emerge as a tool for addressing climate change? Will new meaning be given to an old US Marine Corps proverb: “Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome”?
Following Dr. Victor's presentation there will be ample time for audience questions.
About David G. Victor
David G. Victor is a professor of innovation and public policy at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego. He co-directs the campus-wide Deep Decarbonization Initiative, which focuses on the engineering, economic and political challenges associated with bringing the world to nearly zero emissions of warming gasses.
He has been heavily involved in many different climate- and energy-policy initiatives, including as convening lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations-sanctioned international body with 195 country members that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
He is also an adjunct professor in Climate, Atmospheric Science & Physical Oceanography at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a professor (by courtesy) in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
Prior to joining the faculty at UC San Diego, Victor was a professor at Stanford Law School where he taught energy and environmental law.
His Ph.D. is from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and A.B. from Harvard University.
