Environment and Natural Resources

2021 Arctic Frontiers hosted a panel of young Arctic leaders alongside seasoned Arctic influencers who dove deeper into the opportunities and obstacles northern youth face now and in the future. Framed in the context of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, speakers were invited to discuss the pressing issues that they stand to inherit such as climate change, societal pressure, migration of young people to the south, and the question of whether the Arctic is facing its own cultural revolution. This session sought to build bridges between generations, borders, and disciplines to find the best solutions for a resilient Arctic.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is upending our lives and the global economy in ways unimaginable until recently. While the overall impacts are still difficult to quantify, ramifications are sure to be felt for decades to come. Providing secure, reliable, and affordable resources for all without causing devastating environmental consequences is perhaps the greatest challenge of the 21st century. But the pandemic has significantly altered dynamics and changed priorities. How is this impacting the quest for sustainability?

In this paper we analyze these challenges by focusing on the plastic industry. There is no doubt that plastic has molded society in many ways that make our lives easier and safer, but it has also created a global environmental and sustainability crisis. In order to curb our addiction to plastic, the world had been waging a war against virgin plastic, but the pandemic has turned an enemy into a much-needed ally. How can we leverage the advantages of plastic without contributing to the world’s environmental crisis? This dilemma poses a significant challenge, but also opens an opportunity to address sustainability at a systemic level through circularity and the transition to low-carbon alternatives to petroleum-based plastics.

Fran Ulmer advocates for better U.S. federal Arctic coordination at home and abroad by detailing three steps that are a good first start.

Joel Clement writes that the nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary is a sea change for indigenous people  because it demonstrates the power of investing in indigenous leadership and institutions.

China announced it would launch a national carbon market in 2017, yet this policy is taking years to come into effect. What will it take for a carbon market to work in command-and-control China? This policy brief explores an understudied challenge—emissions accounting—and identifies potential opportunities that have arisen in the first phase of China’s national carbon market.

The second Arctic Resilience Forum was hosted entirely online — and successfully so. The Arctic Council interviewed the two main organizers: Jennifer Spence, the Executive Secretary of the Council's Sustainable Development Working Group, and Joel Clement, Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. They spoke about the challenge to move the forum into the virtual realm, the unexpected benefits, and the ambitious next steps for resilience in the Arctic.

In a virtual ceremony today, the Environment and Natural Resources Program at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center presented its coveted bi-annual Roy Award for Environmental Partnership to Clean Water for Carolina Kids, a public-private partnership in North Carolina that protects children from exposure to lead from drinking water at childcare centers and schools. The ceremony was followed by a panel discussion, “Coalitions for Environmental Health and Justice: Lessons from the 2020 Roy Award.”  

Via Agenda Pública – El País: After enduring months of a global health pandemic that has unleashed a profound economic crisis, Europe should not lose the opportunity to leverage its recovery plans to kick-start a clean hydrogen society.

Professor John P. Holdren made these remarks at a Harvard Kennedy School Energy Policy Seminar in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on November 2, 2020.

Climate@HKSis a new online resource for navigating the full range of climate-related activity across Harvard Kennedy School's research centers, degree programs, and administrative departments.