Optimism on U.N. Climate Talks

Momentum building for significant agreement, panelists say

Panelists at the Kennedy School on Monday expressed optimism about the U.N. climate conference set to begin in Paris on Nov. 30, calling U.S. participation on the heels of domestic climate-related moves a "game-changer." Still, they took care to point out that progress, not a solution, is the best-case scenario for the talks.

"There's an opportunity now and there's promise now that I have not experienced in the 20 years that I've been following … negotiations," said Robert Stavins, the Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School and head of the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements. "My view is that this is a very significant moment, both in the history of climate negotiations, but more importantly … in the history of seriously addressing global climate change."...

Continue reading: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/11/optimism-on-u-n-climate-talks/

Complete Photo Credit: Jon Chase, Harvard Staff Photographer

An Institute of Politics video of the event may be viewed here>