Environment & Climate Change

720 Items

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

Event Debrief: Bezos Earth Fund's Leon Clarke Says Economic Thinking on Climate Action Must Evolve

| Dec. 21, 2023

Harvard Kennedy School hosted Leon Clarke, Director of Decarbonization Pathways at Bezos Earth Fund, for an Energy Policy Seminar to discuss the economic challenges that are slowing the pace of the energy transition.

General Motors assembly plant

AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File

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

Automakers Must Double Investment to Meet Biden’s Proposed Electric Vehicle Targets, Says New Study

| Dec. 19, 2023

The Biden Administration and automotive industry have announced ambitious targets for the number of electric vehicles they hope to deploy by 2030, but automakers are not yet on track to meet those targets, according to new analysis by researchers at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. 

Christine Gschwendtner

Elizabeth Hanlon/Belfer Center

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

Event Debrief: EV User Behavior Plays 'Pivotal' Role in Electrifying Transportation, Says Christine Gscwendtner

| Dec. 13, 2023

The behavior of EV users themselves could play a role in modulating electricity demand and providing needed flexibility in electric grids, said Christine Gschwendtner, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, during an Energy Policy Seminar.

Audio - Harvard Environmental Economics Program

The Challenges Facing the Nation's Electricity Power Sector: A Conversation with Severin Borenstein

| Sep. 08, 2023

Energy economist Severin Borenstein, Professor of the Graduate School at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, discussed the many significant challenges facing the nation’s electricity power sector in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.

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

HKS in Iceland: Summer Interns Help National Energy Authority Accelerate the Energy Transition

| Aug. 28, 2023

Antonio Perry MPP 2024 and Monserrat Ocana MPP 2024 had the opportunity to intern with Iceland’s National Energy Authority (NEA) and contribute to the country’s ambitious climate journey. 

Audio - Harvard Environmental Economics Program

The Regulatory and 'Just Transition' Dynamics of Climate Policy: A Conversation with Meredith Fowlie

| July 06, 2023

Resource economist UC Berkeley Professor Meredith Fowlie spoke about the complex regulatory challenges and ‘just transition’ dynamics of climate policy in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” 

Steam rises from a coal-fired power plant.

AP Photo/Michael Probst

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

Technology Primer: Direct Air Capture

    Editors:
  • Howard Herzog
  • Peter Psarras
| June 09, 2023

Direct air capture (DAC) is a type of technology that captures carbon dioxide directly from the air. As the negative impacts of climate change become ever more apparent, governments and private industries have funneled increasing support toward DAC as a critical pathway toward achieving a net-zero future. Although a promising technology, wide-scale deployment of DAC faces several significant challenges.

US Climate Policy graphic

Getty Images

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

Climate Change Requires New Approaches to Disaster Planning and Response

    Author:
  • David J. Hayes
| June 2023

To date, most of the climate policy attention has been focused on the need to reduce the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change and, as a corollary, to accelerate the U.S. economy’s transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. Yet climate change also is straining our nation’s emergency response capabilities as traditional climate-infused disasters such as hurricanes and floods become more frequent and destructive. At the same time, the emergency response community faces new challenges as slower-to-develop climate impacts like drought, heat, and wildfire increasingly are hitting an acute tipping points and becoming life- and livelihood-threatening disasters.

Audio - Harvard Environmental Economics Program

The Politicization of Climate Policy: A Conversation with Kathleen Segerson

| June 01, 2023

Renowned environmental economist Kathleen Segerson, who in addition to her academic and scholarly research and teaching has served on numerous state, national, and international advisory boards, expressed her frustration with the political polarization of climate policy in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.