News & Announcements

The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University launched today a major research and outreach initiative to reduce global methane emissions. The initiative seeks meaningful and sustained progress in global methane-emissions reductions through research and effective engagement with government policymakers — and with key stakeholders in business, nongovernmental organizations, and international institutions.

A major project on methane emissions, led by Harvard Project on Climate Agreements Director Robert Stavins, is the recipient of one of five inaugural grants for cross-disciplinary, solutions-focused projects tackling the challenges posed by global climate change — awarded by Harvard’s Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability. The grants were announced on Monday (February 13).

Reducing methane emissions can buy the world crucial time to avoid catastrophic global warming. A Harvard team that includes Harvard Project on Climate Agreements Robert Stavins, is helping provide policymakers with the tools to help policymakers do just that.

What is really striking is that the most important development at COP-27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt has taken place thousands of miles away from where the negotiations are taking place. Namely in Bali, Indonesia, where President Biden and President Xi of China met, shook hands, and then engaged on November 14 in a three-hour conversation in which, among other topics, they signaled returning to the cooperative stance that had been so important previously on climate change.

Please note that the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements hosted or co-hosted two official Side Events at COP27 last week.

China and the United States are back on a productive track to adopt more cooperative approaches on global climate change. Those were the sentiments expressed by Harvard Project Director Robert Stavins on Wednesday (November 16) during a side event focusing on the China National Climate Change Assessment Report at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

The myriad challenges incumbent in expanding the world carbon market were the foci of discussion Wednesday (November 16) at a COP-27 side event hosted by the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements (HPCA). HPCA Director Robert Stavins moderated the panel, “Frontiers in Carbon Pricing,” on day 8 of the international climate talks in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Significant technological advances in satellite technology and atmospheric measurements have greatly enhanced the understanding of methane concentrations and emissions. The dynamic ways in which those advancements are allowing researchers to monitor methane emissions down to the source level was the focus of discussion Thursday (November 17) at a COP-27 side event co-hosted by the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, the Enel Foundation, and the government of Mexico.

Representatives from more than 200 nations are gathering in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt this week and next for the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP-27) of the United States Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Robert Stavins, A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy & Economic Development and director of the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, will lead a small delegation of Harvard attendees, which includes Daniel Jacob, Vasco McCoy Family Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, who studies methane and climate-change policy.

The Arctic Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, in collaboration with Woodwell Climate Research Center, the Alaska Institute for Justice, and the Alaska Native Science Commission, announced the launch of Permafrost Pathways: Connecting Science, People, and Policy for Arctic Justice and Global Climate. A multipronged $41 million initiative catalyzed through the The Audacious Project, the Pathways project will bring together leading experts in climate science, policy action, and environmental justice to inform and develop adaptation and mitigation strategies that address the local and global impacts of Arctic permafrost thaw. 

The Danish Minister of Climate, Energy, and Utilities expressed his hope that the tragic war in Ukraine will help accelerate the clean energy transformation by weaning Europe off Russian gas during a Virtual Forum (view recording here) last Friday (April 8). The event was hosted by the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements (HPCA) and moderated by Robert Stavins, HPCA Director and A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy and Economic Development.