Environment & Climate Change

198 Items

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

Beyond the Headlines: A Kaleidoscopic Exploration of Contemporary African Politics and International Cooperation

| Mar. 28, 2024

Over the course of five sessions, this study group, led by Dr. Gloria Ayee, is exploring the pivotal moment experienced by the African continent. With youthful populations, abundant resources, and growing economic and technological capacity, Africa holds solutions to global challenges from food security to climate change. Participants of the study group are invited to reflect on the role that international cooperation must play in supporting inclusive, sustainable development in Africa, as well as to move beyond outdated perspectives and learn about Africa’s profound transformation through trade, investments in clean energy and health, and youth empowerment initiatives. 

a polar bear approaches a group of walruses on an ice floe

Andrey Todorov

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

Arctic Ocean Governance: Cooperation with Russia After the Invasion of Ukraine

| July 07, 2022

The rapid pace of Arctic thaw demands collaboration with Russia, no matter the political implications. In a seminar hosted by the Arctic Initiative on May 11, 2022, Andrey Todorov and Andreas Østhagen tackled the thorny question of how to proceed with Arctic Ocean governance in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and expressed tentative hope for a pragmatic approach to cooperating with Russia on pressing issues such as shipping and fishery management.

Electricians install solar panels.

AP/Mary Altaffer

Report Chapter - Brookings Institution

Mexico’s Energy Reforms: A Blow to Realizing the Most Competitive and Dynamic Region in the World

| Feb. 28, 2022

In late 2017, Mexico made headlines as Italian company Enel bid what was then a world-record low price for renewable energy in the country’s third such energy auction. This development was possible due to the historical and sweeping energy reforms passed with broad support in Mexico in 2013. Then-President Enrique Peña Nieto had succeeded where previous Mexican presidents had failed, reversing decades of resource nationalism and overhauling the energy sector through constitutional reforms that gave the private sector a larger role and advantaged renewable energy in Mexico’s economy. The 2017 auction seemed to indicate Mexico’s bright future not only as a conventional oil producer, but also as a clean energy power.

300m long slump

Flickr CC/NPS

Analysis & Opinions - Union of Concerned Scientists

IN: Arctic Experts and Scientists — OUT: Unqualified Political Operatives

| Oct. 07, 2021

Joel Clement writes that because the Biden administration  has moved to repair the damage done by the Trump administration, colleagues from around the global Arctic are optimistic once again about partnering with America on solutions to regional crises .

3rd Marine Division in Vietnam in 1968

U.S. Military Photograph, DOD Media

Analysis & Opinions - PRI's The World

The Stuff of Life and Death: Part II

May 04, 2021

At one point in human history, water’s importance in war went beyond bearing convoys, hiding submarines, and slaking soldiers’ thirst. Water was often itself a weapon. In areas where it was scarce, armies took action to make it scarcer to force besieged enemy cities to capitulate, and in areas where it was abundant, combatants destroyed dams and watched the resulting floods carry their adversaries away. Today, however, most combatants recoil at the use of water as a weapon, and only the most depraved deploy it.

Audio - Harvard Environmental Economics Program

Assessing the Impacts of the 2020 U.S. Election on Climate Policy: A Conversation with Lisa Friedman

| Oct. 30, 2020

New York Times reporter Lisa Friedman, who covers climate and environmental policy, discusses the potential impacts of the 2020 U.S. elections on the future of climate policy in the latest episode of Environmental Insights, a podcast produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.

European Commissioner for European Green Deal Frans Timmermans

AP/Virginia Mayo, Pool

Analysis & Opinions - Project Syndicate

Post-Pandemic Geopolitics

| Oct. 06, 2020

Estimating the long-term effect of the current pandemic is not an exact prediction of the future, but an exercise in weighing probabilities and adjusting current policies. When envisioning the international order in 2030,  joseph Nye details five scenarios that stand out.

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Analysis & Opinions - Global Policy

Factoring Pandemic Risks into Financial Modelling

| Apr. 01, 2020

Today’s economic crisis leaves us with an unsettling and perplexing regret. Why weren’t financial portfolios already adjusted for risks that stem from health events such as pandemics? After all, financial portfolios are adjusted for liquidity risks, market risks, credit risks, and even operational and political risks.

Audio - Harvard Environmental Economics Program

Confronting COVID-19: A Conversation with Columbia University Professor Scott Barrett

| Mar. 27, 2020

Columbia University Professor Scott Barrett assessed the massive global efforts underway to address COVID-19 and the potential impacts of the pandemic on our lives in the future in a special episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.