Reports & Papers

464 Items

US Climate Policy graphic

Getty Images

Paper - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Climate Change Requires New Approaches to Disaster Planning and Response

    Author:
  • David J. Hayes
| June 2023

To date, most of the climate policy attention has been focused on the need to reduce the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change and, as a corollary, to accelerate the U.S. economy’s transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. Yet climate change also is straining our nation’s emergency response capabilities as traditional climate-infused disasters such as hurricanes and floods become more frequent and destructive. At the same time, the emergency response community faces new challenges as slower-to-develop climate impacts like drought, heat, and wildfire increasingly are hitting an acute tipping points and becoming life- and livelihood-threatening disasters.

Strong Climate Actions Together

Flickr/UN

Report - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

African Agency in International Climate Policy and Energy Geopolitics

| May 30, 2023

The Africa in Focus series is a forum for the intellectual and critical analysis of processes and policies from the continent and its engagement with the international community. Through thoughtful and dynamic programming, Africa in Focus brings greater African perspectives into broader policy conversations at HKS.

Discussion Paper - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

International Cooperation to Reduce Methane Emissions

| November 2022

In recognition of the urgency of reducing methane emissions, several voluntary international multiparty agreements and initiatives have recently been concluded to accelerate collective action and establish formal mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of methane-related commitments. While these initiatives reflect ambition on the part of public, private, and civil society actors with regard to methane, the implementation of these initiatives presents challenges for governments, emitting sectors, and other parties.

An array of mirrors at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating site in Primm, Nevada on Aug. 13, 2014

AP Photo/John Locher, File

Paper - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Financing the Energy Transition through Cross-Border Investment

| November 2022

Ely Sandler and Daniel Schrag propose a new approach to Article 6 of the Paris agreement, arguing that states must use cross-border investment to finance the energy transition. By linking additionality to an investment’s impact on cost of capital, Sandler and Schrag demonstrate how Article 6 can leverage blended finance to de-risk private investment, creating a new model of public private partnership. The paper uses case studies from the Middle East and North Africa region to demonstrate the potential economic, environmental and political benefits of cooperation on Article 6.  

A recently planted African Mahogany tree grows at the Lufasi Park Lake Nora

AP/Sunday Alamba

Paper - Harvard Kennedy School

The Evolving Role of Greenhouse Gas Emission Offsets in Combating Climate Change

| August 2022

As governments, firms, and universities advance ambitious greenhouse gas emission goals, the demand for emission offsets — projects that reduce or remove emissions relative to a counterfactual scenario — will increase. Reservations about an offset’s additionality, permanence, double-counting, and leakage pose environmental, economic, and political challenges. The authors review the role of offsets in regulatory compliance, as an incentive for early action, and in implementing voluntary emission goals

Electricians install solar panels.

AP/Mary Altaffer

Report Chapter - Brookings Institution

Mexico’s Energy Reforms: A Blow to Realizing the Most Competitive and Dynamic Region in the World

| Feb. 28, 2022

In late 2017, Mexico made headlines as Italian company Enel bid what was then a world-record low price for renewable energy in the country’s third such energy auction. This development was possible due to the historical and sweeping energy reforms passed with broad support in Mexico in 2013. Then-President Enrique Peña Nieto had succeeded where previous Mexican presidents had failed, reversing decades of resource nationalism and overhauling the energy sector through constitutional reforms that gave the private sector a larger role and advantaged renewable energy in Mexico’s economy. The 2017 auction seemed to indicate Mexico’s bright future not only as a conventional oil producer, but also as a clean energy power.

Discussion Paper - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

Center-State Relations in India: A Political Economy Approach to Climate and Energy Policy

    Authors:
  • Johannes Urpelainen
  • Jai Shekhar
| January 2022

India plays a critical role in global climate and energy policy. Although India is only responsible for 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions today, it has a large population and considerable potential for rapid economic growth. This paper explores how India’s states can best address climate change, the relative roles of state and Union governments, and how relationships between states and New Delhi can constrain or accelerate climate action.

Paper - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

Advancing International Cooperation under the Paris Agreement: Issues and Options for Article 6

    Author:
  • Michael A. Mehling
| October 2021

This discussion paper explores key areas of disagreement on Article 6 and explores possible outcomes from the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-26) in November 2021 in Glasgow.

Aerial view of Guangzhou-Huadu Plain and Mount Baiyun

Wikimedia CC/Pulsarwind

Discussion Paper - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

The Guangdong Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme: Progress, Challenges and Trends

    Authors:
  • Zeng Xuelan
  • Li Weichi
  • Guo Xingyue
| June 2021

Guangdong Province ranks first in economic output among China’s provinces and will play a major role in achieving China’s national climate-change goals. This paper examines the progress of Guangdong Province’s carbon dioxide emissions trading system (ETS) in reducing emissions; design features of the system; challenges it faces with regard to further development; and its relationship to China’s new national ETS.

Xiangzhou, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China skyline

Wikimedia CC/luchangjiang~鲁昌江

Discussion Paper - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

Lessons Learned from Sub-national Emissions Trading Systems

| June 2021

There are potential roles for sub-national climate policies in addressing climate change. Theory and experience of nesting sub-national climate policies within a broader, national climate policy indicate that the interactions between the two levels of governance can be problematic, benign, or positive, depending upon the nature, design, and stringency of the policies. When the national system is a tradable performance standard, as with China’s national system, the consequences are similar to those with cap-and-trade, but more complex.