Climate change: The risks and opportunities presented by the transition to a low carbon economy

Sir David King, UK Special Representative for Climate Change

The global low-carbon market is estimated to be worth more than $5 trillion, and over the next 15 years, it is estimated that around $90 trillion will be invested in the world's energy systems, land use and urban infrastructure.

Our guest speaker, Sir David King, represented the UK at the historic 2015 Paris Climate Conference and at the follow-up COP22 negotiations in Marrakesh in November 2016, where the UK was at the forefront of efforts to advance innovation in clean energy technology globally. This has provided him with unique insights into the risks as well as opportunities that will arise as the world makes the transition to a low carbon economy.

This Special Lunch has been arranged to coincide with Sir David King's second official visit to Taiwan in his current role and also his final overseas trip as the UK‘s Foreign Secretary's Special Representative for Climate Change. In his remarks, Sir David will focus on the opportunities for business from the transition to the new low carbon economic model and share his thoughts on global clean energy innovation.

At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in Paris, 196 countries negotiated and accepted the Paris Agreement, a global agreement to address climate change. As of 1 March 2017, 133 of the countries have ratified the agreement and begun adopting it within their own legal systems. The UK - which along with other European countries played a major role in securing the Paris agreement -  ratified the deal on 18 November 2016 and remains one of the its leading international advocates.

The UK government appointed Sir David King as the new permanent Special Representative for Climate Change in September 2013. Sir David was previously the Government's Chief Scientific Advisor from 2000-2007, during which time he raised awareness of the need for governments to act on climate change and was instrumental in creating the Energy Technologies Institute. He also served as the Founding Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at Oxford, was Head of the Department of Chemistry at Cambridge University 1993-2000 and Master of Downing College at Cambridge from 1995 -2000.

Sir David has published over 500 papers on science and policy, for which he has received numerous awards, and holds 22 honorary degrees from universities around the world. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1991, a Foreign Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002 and knighted in 2003, Sir David was also made an Officier of the French Legion d'Honneur' in 2009, for work which has contributed to responding to the climate and energy challenge.