Harvard Project Leadership Presents Key Lessons at Poznan Conference of the Parties

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.

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Robert N. Stavins, director of the Harvard Project, led the trip to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties, in which government delegates from around the world gathered to discuss an international agreement on climate change. At the conference, Stavins and his team met with officials from 20 key government delegations, as well as leaders from business and environmental advocacy groups.

In the meetings, Stavins and the Harvard Project team described four proposals to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which are outlined in the Harvard Project report. They also discussed several of the most intractable challenges facing global climate negotiators, including participation by developing countries, technology transfer, how to reduce deforestation, and how to prevent a "collision" between climate policy and international trade law.

“There are very great challenges facing the community of nations seeking to establish an effective and meaningful international climate agreement,” said Stavins, a member of the board of directors for the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. “But important principles and innovative ideas are beginning to emerge.”

The Harvard Project report synthesizes the work of 26 research teams from around the world, including China, India, the United States, Europe, Australia, and Japan. It highlights four credible approaches that could succeed the Kyoto Protocol, ranging from a top-down agreement similar to the Kyoto Protocol, but both stronger and more flexible, to a more decentralized framework that links national cap-and-trade systems. Each has advantages and disadvantages; each is promising in some regards and raises important issues for consideration. The report also discusses several potentially important “design elements” — more specific building blocks of an international climate agreement that should be considered regardless of which broader architecture is chosen.

In addition to meetings with government delegations, the Harvard Project team held two events in Poznan: an official side-event at the conference and a high-level roundtable discussion for business executives, government delegates, and environmental leaders. During the side-event, Professor Stavins was joined by two academics from the project's research teams, Carlo Carraro of the University of Venice and Jing Cao of Tsinghua University in China.

Separately, Professor Stavins spoke at two side-events hosted by the International Emissions Trading Association. In one, "New Horizons in the Carbon Market," Stavins explored links between the European Union and non-EU Annex 1 countries. In the other, "The U.S. Carbon World 2013," Stavins looked at the future of U.S. national climate policy and the implications for sub-national programs.

All of the presentations can be downloaded on the Harvard Project website here.