Environment and Natural Resources

Harvard Kennedy School hosted Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, for an Energy Policy Seminar to discuss recent U.S. progress on addressing climate change and the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Energy Policy Seminar series hosted Professor Dustin Tingley of the Government Department at Harvard University to present his recent research outlining a polycentric governance model to re-think net metering practices.

The behavior of EV users themselves could play a role in modulating electricity demand and providing needed flexibility in electric grids, said Christine Gschwendtner, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, during an Energy Policy Seminar.

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Belfer Center experts shared their perspectives on the future of the international human rights movement as part of the Carr Center's publication, Making a Movement: The History and Future of Human Rights. 

Al-Juaied and Whitmore examine the costs and prospects for direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS), and identify types of funding needed for early deployment for DACCS and building momentum for later widespread deployment. The challenges of implementing DACCS at very large scale further emphasize the need for urgent and widespread action to reduce emissions, which should continue to be the main priority for meeting climate goals.

Harvard Kennedy School’s Energy Policy Seminar series hosted Frances Moore, Associate Professor and the Hurlstone Presidential Chair in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California Davis, to present her recent research on how the social cost of carbon is likely significantly underestimated in the academic literature.

This report is a summary of a workshop that took place June 18/19, 2023 in Cambridge, UK. The workshop was hosted by the University of Cambridge's Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance. The research project, ‘What factors drive innovation in energy technologies? The role of technology spillovers and government investment,’ was led by Professors Laura Diaz Anadon (University of Cambridge's Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance), Venkatesh Narayanamurti (Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs) and Gabriel Chan (University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs) as co-PIs.

The research project was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 

Harvard Kennedy School’s Energy Policy Seminar series hosted Ana Unruh Cohen, Senior Director for NEPA, Infrastructure and Clean Energy at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), to provide an update on the Biden Administration’s ongoing permitting reform. 

Arctic environmentalist and policy expert Margaret Williams has joined the Arctic Initiative as a full-time resident Senior Fellow for the 2023-2024 academic year. Williams will support and expand the Initiative’s portfolio of work on marine governance and sustainable ocean management.

This policy brief provides an overview of existing and novel, climate-driven challenges to infrastructure in the Alaskan Arctic.