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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 28th, 2008 Subject: New Harvard Project Report Outlines Ideas for Successor to Kyoto Protocol
Date: November 25, 2008
A new report from the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements outlines several promising ideas for successors to the Kyoto Protocol. The report also provides guidance on the most intractable challenges facing global climate negotiators, including participation by developing countries, how to reduce deforestation, and how to prevent a “collision” between climate policy and international trade law.
Read the press release: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/18684/
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The sun sets on a power generating plant in Huntington Beach, Calif., Aug. 31, 2006. California became the first state to impose a cap on all GHG emissions under a landmark deal reached Aug. 30 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative Democrats.
AP Photo Designing the Post-Kyoto Climate Regime: Lessons from the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
An Interim Progress Report for the 14th Conference of the Parties, Framework Convention on Climate Change, Poznan, Poland, December 2008
November 24, 2008
Authors: Joseph Aldy, Co-Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements, Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board
Belfer Center Programs or Projects: Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
SUMMARY
From the Executive Summary:
A way forward is needed for the post-2012 period to address the threat of global climate change. The Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements is an international, multi-year, multi-disciplinary effort to help identify the key design elements of a scientifically sound, economically rational, and politically pragmatic post-2012 international policy architecture. Leading thinkers from academia, private industry, government, and non-governmental organizations around the world have contributed and will continue to contribute to this effort. The foundation for the Project is a book published in September 2007 by Cambridge University Press, Architectures for Agreement: Addressing Global Climate Change in the Post-Kyoto World (Aldy and Stavins 2007). From that starting point, the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements aims to help forge a broad-based consensus on a potential successor to the Kyoto Protocol. The Project includes 28 research teams operating in Europe, the United States, China, India, Japan, and Australia.
The work of the Project is being carried out in three stages. The first stage featured meetings with key domestic and international policy constituencies to discuss considerations regarding potential successors to Kyoto. The second stage focused on policy analysis and economic modeling to develop a small set of promising policy frameworks and key design elements. In the third stage, Project researchers are exploring key design principles and alternative international policy architectures with domestic and international audiences, including the new administration and Congress in the United States. This interim report identifies some of the key principles, promising policy architectures, and guidelines for essential design elements that have begun to emerge, building upon lessons learned from the 28 research initiatives.
Learning from Kyoto
Among the strengths of the Kyoto Protocol is its inclusion of provisions for market-based approaches — the three so-called flexibility mechanisms. A second feature of the Protocol is that it provides freedom for nations to meet their national targets and commitments in any way they want. Third, the agreement has the appearance of fairness in that it focuses on the wealthiest countries and those most responsible for the current stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, consistent with the principle — first enunciated in the Framework Convention on Climate Change — of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Fourth, the fact that the Protocol was signed by more than 180 countries and subsequently ratified by a sufficient number of Annex I countries to come into force may be taken as an indicator of its political viability.
The weaknesses of the Kyoto Protocol also provide valuable lessons. First, some of the largest emitters are not constrained by Kyoto. The Protocol has not been ratified by the United States, and it does not include emissions targets for some of the largest and most rapidly growing economies in the developing world. Second, a relatively small number of countries are asked to take action, which has resulted in concerns about emissions leakage and competitiveness. Third, the nature of the Protocol’s emissions trading elements has caused concern. The provision in Article 17 for international emissions trading among nation-states is unlikely to be effective, if it is utilized at all. And the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is plagued by criticisms that it is crediting projects that would have happened anyway (commonly known as the problem of “additionality”). Fourth, the Kyoto Protocol — with its five year time horizon (2008 to 2012) — represents a relatively short-term approach for what is fundamentally a long-term problem. Finally, the agreement may not provide sufficient incentives for compliance….
For more information about this publication please contact the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements Coordinator at 617-496-8054.
For Academic Citation:
Aldy, Joseph E. and Robert N. Stavins. Designing the Post-Kyoto Climate Regime: Lessons from the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements. An Interim Progress Report for the 14th Conference of the Parties, Framework Convention on Climate Change, Poznan, Poland, December 2008. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements, November 24, 2008. Document Length: 56 pp.
