Date and time
Monday, September 21, 2026
2:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT (followed by networking reception from 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm EDT)
(7:00 pm – 11:00 pm BST / 8:00 pm – 12:00 am CEST)
Location / venue
Frontiers Science House at the Science Summit (during UNGA and Climate Week NYC), New York, NY, and global livestream
Organizer / sponsoring institution
Frontiers Science House / Frontiers
Event description
As world leaders and climate experts convene in New York for UN General Assembly high-level week and Climate Week NYC, Frontiers Science House hosts a half-day symposium addressing unresolved scientific disputes and policy bottlenecks across three critical domains:
- Governance of climate intervention technologies: Solar geoengineering remains one of the most contentious issues in atmospheric science. While some researchers argue that deployment risks and moral hazard pose unacceptable threats, others contend that evaluating sunlight reflection is an urgent necessity as global temperatures climb. Panelists will examine what empirical research is required, whether international governance can prevent unilateral deployment, and how governments should evaluate emerging field experiments.
- Power, rewired: building the climate-energy future: Reaching a clean energy future requires confronting complex trade-offs that are often glossed over. Panelists will explore the tension between speed and security: Can advanced batteries, localized generation, and clean fuels scale fast enough without triggering severe mineral bottlenecks, supply-chain vulnerabilities, and heavy regional impacts?
- Funding the future of science: In a shifting geopolitical landscape, capital allocation directly shapes the direction of scientific discovery. Leaders from major research institutions, funding agencies, and philanthropic organizations will discuss how to safeguard scientific independence, balance fundamental discovery against market-driven pressures, and ensure public trust when private and national interests compete.
Following the panels, a networking cocktail reception will take place from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm EDT, open to all registered attendees. Journalists are invited to attend in person in New York or join the global livestream.
Speakers and panel lineup
Panel 1: governance of climate intervention technologies
- Moderator: Vijay Vaitheeswaran — Director of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program, Council on Foreign Relations
- Manish Bapna — President and CEO, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
- Dakota Gruener — CEO, Reflective
- Prof. David Keith — Professor of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago
- Dr. Mark Symes — Program Director, Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA, UK)
Panel 2: power, rewired: building the climate-energy future
- Moderator: Helen Burdett — Head of Planetary Solutions, World Economic Forum
- Thomas Baker — Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
- Ann Mettler — President, Catalyse Europe
- Cassady Walters — Vice President, Power, The Rockefeller Foundation
- Evelyn Wang — Ford Professor of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Panel 3: funding the future of science
- Moderator: Dr. Frederick Fenter — Chief Executive Editor, Frontiers
- Prof. Hugh Brady — President, Imperial College London
- Andrew Tauhert — Chief Impact Officer, XPRIZE