Harvard Project Conducts Side-Event, High-Level Meetings at COP-16

The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements hosted an official side-event at the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-16) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Cancun, Mexico, on December 8, 2010. The session was titled, "Institutions for International Climate Governance," and the speakers were:

• Michael A. Levi, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment and Director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change, Council on Foreign Relations.


• Kenneth R. Richards, Professor of Public Policy, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University.


• Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School, and Director, Harvard Project on Climate Agreements.


• Zou Ji, Professor of Environmental Economics, Renmin University (Beijing), Country Director for the World Resources Institute in China, and a former member of China's delegation to the UNFCCC negotiations.

Each of the speakers explored aspects of the institutional arrangements needed for a sustained and effective international effort to address global climate change. Their presentations are available for download below.

Immediately prior to COP-16, the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements released a Policy Brief entitled "Institutions for International Climate Governance," which may be downloaded here.

Robert N. Stavins, Director, and Robert C. Stowe, Manager of the Harvard Project, also met individually with numerous country delegations to COP-16 and with representatives of businesses and nongovernmental organizations. These meetings provided an opportunity for extensive exchange of information and insights regarding the process of building a new international regime for global climate change.

Professor Stavins has posted an analysis of the Cancun Agreements on the website of his blog, "An Economic View of the Environment."