Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs - Kyoto protocol and post-Kyoto options

Roy Family Honored for Environmental and Student Support

Tue, 14 May 2013 07:00:27 -0500

"Since 1999, the Roy Family has been supporting environmental research and projects coordinated by the Belfer Center’s Environment and Natural Resources Program (ENRP). In early May, ENRP gave special thanks to the Roy Family at a special reception where they also announced the most recent recipients of Roy Family internship and fellowship awards."

The Role of Forests in a Future Climate Agreement

Donna Lee — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:18:02 -0500

Forests can play a significant role in helping to avoid dangerous climate change, and a global agreement under the UNFCCC would be uniquely placed to support efforts in this regard. The rising global demand for agricultural and other land-based products means that pressures on land are increasingly cross-border, and there is an accelerating expansion of the deforestation frontier. Smart domestic policies are critical to solving the deforestation challenge, and recent private sector interest in "sustainable agriculture" is encouraging. However, global agreements that value standing forests and provide incentives that positively impact land use change decisions can be an equally important tool.

Belfer Center Newsletter Spring 2013

Sharon Wilke — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:50:46 -0500

The Spring 2013 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This edition highlights the Belfer Center’s deepening engagement with China.

Climate Conference Moves Forward – Slowly

Robert C. Stowe — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:45:30 -0500

In December, the member nations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change met in Doha, Qatar for the Eighteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-18) to discuss climate change on a global level. The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements co-hosted, with the government of Qatar, an event entitled "After Doha: Balancing Adaptation, Mitigation, and Economic Development."

A Climate Diplomacy Proposal: Carbon Pricing Consultations

Adele Morris, Warwick McKibbin and Peter Wilcoxen — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:44:06 -0500

The United States has considerable tax administration and cap-and-trade expertise that could highlight potentially successful carbon pricing approaches. Although this experience is not climate-related, the United States deploys an efficient and highly compliant excise tax system, and it could assist developing country efforts to build their own capacity to tax carbon. The United States also has long experience with cap-and-trade systems for criteria air pollutants, much of which is transferable to greenhouse-gas emissions trading.

More than One Way to Skin a Policy

Andrew Facini — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:00:28 -0600

Washington Post national environment reporter Juliet Eilperin spoke on the political difficulties of pursuing environmental policy in a seminar titled "Covering Environmental Controversies in a Political Environment" at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Treaty Design and Duration: Effects on R&D, Participation, and Compliance

Bard Harstad — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:16:33 -0600

Climate policy is complicated. For a treaty to be beneficial, one must think through carefully how it will work, once it is implemented. Crucial questions include the following: How should an international treaty be designed? Should one negotiate commitments for a five-year period, or for much longer? Assuming that the treaty specifies aggregate or country-specific emission caps, what should these caps be and how should they change over time? How should the agreement be updated once policymakers, scholars, and the public learn more about the severity of the climate-change problem, or about the effects of the policy? Can the treaty be designed to encourage investments in "green" abatement technology or renewable energy sources? Finally, how can one motivate countries to participate and comply with such an agreement?

Harvard Project Conducts Special Event at COP-18 with Government of Qatar

Robert C. Stowe — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:31:18 -0600

The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements co-hosted, with the government of the State of Qatar, a special high-level event at the Eighteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-18) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Doha on December 6, 2012. The event was titled "After Doha: Balancing Adaptation, Mitigation, and Economic Development." Participants addressed, at a high level, the state of international climate regimes and prospects for progress over the next several years.

Harvard Project Conducts Highly Successful Side-Event at COP-18

Robert C. Stowe — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:10:59 -0600

The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements hosted an official side-event at the Eighteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-18) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Doha, Qatar on December 3, 2012. The event was titled "Market Mechanisms in a Post-Durban International Climate Regime." Participants assessed the design and potential role of "new market mechanisms" (NMM) in the Kyoto Protocol second commitment period, Copenhagen/Cancun regime, and a new arrangement arising from the Durban-Platform process.

Harvard Project to Host Event at COP-18 with Government of Qatar

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 22:13:41 -0600

Distinguished panelists will provide high-level insights into the state of climate policy—and prospects for the future—as COP-18 comes to an end. The event will take place on Thursday, December 6, 2012.

Can New Market Mechanisms Mobilize Emissions Reductions from the Private Sector?

