SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
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.
October 23, 2009
"Three Pillars of Post-2012 International Climate Policy"
Policy Brief
By Sheila M. Olmstead, Former Research Fellow, Environment and Natural Resources Program, 2001–2002 and Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board; Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
Our proposal for a post-2012 international global climate policy agreement contains three essential elements: meaningful involvement by key industrialized and developing nations; an emphasis on an extended time path of targets; and inclusion of market-based policy instruments. This architecture is consistent with fundamental aspects of the science, economics, and politics of global climate change.
October 2009
"Strategic Advantage: Why America Should Care About Cybersecurity"
Discussion Paper
By Melissa Hathaway, Senior Advisor, Project Minerva
The internet is an interconnected series of networks--where it is difficult to determine where private security threats end and public ones begin. These networks deliver power and water to our households and businesses, enable us to access our bank accounts from almost any city in the world, and transform the way our doctors provide healthcare. For all of these reasons, we need a safe Internet with a strong network infrastructure.
October 2009
"The São Paulo Proposal for an Agreement on Future International Climate Policy"
Discussion Paper
By Erik Haites, Farhana Yamin and Niklas Höhne
The São Paulo Proposal is designed to create a stable, long-term, universal regime based on the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Such a regime is required to encourage the technological change and structural shifts necessary to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations. Richer countries adopt binding targets that become more stringent over time. Financial and institutional provisions to enhance developing country implementation of mitigation and adaptation actions are strengthened.
October 14, 2009
"Expert Elicitation of Cost, Performance, and RD&D Budgets for Greenhouse Gas Reducing Strategies"
Presentation
By Melissa Chan, Research Fellow, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration & Deployment Policy Project, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Laura Diaz Anadon, Project Manager, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration & Deployment Policy Project, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group
Melissa Chan and Laura Diaz Anadon of the Energy Research, Development, Demonstration & Deployment (ERD3) Policy Project presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).
October 6, 2009
"Former Acting Cybersecurity Czar Melissa Hathaway Named Senior Advisor at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center"
Press Release
By Beth Maclin, Communications Assistant
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Melissa Hathaway, former acting senior director for cyberspace at the National Security Council, has joined Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs as a senior advisor to its cyber security initiative.
September 2009
"Institutions for Energy Innovation: A Transformational Challenge"
Paper
By Venkatesh "Venky" Narayanamurti, Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy; Professor of Physics, Harvard; Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program; Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment Policy Project, Laura Diaz Anadon, Project Manager, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration & Deployment Policy Project, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Ambuj D. Sagar, Former Visiting Scholar, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group (ETIP), June 2009; Former Research Fellow, ETIP, 1996-2002; Former Senior Research Associate, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, 2007-2008
"The technology-led transformation of the U.S. energy system that the administration is seeking is unlikely to succeed without a transformation of energy innovation institutions and of the way in which policymakers think about their design, according to scholars with the Belfer Center's Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group. They set out principles for a much-needed conversation among analysts, managers, scientists, and policymakers on how to enhance the effectiveness of these institutions."
Fall 2009
"Transforming Energy Innovation"
Journal Article, Issues in Science and Technology
By Venkatesh "Venky" Narayanamurti, Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy; Professor of Physics, Harvard; Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program; Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment Policy Project, Laura Diaz Anadon, Project Manager, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration & Deployment Policy Project, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Ambuj D. Sagar, Former Visiting Scholar, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group (ETIP), June 2009; Former Research Fellow, ETIP, 1996-2002; Former Senior Research Associate, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, 2007-2008
"The United States must change the way it produces and uses energy by shifting away from its dependence on imported oil and coal-fired electricity and by increasing the efficiency with which energy is extracted, captured, converted, and used if it is to meet the urgent challenges facing the energy system, of which climate change and energy security are the most pressing. This will require the improvement of current technologies and the development of new transformative ones, particularly if the transition to a new energy system is going to be timely and cost-effective."
September 22, 2009
Belfer Center Announces 2009-2010 Research Fellows
News
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs today announced its 2009-2010 research fellows. The fellows, drawn from governments, academia, and the public sector, will work with Center faculty and fellows to research issues of critical significance internationally, ranging from security issues such as nuclear proliferation and terrorism to climate change and energy policy. The new fellows come from countries as diverse as South Korea, India, Egypt, Germany, and South Africa.
September 15, 2009
"Climate Change a Stumbling Block to Africa's Economies"
Op-Ed, The Daily Nation
By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa
According to the World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change, ... a two-degree Celsius warming above pre-industrial levels could permanently reduce Africa's annual per capita consumption by four to five per cent....The report calls on industrialised countries, which have released most of the greenhouse gases, to lead the way in charting a new low-carbon economic path. In addition, the report calls for financial support to enable developing countries adapt to climate change and lay the foundation for low-carbon economies.
