Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

Speaker: Dan Jørgensen, Danish Minister of Climate, Energy, and Utilities

Please note new time.

As a global leader in efforts to combat climate change, Denmark is aiming to phase out its oil and gas production and produce more than 100 percent of its electricity demand by renewables by 2027. Minister Jørgensen played a significant role in maintaining the focus on reducing the rise of global temperatures during COP26 in Glasgow, serving as co-leader on the consultations in the “ambition track.” In addition, he launched the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) during the COP. This discussion will focus on the Paris Agreement process, the road to COP27, and Danish and European efforts to decarbonize their economies.

Registration via Zoom is required. Click here to register for this event.

Speaker: The Honorable Garret Graves,  U.S. Congressman, R-LA-06

U.S. Congressman Garret Graves represents the 6th congressional district of Louisiana, is the Ranking Member of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, and serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, making him particularly qualified to speak on these issues from an informed lawmaker’s perspective. Professor Robert Stavins, Director of the Harvard Project, will host this webinar.

Registration via Zoom is required. Click here to register for this event.

Speaker: Laurence Tubiana, Director General, European Climate Foundation

Laurence Tubiana will offer insights into the UN climate change conference held in Glasgow, Scotland in early November.  She played a key role in the UN climate change conference in 2015 at which the Paris Agreement was adopted, as the lead negotiator representing host-country France. Ms. Tubiana has been Chief Executive Officer of the European Climate Foundation (ECF) since 2017. ECF is a major philanthropic initiative to foster the development of a low-carbon society and help Europe to play an even stronger international leadership role to mitigate climate change.

Registration via Zoom is required. Click here to register for this event.

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement provides opportunities for national governments and the private sector to cooperate internationally to address climate change. In particular, it provides two modalities for international market-based mechanisms. At COP-26 in Glasgow in November, the Parties to the Paris Agreement will attempt (once again) to write the specific rules for implementing Article 6. Speakers in this event — all experts on Article 6 and market mechanisms more generally — will examine the potential of Article 6 — and its prospects at COP-26 and beyond.

One of the presentations will be based in large part on a recently completed discussion paper for the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, which is available here.

Registration via Zoom is required. Click here to register for this event.

Speaker: Valerie J. Karplus,  Associate Professor,  Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University

China’s emissions trading system (ETS) for carbon dioxide will become operational in mid-2021. The system targets reductions in carbon intensity via a tradeable performance standard, initially in the power sector, with expected expansion to other industries. Plans to convert from a rate-based to a mass-based system are underway. The speaker will describe the trading system’s history, design, rules governing implementation, and anticipated developments over the next decade. The ETS is expected to support China’s goals of reaching peak CO2 emissions by 2030 and of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

Registration via Zoom is required. Click here to register for this event.

Speaker: Nathaniel Keohane, Senior Vice President for Climate, Environmental Defense Fund

HPCA Director Robert Stavins will engage Nat Keohane in conversation focusing on what comes next for climate policy both in the United States and abroad. 

Speaker: Christiana Figueres, Co-founder of Global Optimism.

Moderator: Kathryn Sikkink, Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy, HKS

Please join us on Earth Day 2021 when international leader on climate change and former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Christiana Figueres will deliver this year's  Robert S. McNamara Lecture on War and Peace.

Please register in advance for this event here.

India is a vital player in global efforts to deploy clean energy and address climate change – while at the same time widening energy access and fostering economic growth. Expert speakers will consider India’s energy transition and approaches to climate-change policy – both domestically and in collaboration with the global community.

This event is organized and sponsored by The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University; Harvard University Center for the Environment; Harvard Project on Climate Agreements; and the Environment and Natural Resources Program, Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School. The Harvard Global Institute provided generous support for this event.

Moderator: Henry Lee, Jassim M. Jaidah Family Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program; Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, HKS

India is a vital player in global efforts to deploy clean energy and address climate change — while at the same time widening energy access and fostering economic growth. Expert speakers will consider India's energy transition and approaches to climate change policy — both domestically and in collaboration with the global community.

Registration via Zoom is required. Click here to register for this event.

Speaker: Professor Ottmar Edenhofer, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Ottmar Edenhofer, Director and Chief Economist of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, will lead a discussion, “The European Green Deal — Reform or Regulatory Tsunami?” in the next episode of “Conversations on Climate Change and Energy Policy: A Virtual Forum from the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements.” He will address the implications of the European Green Deal for Germany, in particular. 

Registration is required. Please click here to register in advance for this webinar.