Environment & Climate Change

157 Items

Two researchers walk across the snow toward a large research boat in the distance.

Olaf Schneider/Norsk Polarinstitutt

Paths Forward for Norway as New Chair of the Arctic Council

| Spring 2023

An excerpt from an interview with Fran Ulmer, Senior Fellow with the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative, explains what we might expect from the transition to Norwegian leadership, as well as possible paths forward for the Arctic Council and Arctic governance more broadly. The interview was conducted by Belfer Center Communications and Outreach Specialist Elizabeth Hanlon. 

student participants and judges on stage at the 2022 Arctic Innovation Lab

Jennifer Spence

Climate Innovation on Display at the 2022 Arctic Circle Assembly

In October, members of the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative joined more than 2,000 Arctic policymakers, scholars, business leaders, and residents in Reykjavík, Iceland, for the Arctic Circle Assembly—the world’s largest annual gathering on Arctic issues. The Arctic Initiative delegation of students presented innovative ideas for Arctic resilience. 

Students pose for a group photo at Woodwell Climate Research Center

Brittany Janis

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Students Build StoryMaps, Camaraderie at 2022 Arctic Data Stories Workshop

In late March, 19 students from Harvard and the greater Boston area boarded a bus to Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts, for the final session of the second annual Arctic Data Stories Workshop. 

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- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Climate and Security: Critical Connections

Spring 2021

To mark Earth Day 2021, a number of Belfer Center climate, security, and intelligence experts took part in two conferences that identified and discussed the impacts of climate change not only on the environment and well-being of the world’s people, but also on international security and political stability throughout the world.

Arctic Builds Resilience to Climate-Related Challenges

| Fall 2020

The Arctic region is changing rapidly, and the speed of ongoing change makes adaptation extremely challenging. Governments, indigenous peoples, local communities, researchers, and businesses must work together to build resilience to the social-ecological changes that are underway. With that goal in mind, the Arctic Initiative this fall helped launch the Arctic Resilience Forum—a highly successful 10-week international online forum. 

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Spotlight: Fran Ulmer

| Fall/Winter 2019-2020

Fran Ulmer is a Senior Fellow with the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative. She also is Chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission and Global Board Chair of The Nature Conservancy. She has served in Alaska as Mayor of Juneau, State Representative, and Lieutenant Governor– the first woman elected to statewide office in the state. She also was Chancellor of the University of Alaska.

Photo of Deenaalee Hodgdon speaking at an Arctic plastics workshop.

Benn Craig/Belfer Center

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Arctic Initiative Tackles Plastics in Ocean

Fall/Winter 2019-2020

We have all heard of the “Great Garbage Patch” of plastics in the Pacific Ocean, but plastic pollution in oceans around the world is a growing international problem. The increase in plastics in the Arctic—including microplastic particles that can make their way into the food chain—are raising serious ecosystem and economic concerns for Arctic leaders and citizens.

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Students Offer Solutions at Arctic Innovation Lab

Fall/Winter 2019-2020

The Arctic Innovation Lab, organized by the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative, brings international student leaders together to present innovative solutions to complex challenges facing this vulnerable region. With topics such as food security, geopolitics, and waste management, 13 students pitched their ideas at the October 2019 Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavík, Iceland, the largest annual global gathering on Arctic issues.

Acting on the Climate Crisis: What Must Be Done Now?

As numerous studies have made strikingly clear, climate change is increasing much more rapidly than anticipated and its negative impacts are becoming more and more visible around the world. From the escalating extremity of weather events, severe droughts and wildfires, to melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and disastrous floods, climate change is already harming humans and our ecosystems in a myriad of ways. 

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“The Big Melt” on Primetime

Summer 2019

In a role-play exercise that was the capstone for a Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) spring course, “Controversies in Climate, Energy, and the Media: Improving Public Communication,” students played the roles of world leaders and activists speaking on a fictitious cable television program titled, “The Big Melt: The Future of the Arctic.”