With the U.S. Congress currently debating whether and how to establish a domestic cap-and-trade system to address climate change, the outcome of those discussions is critical to global climate negotiations in Copenhagen and beyond, according to a roundtable discussion on post-Kyoto climate policy hosted by Barclays Capital on April 30, 2009, with insights from the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements.

The business roundtable in New York, which included participants from a range of industries and key government officials, looked at the implications of U.S. domestic climate policy for the international process, the current state of the Waxman-Markey bill in the U.S. Congress, and the future of national and global carbon markets.

With both China and the United States relying heavily on coal for electricity, senior government officials from both countries urged immediate action to push forward technology that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired plants. The leaders spoke April 16 at a high-level workshop jointly hosted by China's Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center. The workshop aimed to develop concrete and specific opportunities for U.S.-China cooperation on advanced coal technologies, and the group will submit policy recommendations to both the Obama Administration and the Chinese government.

President Barack Obama is expected to deliver a major address on nuclear nonproliferation Sunday during a visit to the Czech Republic. While details have not yet been announced, it is likely that at least part of the address will follow in the footsteps of Obama's campaign promises on nuclear issues. Presented are some "required reading" for each of the major issues at stake, drawing on Obama's campaign pledges.

With the leadership of the Bipartisan Commission on U.S. Policy towards Russia, established by the Belfer Center at Harvard Kennedy School and the Nixon Center in Washington, Belfer Center Director Graham Allison met last week in Moscow with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Niall Ferguson is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University and a member of the Belfer Center Board of Directors.

Belfer Center director Graham Allison served on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, which released its report in December. The congressionally appointed Commission called on then President-elect Barack Obama and Congress to immediately initiate several concrete actions, unilaterally and with the international community, to address the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction that pose the greatest peril: nuclear and biological weapons.

A new report from the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements outlined several promising ideas for successors to the Kyoto Protocol ... guidance on the most intractable challenges facing global climate negotiators, including participation by developing countries, how to reduce deforestation, and how to prevent a "collision" between climate policy and international trade law

Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, former under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs under President George W. Bush, will join Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs as a senior fellow, Belfer Center director Graham Allison announced today.

The January 23, 2009, release of the European Union (EU)'s proposal for a global pact on climate change marks a major step on the road to the 15th Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen. The European blueprint raises several interesting issues for further discussion and consideration.

The Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements, as a matter of course, does not endorse individual countries' negotiating positions. Nevertheless, the European climate platform discusses several issues that will be important moving forward. The Harvard Project's 26 research teams have examined these issues closely.

The Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements leadership team traveled to Poznan, Poland, in December 2008 to present findings of their new Interim Report, which outlines several promising ideas for successors to the Kyoto Protocol.