Leading Climate Change Negotiators and Policymakers Visit Harvard Kennedy School

Ambassador Makio Miyagawa, Deputy Director-General for Global Issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan—and deputy head of Japan's delegation to the international climate talks—visited the Harvard Kennedy School April 13, 2010. Ambassador Miyagawa lead a discussion with students, faculty, and staff on "International Climate Change Policy: Next Steps for Japan and the World."

Ambassador Miyagawa discussed the recent round of negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC COP-15) in Copenhagen, Denmark, with an eye toward the future of global climate policy negotiations in Cancún, Mexico, at COP-16 in December 2010. The Ambassador's remarks focused on both Japan's domestic attempts to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions and the government's role in ongoing international negotiations.

Ambassador Miyagawa's visit follows two sets of discussions that the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements has held in Japan with policymakers, negotiators, and scholars.

Nancy Kontou, until recently Head of Cabinet to the Commissioner for Environment, European Commission, spoke at the Harvard Kennedy School on March 5, 2010, to conduct a special seminar on "Climate Policy after Copenhagen: The Way Forward for Europe and the World."

Kontou's special seminar on climate policy after COP-15 provided insightful analysis of the progress of climate talks from a European Union perspective. Her visit was the latest in series of discussions that the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements has held with officials of the European Commission on international climate policy. Please see: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/19634 and http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/18337.