Axel Michaelowa — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 11:32:21 -0600

Negotiators, business leaders, and others concerned with climate change are attempting to develop market mechanisms that expand and improve upon those provided by the Kyoto Protocol. These "new market mechanisms" might be incorporated into a new international arrangement called for at COP-17 in Durban, South Africa. Dr. Michaelowa explores the paths forward.

Harvard Project to Conduct Side-Event at COP-18

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:13:15 -0600

The event is titled "Market Mechanisms in a Post-Durban International Climate Regime" and will be held on Monday, December 3, 2012, in Side Event Room 7 from 3–4:30 PM in Doha, Qatar. We cordially invite all of our friends and colleagues attending COP-18 to join us.

The Role of Border Carbon Adjustment in Unilateral Climate Policy: Insights from a Model-Comparison Study

Christoph Böhringer, Edward J. Balistreri and Thomas F. Rutherford — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:45:06 -0500

A new Harvard-Project Discussion Paper examines the relationships between domestic climate policy and trade. The study compares the output of a range of economic models, using the methodology of the Energy Modeling Forum (EMF).

Climate Negotiations Open a Window: Key Implications of the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action

Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 19:48:38 -0500

The Durban Platform for Enhanced Action represents an important milestone in the history of climate negotiations. The challenge is to find a way to include all key countries in a structure that brings about meaningful emission reduction on an appropriate timetable at acceptable cost, while recognizing the different circumstances of countries in a way that is more subtle, more sophisticated, and more effective than the dichotomous distinction of years past. This policy brief expands upon the authors' Science article, "Climate Negotiators Create an Opportunity for Scholars."

Climate Negotiators Create an Opportunity for Scholars

Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 12:41:04 -0500

The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) launched a process to confront risks posed by global climate change. It has led to a dichotomy between countries with serious emission-reduction responsibilities and others with no responsibilities whatsoever. This has prevented progress, but the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action suggests the prospect for a better way forward and an openness to outside-the-box thinking. Scholars and practitioners have a new opportunity to contribute innovative proposals for a future international climate policy architecture.

International Paretianism: A Defense

Eric A. Posner and David Weisbach — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 14:48:47 -0500

A treaty satisfies what we call International Paretianism if it advances the interests of all states that join it, so that no state is made worse off. The principle might seem obvious, but it rules out nearly all the major proposals for a climate treaty, including proposals advanced by academics and by government officials. We defend International Paretianism, and for that reason urge commentators in the debate over climate justice to abandon efforts to right past wrongs, redistribute wealth, and achieve other abstract ideals through a climate treaty

The Durban Platform Negotiations: Goals and Options

Daniel Bodansky — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:24:35 -0500

In December 2011, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, which launched a new round of negotiations aimed at developing "a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force" for the post-2020 period. The Durban Platform negotiations got underway this year and are scheduled to conclude in 2015. This Viewpoint analyzes the elements of the Durban Platform and the possible role that a new instrument might play.

Don't Write Off Cap and Trade

Robert N. Stavins — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 22:39:52 -0500

Various journalists and advocates have, of late, described America's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) as being near "the brink of failure" thanks to the trend of very low prices of permits to emit carbon dioxide. Likewise, commentators have claimed that Europe's carbon market, the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), may be "sinking into oblivion" because its emissions allowances too have become very cheap.

Post-Durban Climate Policy Architecture Based on Linkage of Cap-and-Trade Systems

Matthew Ranson and Robert N. Stavins — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:39:43 -0500

The outcome of the December 2011 United Nations climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa, provides an important new opportunity to move toward an international climate policy architecture that is capable of delivering broad international participation and significant global CO₂ emissions reductions at reasonable cost. We evaluate one important component of potential climate policy architecture for the post-Durban era: links among independent tradable permit systems for greenhouse gases.

Post-Kyoto International Climate Policy: Implementing Architectures for Agreement

Bryan Galcik — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:37:50 -0500

Carol Dahl, Professor of Mineral and Energy Economics at the Colorado School of Mines, recently published an extensive review and summary (log in may be required) of this Harvard-Project volume, along with the companion Post-Kyoto International Climate Policy: Summary for Policy Makers, in the Energy Journal (Vol. 33, No. 2, 2012). Professor Dahl notes that "Anyone interested in climate policy, especially economists and policy makers that are non-specialist in the area, but looking for a good overview of the problems and potential solutions, can benefit from this book."

