Environment & Climate Change

At the Arctic Frontiers 2021 conference, Joel Clement delivered the keynote address for the "Building the future" panel. His inspirational speech was an ode to empowering youth and building a resilient Arctic — and a reflection on the discussions of the 2020 Arctic Resilience Forum.

Professor John P. Holdren made these remarks at a Harvard Kennedy School Energy Policy Seminar in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on November 2, 2020.

In October 2019, the Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative and the Wilson Center's Polar Institute co-hosted a workshop on Policy and Action on Plastic in the Arctic Ocean with the Icelandic Chairmanship of the Arctic Council. The Arctic Council asked Magnús Jóhannesson, the Council's designated Special Coordinator on Plastics Pollution and Marine Litter, and Gunn-Britt Retter, Head of Arctic and Environmental Unit at the Saami Council — who both participated in the workshop — to comment on some of the points that the report raises.

With 2019 on pace as one of the warmest years on record, a major new study from the University of California, Davis, reveals how rapidly the Arctic is warming and examines global consequences of continued polar warming.

The Policy and Action on Plastic in the Arctic Ocean workshop was held at the Harvard Kennedy School on 30–31 October 2019. The speakers' bios and presentations are now available.

On June 6, 2019, Professor John P. Holdren gave a lecture for students and faculty at Tsinghua University's School of Public Policy and Management on the latest climate science as it affects the Arctic.  He discussed efforts to understand the challenges affecting the region and the global community and what further worldwide actions are required to address these challenges.

Professor John P. Holdren made these remarks for the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, on March 12, 2019.

Professor John P. Holdren gave this presentation at the Session on 60 Years of Arctic & Antarctic Science at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in Washington, D.C., on December 13, 2018.