Bridging the Gap Summit
In July 2026, OpenMinds brought about thirty climate scientists, energy experts, and business leaders to Telluride, Colorado, for the Bridging the Gap Summit. Many usually sit on opposite sides of the energy and climate debate. Over three days they worked on one question: how do we bridge the gap between climate risk and energy access? The Telluride Declaration below is what they agreed on.
The Telluride Declaration
A group of leading climate scientists, energy experts, and business leaders met in Telluride, Colorado, to bridge the gap between climate risk and energy access. They reached the following conclusions:
01
Expanding access to reliable, affordable, and secure energy is essential to improving health, opportunity, prosperity, and quality of life while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
02
Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are the dominant cause of climate change. Climate change is already increasing risks to ecosystems and society. Timely action can reduce future risks, preserve options, and support the long-term objective of stabilizing and reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.
03
Meeting growing energy demand while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require deploying proven solutions, continued innovation, strengthened collaboration, and thoughtful management of competing priorities.
04
Policies and investments should be guided by the best available scientific, technological, engineering, and economic evidence.
05
Climate objectives are most likely to succeed when they also strengthen sustainable economic development, expand opportunity, and improve well-being.
06
Technologies and policies involve trade-offs and should be assessed transparently using criteria that include market viability, emissions reductions, reliability, affordability, scalability, climate and environmental impacts, and regional circumstances.
07
Many lower-emission solutions still face cost, infrastructure, and scalability challenges. Proven solutions should be deployed today while sustained investment in research, entrepreneurship, demonstration, and early deployment expands future options, reduces costs, and accelerates large-scale adoption.
08
Achieving these goals requires new forms of collaboration across governments, industry, academia, entrepreneurs, investors, and civil society.
09
Transforming the global energy system will take decades, making immediate deployment of proven solutions and sustained investment in innovation essential to achieving deeper emissions reductions, managing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, and improving long-term climate outcomes.
10
Different countries will pursue different pathways, but progress should be measured by simultaneous emissions reductions and improvements in energy access, reliability, affordability, resilience, and well-being.
11
Continued investment in innovation, infrastructure, and scientific research will expand practical solution options, strengthen resilience, and help manage long-term climate risks.
12
We invite others to join us in advancing practical solutions that expand energy access while reducing climate impacts.
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