Environment & Climate Change

116 Items

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

Event Debrief: Elliot Diringer Takes Stock of the International Climate Effort

| Dec. 21, 2023

Ahead of COP28 in Dubai, Harvard Kennedy School hosted Elliot Diringer, Senior Policy Advisor in the office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, for an Energy Policy Seminar on the evolution of the COP process.

A worker in the foreground adjusts some large straps as he looks up. In the background there is a flat horizon scattered with wind turbines against a blue sky.

AP Photo/Andy Wong

Analysis & Opinions - Financial Times

Climate Action in an Era of Great Power Competition

| July 18, 2023

At the foot of the Eqi Glacier in Greenland in June, I watched ice formed thousands of years ago drop into the warming ocean. With this vivid depiction of climate change in my mind, I was disappointed that neither of the conferences held last month to prepare for the UN’s upcoming COP28 summit had produced any real breakthroughs.

However, while the need for climate action is rising, the stakes for COP, perhaps counter-intuitively, look to be diminishing. An underwhelming COP28 would be a missed opportunity but it may not be a tragedy. Twenty or even 10 years ago, it was reasonable to hope a co-operative approach could address climate. But it is no longer a realistic expectation — nor the most promising route for progress.

herd of walrus on ice floe

Caitlin Bailey, GFOE, The Hidden Ocean 2016: Chukchi Borderlands via NOAA

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

The UN High Seas Treaty in the Arctic Context

| Mar. 21, 2023

Legal scholar Andrey Todorov, Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Arctic Initiative, reflects on the recent agreement reached by United Nations delegates to protect biodiversity in international waters and its implications for the Arctic. 

A 2019 photo shows a cyclist amidst morning smog in New Delhi, India.

AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File

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

COP27 May Have Killed the Voluntary Carbon Market: A Better Model Must Take Its Place

| Jan. 03, 2023

Ely Sandler argues that COP27 progress on the Paris Agreement's Article 6 may be a smoking gun for the death of voluntary carbon markets - but suggests a better model that might take its place.

On the hood of an electric car, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs an executive order

The Sacramento Bee via AP, Pool, File/Daniel Kim

Analysis & Opinions - The Washington Post

Americans Agree with Their State and Local Officials on Climate Action

| July 26, 2022

Joshua Schwartz and Sabrina Arias write that although Congress seems unable to act, enough states, cities and counties are mobilizing to make a dent in U.S. carbon emissions. The states, cities, counties, and towns that have committed themselves to upholding the Paris agreement currently release a majority of U.S. carbon emissions. If they do manage to meet their targets, they can make a meaningful difference.

Photo of test engineer Jacob Wilcox pulling his arm out of a glove box used for processing sodium at TerraPower, a company developing and building small nuclear reactors on Jan.

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File

Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy

By Not Acting on Climate, Congress Endangers U.S. National Security

| July 21, 2022

Last week, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin seemingly dashed Democrats’ hopes for congressional action to slow climate change. Sen. Bernie Sanders accused Manchin of “sabotag[ing] the president’s agenda”; Rep. John Yarmuth, when asked about the consequences of Congress not acting on climate change, said, “We’re all going to die”; and climate activists, as well as some Democrats in Congress, wondered if Manchin should be removed as chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Officials at COP 26

Stenbocki Maja/Flickr

Analysis & Opinions - Foresight

COP 26: There is No Mitigation without Cooperation

| November 2021

Article 6 is one of the thorniest issues in climate negotiations and determines how countries trade emissions. In Glasgow, countries finally found an agreement on this thorny issue, whose rules have the potential to support the achievement of the Paris Agreement’s goals at a lower cost and provide larger incentives for private sector investments, writes Marinella Davide.