KYOTO PROTOCOL AND POST-KYOTO OPTIONS
November 2009
"Breaking the Climate Impasse with China: A Global Solution"
Discussion Paper
By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group
A "deal" is proposed in this paper, whereby all major-emitting countries, including the United States and China, agree to reduce emissions through implementation of significant, mutually agreeable, domestic emission-reduction policies. To resolve the competitiveness and equity concerns, a proposed Carbon Mitigation Fund would be created. This proposed fund is contrasted with other existing and proposed mitigation funds and finance mechanisms.
AP Photo
2009
"Sectoral Approaches for a Post-2012 Climate Regime: A Taxonomy"
Journal Article, Climate Policy, issue 6, volume 9
By Jonas Meckling, Research Fellow, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements and Gu Yoon Chung
Sectoral approaches have been gaining currency in the international climate debate as a possible remedy to the shortfalls of the Kyoto Protocol. Proponents argue that a sector-based architecture can more easily invite the participation of developing countries, address competitiveness issues, and enable immediate emissions reductions. However, given the numerous proposals, much confusion remains as to what sectoral approaches actually are. This article provides a simple, yet comprehensive, taxonomy of the various proposals for sectoral approaches.
AP Photo
July 6, 2009
"Sharing Global CO2 Emission Reductions Among One Billion High Emitters"
Journal Article, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
By Shoibal Chakravarty, Ananth Chikkatur, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy, Heleen de Coninck, Stephen Pacala, Robert Socolow and Massimo Tavoni
The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) created a 2-tier world. It called upon the developed ("Annex I") countries to "take the lead" in reducing carbon emissions, and, under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," established no time frame for developing countries to follow. However, a consensus is now emerging in favor of low stabilization targets. These targets cannot be achieved without the participation of developing countries, which today emit about half of global CO2 emissions and whose future emissions increase faster than the emissions of industrialized countries under "business as usual" scenarios.
AP Photo
February 2009
"Driving Carbon Capture and Storage Forward in China"
Journal Article, Energy Procedia, issue 1, volume 1
By Hengwei Liu, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), as an option in the portfolio of mitigation actions to combat climate change, is expected to have far-reaching implications for China. This paper (1) explores the strategic significance of CCS for China by making an extreme scenario analysis of Chinese power sector in 2030; (2) provides an overview of the recent CCS activities in China; and (3) identifies the major challenges with respect to CCS development in China and put forwards immediate strategies.
May 2009
"Acting in Time on Climate Change"
Book Chapter
By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group
"This chapter expolres a number of related questions: How much time do we have to act? How much climate change is virtually inevitable? What are the consequences of procrastination? And finally, what is the appropriate role for governments wishing to act in time to reduce the threat of climate change? In addition, the reality of current emissions and policy responses is explored in some detail for the two biggest emitters in the world: the United States and China."
January 27, 2009
International Climate Policy for a Post-Kyoto World: Understanding Sectoral Approaches
Presentation
By Jonas Meckling, Research Fellow, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements and Gu Yoon Chung
In this presentation, Meckling and Chung identify types of sectoral approaches and their analysis of the politics behind key proposals.
January 14, 2009
"Sectoral Approaches to International Climate Policy: A Typology and Political Analysis"
Discussion Paper
By Jonas Meckling, Research Fellow, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements and Gu Yoon Chung
This paper presents a study of sectoral approaches to climate change that have been gaining currency in the international debate as a possible remedy to the shortfalls of the Kyoto Protocol.
October 7, 2008
"Equity and Climate Policy: An Allocation Method Based on Individual Emissions"
Presentation
By Shoibal Chakravarty, Ananth Chikkatur, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy and Massimo Tavoni
The speakers presented a new framework for allocation of a global carbon reduction target among nations, in which "common but differentiated responsibilities" refers to the emissions of individuals, rather than of nations.
2008
"Corporate Policy Preferences in the EU and the US: Emissions Trading as the Climate Compromise?"
Journal Article, Carbon and Climate Law Review, issue 2/2008
By Jonas Meckling, Research Fellow, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
Since the agreement of the Kyoto Protocol, business in the EU and the US has been split over the course of climate policy. This article reviews the regulatory preferences of major business associations on both sides of the Atlantic, and assesses whether the transatlantic gap on corporate positioning on climate change is actually narrowing and what the compromise solution might be.
Winter 2008
"Global Warning"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, John F. Kennedy School of Government Bulletin
By Robert O'Neill and John P. Holdren, Former Director and Faculty Chair, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program
Someone usually asks Holdren why we should be worried about it. Holdren, who has been thinking about climate change since the late 1960s, has a prepared list: “Heat waves, drought, wildfires, rising sea level, reduced agricultural productivity, damage to ocean fisheries, loss of coral reefs,” he says. “I mean, I have a much longer litany,” he reminds his audience. This isn’t just about beach erosion on Cape Cod or warmer summers in Europe, it’s about trying to preserve the conditions for our economic, social, and political well-being.
