AIR POLLUTION
March 17, 2008
Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements Research Workshop
News
The Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements hosted a research workshop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 13–14, 2008. The workshop brought together key scholars and other thinkers working on international climate change policy from a variety of disciplines, including economics, political science, and law. Together, they addressed issues such as how to persuade developing countries — among them China and India — to sign on to an international agreement, how to link climate policy with international trade, and how to effectively address deforestation, which accounts for 20 percent of global emissions. Attendees presented their initial research findings and got feedback on their ideas. The workshop was preceded by a reception and dinner at the Harvard Faculty Club, which featured Todd Stern, a partner at the law firm WilmerHale, as a keynote speaker. The final drafts of the research will be published in early fall 2008.
March 16, 2008
"State Fight Against Climate Change Benefits Everyone"
Op-Ed, Sacramento Bee
By Lawrence Goulder and Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board
"Because a cap-and-trade system would reduce California's overall greenhouse gas emissions, it would also lower the state's emissions of the co-pollutants. Still, it's possible, though unlikely, that co-pollutant emissions would increase in a particular locality. But here it's crucial to recognize that existing air pollution laws address such pollutants, and so any greenhouse gas allowance trades that would violate local air pollution limits would be prohibited."
February 15, 2008
"Challenges of Integrating the Advancement of Coal Gasification Technology and CO2 Capture Storage (CCS) Technology"
Presentation
By Jennie Stephens, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy
Invited Presentation in Symposium on "Coal Gasification: Myths, Challenges, and Opportunities" American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting, February 15, 2008, Boston, MA.
Winter 2008
"Thinking Globally"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, John F. Kennedy School of Government Bulletin
By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy
Kelly Sims Gallagher is director of the Kennedy School’s Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and advises the United States and Chinese governments on a variety of energy issues.
Winter 2008
"After Kyoto"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, John F. Kennedy School of Government Bulletin
By Sasha Talcott, Director of Communications and Outreach
Robert Stavins has launched the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements, a two-year effort to identify key design elements of a future international agreement on climate change. The project aims to help develop a plan that is “scientifically sound, economically rational, and politically pragmatic” and useful to both developing and developed countries.
January 25, 2008
"Science and Technology for Sustainable Well-Being"
Journal Article, Science, issue 5862, volume 319
By John P. Holdren, Director and Faculty Chair, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program
"I would urge every scientist and engineer with an interest in the intersection of S&T with sustainable well-being...to 'tithe' 10% of your professional time and effort to working in these and other ways to increase the benefits of S&T for the human condition and to decrease the liabilities. If so much as a substantial fraction of the world's scientists and engineers resolved to do this much, the acceleration of progress toward sustainable well-being for all of Earth's inhabitants would surprise us all."
January 18, 2008
"Stavins Keen to Strike a Balance"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Upstream
By Terry Slavin and Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board
Harvard economist Robert Stavins has a lead role in setting the climate change agenda and he remains optimistic of progress, as long as the pragmatic approach wins the day.
December 10, 2007
"Architectures for Agreement: Issues and Options for Post-2012 International Climate Change Policy"
Presentation
By Joseph Aldy, Co-Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements, Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board, Carlo Carraro and William A. Pizer
Project Co-Directors Joseph Aldy and Robert Stavins, along with Carlo Carraro of the University of Venice and Resources for the Future's William Pizer, spoke at a Project-sponsored side event at the 13th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bali, Indonesia.
December 10, 2007
"Linking Tradable Permit Systems: Opportunities, Implications, and Challenges"
Presentation
By Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board and Judson Jaffe
Project Co-Director Robert Stavins and Analysis Group Inc.'s Judson Jaffe spoke at an International Emissions Trading Association (IETA)–sponsored side event at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia. They presented their new report on linking greenhouse gas emissions trading systems, which was also sponsored by IETA.
December 7, 2007
"Designing Post-2012 International Climate Change Policy"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, ClimatePolicy, An American Meteorological Society Project
By Joseph Aldy, Co-Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
The 2007 UN-sponsored climate change negotiations opened in Bali, Indonesia this week. By the end of the conference on December 14, the world community may agree to a two-year "roadmap," as called for by the UN Secretary-General, for negotiating an agreement to guide climate change mitigation efforts after the end of the Kyoto Protocol's 2008–2012 commitment period....
