Environment and Natural Resources

Speaker: Scott D. Sagan, The Caroline S. G. Munro Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University

Speaker: Corey Hinderstein, Senior Coordinator for the Nuclear Security Summit & Nonproliferation Policy Affairs at the National Nuclear Security Administration

***Video now available***

Join the Arctic Initiative for a conversation with Inuuteq Holm Olsen, Minister Plenipotentiary for Greenland and John P. Holdren, President Obama's Science Advisor and Co-Director of STPP, on the tension between development and environmental protection in the Arctic, with a focus on indigenous people.

Co-sponsored by the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Speaker: Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Oslo

Many authoritarian leaders want nuclear weapons, but few manage to acquire them. Autocrats seeking nuclear weapons fail in different ways and to varying degrees—Iraq almost managed it; Libya did not come close. In this seminar, Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer compares the two failed nuclear weapons programs, arguing that state capacity played a crucial role in the trajectory and outcomes of both projects. 

The Arctic Innovators program will launch this fall with the selection of a group of Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) students to become the inaugural Arctic Innovators student cohort. Those selected will have a unique opportunity to learn from experts on Arctic issues and in a series of lecture-discussion sessions at HKS and will participate in the Arctic Innovation Lab at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Iceland - the world’s largest annual gathering on Arctic affairs.

We will hold a 30-minute information session on Wednesday, September 6 at 12:15pm in T-102.

*Video available*

Across energy, agricultural and forestry landscapes, the production of biomass for energy has emerged as a controversial driver of land use change and climate mitigation. The panel will discuss the myths and realities of the bioenergy expansion and new policy strategies to promote bioenergy in the context of the sustainable development goals.

Bringing together students, investigators, policy makers, and others committed to understanding and communicating the human health impacts of global environmental change.

Rosemary Kalapurakal joins us for a talk on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Rosemary is UNDP’s Lead Advisor on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She has twenty years of experience working on development issues with the United Nations and civil society around the world. She leads the coordination efforts of multiple UN partners and external stakeholders in terms of the SDGs. 

A conversation with Professor John Holdren on the complex environmental, economic, governance, and security challenges emerging in the Arctic.

Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, Professor of Environmental Medicine/Public Health and Pediatrics and Dean for Global Health in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discusses pollution as the world's largest health problem, leading to 10 million premature deaths annually, three times as many as AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.