Round Up

Viewpoints

Aug. 12, 2019

Viewpoints present policy proposals, considered opinions, and commentary by distinguished policymakers, leaders from business and non-governmental organizations, and scholars. The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements does not advocate any specific climate change policy proposals. Statements and views expressed in Viewpoints are solely those of the authors and do not imply endorsement by Harvard University, the Harvard Kennedy School, or the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements.

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29 Items

Airbus A320

Wikimedia CC/Bernard Spragg

Policy Brief - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

The Extraordinary Climate Agreement on International Aviation: An Airline Industry Perspective

    Author:
  • George Anjaparidze
| October 2019

The climate agreement on international aviation is unique, in that no other sector has a policy that places an absolute global cap on net CO2 emissions. This policy brief provides an overview of how the scheme was designed, its characteristics, and the role played by the International Air Transport Association.

Carbon capture technology

Wikimedia CC/Peabody Energy, Inc.

Policy Brief - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

Implementing Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs): An Innovation Note

| July 2019

The author explores approaches to effectively managing innovation of negative emission technologies (NET), as a means to contribute significantly to alleviating climate change and its impacts. He notes that “The greatest challenge to climate change innovation is how to manage the transition of technology from the R&D stage to deployment. For a new solution such as NET to gain policymaker approval and resources needed to develop and deploy a practical operating system, advocates must come forward with a design-of-innovation program.

Emissions from coal-fired Merrimack Station in Bow, N.H.

AP

Policy Brief - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

The United States and the Paris Agreement: A Pivotal Moment

| April 2017

The authors break down the reasons for the United States to stay in the Paris Climate Agreement, arguing that the benefits far outweigh any potential costs. The Agreement gives the United States a seat at the table, and the ability to influence international policy on climate change, showing that the United States is open and willing to cooperate.

Implications of the Paris Agreement for Carbon Dioxide Removal and Solar Geoengineering

Policy Brief - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, Belfer Center

Implications of the Paris Agreement for Carbon Dioxide Removal and Solar Geoengineering

| July 2016

The authors explore, in particular, the implications for CO2 removal and solar geoengineering of the Paris Agreement's long-term temperature goals, provision for "removals by sinks," and market-based mitigation mechanisms.

At the 2012 U.N. Climate Change Conference held in Doha, Qatar, Costa Rica's 800-member Coopedota coffee cooperative launched the world's first carbon-neutral certified coffee (Carbon Clear, 2011).

Photo Credit: Coopedota

Policy Brief - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

Eco-Competitiveness and Eco-Efficiency: Carbon Neutrality in Latin America

    Author:
  • René Castro
| November 2015

Improvements in eco-efficiency—defined as a combination of reducing waste and reducing the use of raw inputs—offer one strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also lowering production costs. In addition, changes in culture—at the level of individual businesses, countries, or both—can enhance the eco-competitive position of these businesses and countries. This paper describes three examples from Costa Rica and shows how the goal of achieving carbon neutrality can provide incentives for improving eco-efficiency and eco-competitiveness.

The world's first full-scale floating wind turbine, assembled in the Åmøy Fjord near Stavanger, Norway. Norway made the most ambitious pledge for voluntary carbon cuts through 2020.

Lars Christopher

Policy Brief - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, Belfer Center

A Pre-Lima Scorecard for Evaluating which Countries are Doing Their Fair Share in Pledged Carbon Cuts

| November 2014

The authors explore a novel approach to evaluating the ambition and fairness of countries' voluntary pledges to reduce emissions. This approach could facilitate negotiations at the upcoming UN climate conference in Lima—and the broader process leading to a new 2015 international climate agreement.