The University of Chicago’s Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth is excited to announce that it will return as the official academic thought partner for Aspen Ideas: Climate, taking place in Chicago on July 20-22, 2026.
Aspen Ideas: Climate is the Aspen Institute’s flagship convening on climate change, designed to bring the public into conversation with policymakers, scientists, business leaders, innovators, artists, and community voices working on climate and energy solutions. In collaboration with Aspen, the Institute will help to shape the programming for the convening, integrating the University of Chicago’s global expertise and cutting-edge research into the agenda. The Institute will also host the opening day on the Hyde Park campus.
This is the Institute’s second year serving as the official thought partner of Aspen Ideas: Climate. In 2025, the Institute’s expertise was woven throughout the conference, including on topics around climate finance, carbon markets, carbon removal, battery storage, and domestic and international climate policy.
The Institute also hosted the conference’s opening event. It featured a conversation with Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy (R) and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D), moderated by Institute Director Michael Greenstone. The governors explored how place, politics, and priorities have shaped different states’ approaches to climate policy.
Greenstone, who also leads the Institute’s Energy Policy Institute at UChicago (EPIC), additionally participated in a panel discussion on carbon markets, while the directors of the Institute’s Climate Systems Engineering initiative, David Keith, and Energy Technologies Initiative, Shirley Meng, participated in panels on carbon removal and energy technologies, respectively.