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Harvard Project on Climate Agreements (HPCA) at COP-27: Perspectives from HPCA Director Robert Stavins

| Nov. 21, 2022

What is really striking is that the most important development at COP-27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt has taken place thousands of miles away from where the negotiations are taking place. Namely in Bali, Indonesia, where President Biden and President Xi of China met, shook hands, and then engaged on November 14 in a three-hour conversation in which, among other topics, they signaled returning to the cooperative stance that had been so important previously on climate change.

To say the least, that discussion between the two heads of state is trickling down to the heads of the negotiations here at COP-27 — John Kerry for the United States and Xie Zhenhua for China, who are longtime friends, but were not engaged in intense discussions and cooperation because of the problems there had been at much higher levels between the two governments. It appears that we have now moved past that, and I believe it is reasonable to anticipate that we are going to see something of a return to the co-leadership on climate policy that China and the United States previously exercised which led up to the Paris Agreement.

Please note that the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements hosted or co-hosting two official Side Events at COP-27 this week:

Frontiers in Carbon Pricing
            Wednesday, November 16, 2022, 12:00 – 1:30 pm
            Pavilion of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA)
            Hosted by the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements
            Panel:  Daniele Agostini, Head of Energy and Climate Policies, Enel Group
                        Lisa DeMarco, Senior Partner and CEO, Resilient LLP
                        Andrei Marcu, Founder and Executive Director, European Roundtable on Climate Change and Sustainable Transition (ERCST)
                        Robert Stavins (moderator)

Using Satellite Observations of Atmospheric Methane to Advance Global Climate Change Policy
            Thursday, November 17, 2022, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm, Side Event Room: Thutmose
            Hosted by the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements and the Enel Foundation
            Panel:  Daniele Agostini, Head of Energy and Climate Policies, Enel Group
                        Brendan Devlin, Adviser for Strategy and Foresight, DG Energy, European Commission
                        Lena Höglund-Isaksson, Senior Research Scholar, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
                        Daniel Jacob, Vasco McCoy Family Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Harvard University
                        Claudia Octaviano, General Coordinator for Climate Change and Low Carbon Development, National Institute for Ecology and Climate Change, Mexico
                        Robert Stavins (moderator)

Prof. Stavins and Daniel Jacob, Vasco McCoy Family Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Engineering at the Harvard Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, will participate in these additional activities at COP-27 during the week: 

Discussion of the China National Climate Change Assessment Report
            Wednesday, November 16, 2022, 9:00 – 10:30 am
            China Pavilion, Area E
            Hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Institute of Energy, Environment, and Economy at Tsinghua University.
            Robert Stavins is a panelist.

The 8th Global Climate Change Think Tank Forum
            Wednesday, November 16, 2022, 4:00 – 6:45 pm
            China Pavilion, Area E
            Hosted by the China National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation
            Robert Stavins presents on “Carbon-Pricing Policy: Carbon Taxes vs. Cap-and Trade”

Measuring up to the Methane Challenge
            Thursday, November 17, 2022, 3:00 – 4:30 pm, Pavilion of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA)
            Hosted by IPIECA
            Daniel Jacob is a panelist.

Follow the work of the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements at COP-27 on our Tumblr page: https://www.tumblr.com/hpcaatcop27. 

Note that all event times are Eastern European Standard Time (GMT+2).

For more information on this publication: Please contact Harvard Project on Climate Agreements
For Academic Citation: “Harvard Project on Climate Agreements (HPCA) at COP-27: Perspectives from HPCA Director Robert Stavins.” News, Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, November 21, 2022.

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Robert N. Stavins

Robert N. Stavins

  • Director, Harvard Project on Climate Agreements
  • A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy & Economic Development
  • Member of the Board, Belfer Center
  • Director, Harvard Environmental Economics Program
  • Chair, Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Group
  • Chairman, Ph.D. Programs in Public Policy and Political Economy & Government
  • Co-Chair, Kennedy School–Harvard Business School Joint Degree Programs
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