Roy Family Supports Student Engagement in Environmental Efforts

Traci Farrell — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:13:37 -0500

The Roy Family Summer Environmental Internship supports returning Kennedy School students interested in specific internships for public, private, or non-profit organizations abroad or in the United States. These paid scholarships allow students to participate in innovative summer projects that would ordinarily not offer a salary. There are four award recipients for 2012, and each received a $6,500 stipend to work with organizations that are not able to hire an intern.

Incentives and Stability of International Climate Coalitions: An Integrated Assessment

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:36:43 -0500

"A successful international climate policy framework will have to meet two conditions, build a coalition of countries that is potentially effective and give each member country sufficient incentives to join and remain in this coalition. Such coalition should be capable of delivering ambitious emission reduction even if some countries do not take mitigation action. In addition, it should meet the target without exceedingly high mitigation costs and deliver a net benefit to member countries as a whole. The novel contribution of this paper is mostly methodological, but it also adds a better qualification of well-known results that are policy relevant."

A Good Opening: The Key to Make the Most of Unilateral Climate Action

Valentina Bosetti and Enrica De Cian — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:51:23 -0600

In a new Harvard Project Discussion Paper, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei's Valentina Bosetti and Enrica De Cian model the behavior of countries not participating in a cooperative climate regime. The regime imposes counterbalancing influences upon these countries, but under some conditions they may act to both reduce emissions and increase clean-energy R&D

Michuki Gave 'Implementation' its True Meaning

Calestous Juma — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 13:28:38 -0600

"If Michuki wished to be remembered as a public servant, he would have wanted his name to be associated with two other words: policy implementation. I also suspect that he would want the impact of such implementation to be dramatic."

Profile: Calestous Juma

Calestous Juma — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:18:12 -0600

"The Rio+20 process is an important reminder of the urgency to guide global production and consumption patterns with sustainability principles. Sadly, there is really no genuine global institution that is championing sustainable development. The vision that inspired Rio has been supplanted by two extreme positions. The first is a group that believes economic growth will have trickle-down benefits for the environment. The environmental camp has successfully replaced the spirit of Rio with a one-sided agenda that leaves little room for recognising the central role that human wellbeing plays in natural resource management."

A Wave of the Future: International Linkage of Carbon Markets

Robert N. Stavins — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:28:34 -0600

"...[I]t remains true that cap-and-trade is still the most likely domestic policy approach for CO₂ emissions reductions throughout the industrialised world, given the rather unattractive set of available alternative approaches. This makes it important to think about the possibility of linking these national and regional cap-and-trade systems in the future. Such linking occurs when the government that maintains one system allows regulated entities to use allowances or credits from other systems to meet compliance obligations."

Climate Change: Efficiency and Equity

Robert N. Stavins — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:01:27 -0600

Harvard Project on Climate Agreements Director Robert N. Stavins delivered a presentation titled "Climate Change: Efficiency and Equity," at The Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 29, 2011. The talk was one in the Geneva Environmental Dialogue Series of public keynote lectures that the Institute holds annually on a theme related to the international environment. The theme for the 2011–2012 term is "Justice and the Environment."

The National Context of U.S. State Policies for a Global Commons Problem

Robert N. Stavins — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:17:17 -0600

In this policy brief, Harvard Project Director Robert Stavins focuses on how subnational policies will interact with a federal climate policy. It turns out that some of the interactions will be problematic, others will be benign, and still others could be positive. He also examines the role that could be played by subnational policies in the absence of a meaningful federal policy, with the conclusion that—like it or not—we may find that Sacramento, California comes to take the place of Washington as the center of national climate policy. This case study might provide insight for COP 17 delegates in designing the next steps toward a flexible international agreement.

The Promise and Problems of Pricing Carbon: Theory and Experience

Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:11:19 -0600

Market-approaches to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases lie at the heart of any cost-effective set of policies put forward in an international agreement—and will be considered at COP 17 in Durban in both the Kyoto and Long-term Cooperative Action discussions. Joseph Aldy and Robert Stavins "examine the opportunities and challenges associated with the major options for carbon pricing: carbon taxes, cap‐and‐trade, emission reduction credits, clean energy standards, and fossil fuel subsidy reductions."

Governing Climate Engineering: Scenarios for Analysis

Daniel Bodansky — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:22:45 -0600

Geoengineering grows in salience, the more time that passes without an effective international regime for mitigating climate change. It will be in the background of negotiations at COP 17 in Durban—and, perhaps, in the foreground of some important discussions. This discussion paper by Daniel Bodansky explores the opportunities and risks presented by geoengineering, as well as the particular challenges to crafting an effective system of governance for this set of approaches to addressing climate change