Green Cities January: Insights from COP28 by Yasemin Kologlu

*Friendly reminder: This is an online event on zoom. After you register, your zoom link will be found on your digital ticket (e-ticket), which will be emailed to you by Ticketstripe. We will also send a reminder 2 days, and 30 minutes before the event with the zoom link. Thank you for your support!* 

Please join CSU as we welcome our guest speaker Yasemin Kologlu and moderator Lance Jay Brown on Monday, January 29, 2024 from 12:30PM-1:30PM EST for our first Green Cities Event in 2024! Yasemin will evaluate the outcomes of COP28, assess the impact of initiatives launched such as the Buildings Breakthrough and Loss and Damage Fund; share her insights, observations and predictions. 

Abstract

We are in the critical decade to curb our greenhouse gas emissions with the aim to limit the global temperature raises under 1.5C. Experts agree that by 2040, climate change left unchecked will lead directly to a series of ecological and humanitarian crises — from inundated coastlines and displaced populations to food insecurity. 

Every year at COP United Nations Climate Change Conference, delegates from all walks of life, national and local governments, policy makers, practitioners, advocates, philanthropists and many communities across the globe come together with one goal in mind: reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and addressing climate change, the biggest challenge of our time.

This year for the first time in the history of COP, more than 95,000 delegates (record number) from all over the world came together at COP28 in Dubai to make a difference for our future. Yasemin Kologlu, our own CSU Board Member and Design Principal at SOM, represented the voice of Architects, Planners and building professionals as part of the Architecture2030 official delegation in the climate negotiations.

Speaker: Yasemin Kologlu, Design Principal SOM, CSU Board Member

Yasemin Kologlu is a recognized leader in sustainable design and Architecture. She is a Principal at SOM, plays a central role in transforming the building industry's response to the climate crisis––most notably through her work, such as Urban Sequoia, proposal for a carbon-sequestering built environment. She is the founder and leader of SOM's Global Climate Action Group, which led the firm to achieve carbon neutral operations in 2022. Yasemin leads the firm’s Climate Action Reports. She co-chairs American Institute of Architects NY's Committee on the Environment, is a Board Member at the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization, a co-founder and steering committee member of MEP2040, serves on the Carbon Leadership Forum NY Steering Committee, and regularly contributes to shaping carbon and sustainability policies with governments and professional organizations.

Moderator/Host: Lance Jay Brown, FAIA, DPACSA, NOMA

Lance Jay Brown is a founding board member and Immediate Past President of the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization (CSU).  He taught at Princeton and is the former Chair and Director of the Spitzer School of Architecture, CCNY. Educated at the Cooper Union he holds two master’s degrees from the GSD at Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA). He is ACSA Distinguished Professor for Life and received the coveted AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education. He has edited and authored numerous publications and consults, teaches, and lectures nationally and internationally.

Learning Objectives: 

• Understand and evaluate the outcomes of the COP28 global agreements and their potential impact for the built environment
• Discuss new initiatives in the built environment such as the Buildings Breakthrough
• Discuss opportunities for progress in new building technologies, materials, resilient and equitable communities  

Co-Sponsoring Organizations for Green Cities 2024

Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization (CSU), UN-Habitat, AIA New York, AIANY Planning & Design, the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, Habitat Professionals Forum for Sustainable Cities, Creative Exchange Lab (CEL), Global Urban Development (GUD), and the Columbia University Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space (CBIPS)