Speaker:

Matthew Ives, Research Associate, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, Oxford University

Title:

Sensitive Intervention Points for Accelerating the Post-Carbon Transition

Abstract:

While some countries are making progress reducing greenhouse gas emissions, few appear to be progressing rapidly enough to reach net zero emissions by mid-century. Such a transition appears to require deep structural transformation of the global economy and its associated complex socio-technical systems. Is it possible, however, that our socio-economic system already embodies dynamics that might accelerate this transition? At Oxford’s Institute for New Economic Thinking we developed a conceptual framework to identify ‘Sensitive Intervention Points’ (SIPs) in the global socio-economic systems that might allow moderately-sized interventions to drive outsized impacts and transformational change. In applying such a system dynamics approach to the climate challenge we have uncovered a number of promising interventions. We then apply complexity economics to some of the more powerful SIPs to help understand their possibilities and inevitable risks.

Speaker Bio:

Dr Matthew Ives is an economist and complex systems modeler working with Oxford University as a INET Research Associate. Dr Ives has previously worked in academia as well as the private and public sectors on a diverse range of environmental projects covering land, air, and sea. His ventures have included assessing decarbonization pathways for the UK, South Australia, and the world; modelling long-term infrastructure strategies for water, energy, waste, and transport for the UK, and for the United Nations; developing sustainability indicators for the US Forest service; and modelling fisheries in Australia. Matthew holds an Honours degree in Economics, a Masters of Environmental Management, and a PhD in complex systems modelling.

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/92759348700
Passcode: NICO2024

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems and data science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.

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