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Pardee Center

The RAND Frederick S. Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Future Human Condition was established in 2001 through a generous $5 million pledge from RAND alumnus Frederick S. Pardee. The RAND Pardee Center aims to enhance the overall future quality and condition of human life by aggressively disseminating and applying new methods for long-term policy analysis in a wide variety of policy areas where they are needed most.

The Pardee Center organizes its activities around two main themes: (1) advancing the state-of the-art in conducting long-term policy analysis so organizations can implement better long-range policy; and (2) developing and disseminating approaches that will help make proper stewardship for the future be more commonly practiced.

Pardee Center Participates in the Decarbonization Dialogues

The RAND Pardee Center is partnering with other research organizations, nonprofits, philanthropies, and businesses to better understand the global challenge of deep decarbonization. Funded by the Metanoia Fund, a series of Decarbonization Dialogues will bring together experts from different fields to tackle issues like technology development, risk governance, and tools and information for policymakers.

Latest Perspective

  • Melting icebergs by the coast of Greenland

    Deep Decarbonization as a Risk Management Challenge

    Deep decarbonization is the idea of reducing net human greenhouse gas emissions to zero in the 21st century. There are three concepts that help explain the full scope of deep decarbonization as a risk management challenge.

Research & Commentary

  • Bird scooters outside a restaurant in Santa Monica, California, July 23, 2018

    A Better Way to Think About Scooters

    Aug 28, 2018

    Unleashed in Santa Monica, California, last September, Bird and its competitors are now in 30 American cities and counting. Cities are responding to the scooter takeover with new regulations and increased law enforcement. But if officials rely only on 20th-century tools to integrate these 21st-century scooters into their cities, they will miss a big opportunity.

  • Floating ice and iceberg in Antarctic Peninsula

    When It Comes to Climate, Look for Vulnerabilities in Policy, Not Science

    Aug 4, 2017

    Federal policymakers have picked up on the concept of red teaming — actively seeking out one's own vulnerabilities. While red teaming may not make sense for climate science, it does offer great benefits when weighing climate policy options.

  • Aerial view of solar farm in central Texas

    Navigating the Uncertain Path to Decarbonization

    Jul 11, 2017

    Deep decarbonization can reduce the risk of climate change, and it offers opportunities to reimagine energy, transportation, and infrastructure. But it could also fail in many ways. Diverse, independent actors need a shared understanding of its complexity and deep uncertainty to design a solution to this challenge.

  • The Eiffel Tower is seen in front of the Sacre Coeur Basilica on Montmartre in Paris, France, during the 2015 World Climate Change Conference

    The Big Bet: Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement

    Jun 2, 2017

    America's formal withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement could have far-reaching consequences for U.S. global leadership on many issues, not just on efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

  • Bio power plant with storage of wooden fuel

    Uncertainty and Complexity: Biomass Can Help on the Path to Deep Decarbonization

    Feb 24, 2017

    While biomass will almost certainly never become the dominant fuel for the electricity sector in the United States, it is still worth including as part of a menu of greenhouse gas mitigation strategies.

  • Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at the Shale Insight energy conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 22, 2016

    States Could Step Up on Climate Change

    Nov 26, 2016

    The new administration has expressed skepticism about climate change. But states may choose to pursue their own climate change initiatives.

  • Water dripping from a faucet

    Better Water Decisions in the Age of Deep Uncertainty

    Nov 15, 2016

    Water utility planning is ripe with uncertainty: Rainfall, economic factors, and regulations with regard to water utilities are constantly changing or unknown. Developing tools for better water decision making was one of the key topics at the 2016 Society for Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty Workshop.

  • A labyrinth that stretches on forever

    Embracing Uncertainty for Better Decision Making

    Oct 3, 2016

    Experts are expected to provide reliable projections of the future. But some variables are not predictable, no matter how sophisticated the models. Fortunately, new analytical methods like decision making under deep uncertainty help cope with unknowns and ever-changing conditions. When decisionmakers focus on what can be done, rather than what could happen, it opens the door to endless possibilities.