News & Announcements

Scientists from three universities demonstrate that buying a product made in China causes significantly higher carbon dioxide emissions than purchasing the same product made elsewhere.

The International Center for Climate Governance (ICCG) has named Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs winner of the 2012 ICCG Climate Think Tank Ranking in the Global category. The Belfer Center was cited as the most influential institution outside of Europe “working in the field of climate change economics and policy.” The European winner is the Basque Center for Climate Change (BC3) in Spain. See full report here.

The Belfer Center's Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group will be offering research fellowships in geoengineering policy for 2012–2013. These fellowships are for postdoctoral scholars and Masters-level scholars with extensive experience. The purpose of these fellowships is to improve understanding of the options for governance of geoengineering—deliberate large-scale manipulation of the Earth's climate to partially offset the climate risks caused by greenhouse-gas emissions.

Applications for these fellowships for the 2012–2012 academic year will be accepted until April 12, 2012.

The report, Transforming U.S. Energy Innovation, released on Nov. 22, 2011,is the result of a three-year energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment (ERD3) project of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. The ERD3 project was funded by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to produce and promote a comprehensive set of recommendations to help the U.S. administration accelerate the development and deployment of low-carbon energy technologies.

John P. Holdren, President Obama's chief science and technology advisor, draws a grim picture of our world at the end of this century if we fail to start slashing greenhouse gas emissions that are ravaging the global climate. In a lecture at MIT, Holdren issued a call to action, arguing for a package of integrated measures to protect the environment. Holdren is on leave from Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, where he was director of the Science and Technology Public Policy program.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A new study from current and former researchers at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs finds that reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation will be a much bigger challenge than conventional wisdom assumes — requiring substantially higher fuel prices combined with more stringent regulation.

With both China and the United States relying heavily on coal for electricity, senior government officials from both countries urged immediate action to push forward technology that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired plants. The leaders spoke April 16 at a high-level workshop jointly hosted by China's Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center. The workshop aimed to develop concrete and specific opportunities for U.S.-China cooperation on advanced coal technologies, and the group will submit policy recommendations to both the Obama Administration and the Chinese government.

President-elect Barack Obama announced in his radio address Saturday that he has selected Harvard's John P. Holdren to serve as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology in the new administration. The post, popularly known as "the President's science advisor," also includes directorship of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President and requires Senate confirmation. 

Kelly Sims Gallagher served as a discussant during a two-part Hamilton Project forum on ideas for mitigating climate change through market mechanisms and new technologies. The forum was hosted by The Brookings Institute and held in their Washington, DC office.

Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program Director John P. Holdren was interviewed for "Ahead of the Curve: Business Responds to Climate Change", a Sea Studios Foundation video about how U.S. corporations are responding to the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining competitiveness and profitability.