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 24th, 2008 Natives Hope Obama Will Be Their President, Too. By Haider Rizvi from IPS NEW YORK, Nov 24 (IPS) - During his election campaign, Barack Obama repeatedly said that he cared about the issues facing Native American communities and insisted that they could trust him — pledges that Native leaders are now watching closely as the president-elect appoints a new cabinet and fills other key federal posts. So far, Obama has named six native political figures to his transition team — half of them assigned to assist in Interior Department policy, budget and personnel changes. The Natives, also known as “American Indians”, have their own sovereign governments, which the United States recognises in accordance with its constitution and under treaty obligations. However, as the Native leaders observe, their communities have always suffered from inattention during the transition and early years of past U.S. administrations. In her view, “any significant reform efforts must be planned during the transition and start at the beginning of an administration if they are to succeed.” As he continued to reach out to new voting blocs past summer, Obama made a campaign stop at an Indian reservation in Montana, where he told the audience that, as an African-American, he identified with their struggles. “I know what it’s like to not always have been respected or to have been ignored and I know what it’s like to struggle and that’s how I think many of you understand what’s happened here on the reservation,” Obama said. In his speech, Obama added: “A lot of times you have been forgotten, just like African-Americans have been forgotten or other groups in this country have been forgotten.” Statistics show that the indigenous communities, which constitute about one percent of the U.S. population, are among the most marginalised sections of society with regard to health care, education and employment. In March 2006 and again in March 2008, a panel of U.N. experts analysed the U.S. government’s treatment of indigenous Americans and ruled that it was guilty of racial discrimination.
Indigenous rights activists say they hope that the Obama administration would endorse the declaration, which recognised the rights of the indigenous peoples around the world to control their lands and resources and be able to freely practice their belief systems and traditional values without interference from outside forces. During the Nov. 4 presidential election, a vast majority of Native people voted for Obama, according to Frank LaMere of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, who led the American Indian delegation to the Democratic Convention. “Obama has stood with us and it is now time that we stand with him,” he said in a statement, describing the Natives’ interest in the political process as unprecedented. “Indian country has responded to the Democratic message of change and the need for urgency.” On the campaign trail in Montana, Obama was adopted as an honourary member of the Crow tribe, a ceremony that native activists say is reserved for special dignitaries. On that occasion, he was given a new name, “Barack Black Eagle”. Peltier was arrested after a shootout between American Indian militants and federal agents in Pine Ridge in 1975. Some 60 natives were killed along with two FBI agents. Peltier has consistently refused to claim his innocence and considers his imprisonment an act of racism. Over the years, a number of world-renowned figures, including the South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have called for Peltier’s release, but in vain. According to Amnesty International, Peltier is a “prisoner of conscience”. Just three months before the election, Peltier sent a letter to the president-elect from his jail cell, expressing his interest in Obama’s candidacy. “Your election as president of the United States, where slaves and Indians were long considered less than human under the law, will undoubtedly constitute a historic moment in race relations in the United States,” he wrote. However, at the same time, he did not hesitate to warn Obama against opportunism. “Symbolism alone will not bring about change,” wrote Peltier. “Our young people, black and Native alike, suffer from police brutality and racial profiling.” “I am, however, concerned that your recent statement on the Sean Bell verdict, in which the New York police officers who fired 50 shots at a young man on the eve of his wedding were acquitted of criminal charges, displays a rather myopic view of the law,” said Peltier. On April 26, when asked to explain his views on the case, Obama said: “Well, look, obviously there was a tragedy in New York. I said at the time, without benefit of all the facts before me that it looked like a possible case of excessive force. The judge has made his ruling, and we’re a nation of laws, so we respect the verdict that came down.” That is not how the hero of the indigenous peoples of the land looks at how the U.S. political and legal system works. “Until the law is harnessed to protect the victims of state violence and racism, it will serve as an instrument of repression, just as the slave codes functioned to sustain and legitimise an inhuman institution,” Peltier wrote in the letter. *** “We will never be able to undo the wrongs that were committed against Native Americans, but what we can do is make sure that we have a president who’s committed to doing what’s right with Native Americans, being full partners, respecting, honouring, working with you,” Obama told the Native crowd back in May. “That’s the commitment that I’m making to you, and since now I’m a member of the family, you know that I won’t break my commitment.” he said. The question many Natives are now asking is: Will he? Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 24th, 2008 From: sam_milton at harvard.edu Dear Colleagues, The Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School is soliciting applications for post-doctoral fellowships in the following areas: 1) Carbon capture & storage technology and policy; ETIP strives to determine and then seek to promote adoption of effective policies for accelerating the development and deployment of cleaner and more efficient energy technologies, primarily in China, India, and the United States. Fellowship 1: Carbon Capture & Storage Technology and Policy ETIP is seeking to fill a Research Fellowship or Visiting Scholarship with a focus on carbon capture and storage (CCS). The Research Fellow or Visiting Scholar for CCS will contribute to ETIP’s efforts to identify and to promote policies that will enhance carbon capture and storage activities mainly in the United States. The Fellow will report directly to ETIP’s Director and may lead research efforts in one or more of the following subject areas: geological mapping for carbon storage areas, regulation and legislation affecting CCS, legal liability and insurance issues, international cooperation, and opportunities and challenges for CCS in China and/or India. The Research Fellow or Visiting Scholar will be expected to produce at least one publishable article, present her findings before internal and external audiences, and play a substantive role in the dissemination process of any findings. Applications for the Research Fellow for CCS are welcome from recent recipients of the Ph.D. or equivalent degree. University faculty members, and employees of government, military, international, humanitarian, and private research institutions may be considered for visiting scholarships. The ideal candidate will have academic and/or professional experience examining issues related to carbon capture and storage technologies, and what policies might be designed to incentivize their development. Candidates will also have excellent skills in presenting complex material to a wide range of audiences. Candidates who have focused on other aspects of energy policy in their doctoral work, or who hold a Master’s degree and have extensive experience, will be considered. Fellowship 2: Energy Technology and Policy in India ETIP is seeking to fill a Research Fellowship with a focus on energy technology and policy in India. The Research Fellow will contribute to ETIP’s efforts to identify and to promote policies that will enhance India’s adoption of cleaner and less carbon-intensive energy technologies. The Fellow will report directly to ETIP’s Director and may lead research efforts in one or more of the following subject areas: identifying opportunities for enhanced efficiencies in Indian thermal power plants, better understanding of available energy resources, institutional development in the Indian energy sector, opportunities for carbon capture and storage in the Indian context, cleaner transportation, or climate policy. The Research Fellow will be expected to produce at least one publishable article, present her findings before internal and external audiences, and play a substantive role in the dissemination process of any findings, which could include interactions with policymakers in both the United States and India. ETIP is seeking to fill a Research Fellowship with a focus on energy technology and policy in China. The Research Fellow will contribute to ETIP’s efforts to identify and to promote policies that will enhance China’s adoption of cleaner and less carbon-intensive energy technologies, especially cleaner coal or cleaner vehicle technologies. The Fellow will report directly to ETIP’s Director and may lead research efforts in one or more of the following subject areas: analyzing barriers to development or deployment of cleaner energy technologies, assessing costs of cleaner energy technologies in the Chinese context, identifying RD&D strategies for cleaner energy technologies in China, including for CCS, or other energy or climate policy topics. The Research Fellow will be expected to produce at least one publishable article, present her findings before internal and external audiences, and play a substantive role in the dissemination process of any findings, including interacting with policymakers or other people of influence in the United States and China. Applications for the Research Fellowship for Energy Technology and Policy in China are welcome from recent recipients of the Ph.D. or equivalent. The ideal candidate will have academic and/or professional experience of 3-5 years minimum. Candidates will have excellent skills in presenting complex material to a wide range of audiences and will be able to take initiative in interacting with other researchers and policymakers. Candidates who have focused on other aspects of energy policy in their doctoral work, or who hold a Master’s degree and have extensive experience, will be considered. ETIP is seeking a Research Fellow to contribute to work related to assessing and promoting policy options for reducing oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the U.S. transportation sector. The Fellow will report directly to ETIP’s Director and may lead research efforts in one or more of the following subject areas: modeling economic, environmental and other impacts of policy options, examining regulatory scenarios related to various policy options, exploring the role of consumers in reducing the impact of transportation sector, and examining the role of biofuels. The Research Fellow will be expected to produce at least one publishable article, present his findings before internal and external audiences, and play a substantive role in the dissemination process of any findings. Applications for the Research Fellowship on U.S. Transportation Policy are welcome from recent recipients of the Ph.D. or equivalent. The ideal candidate will have academic and/or professional experience analyzing policy for the U.S. transportation sector; investigating specific transportation-related challenges, and/or developing strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. Candidates will also have excellent skills in presenting complex material to a wide range of audiences. Candidates will ideally hold a Ph.D. in public policy, economics, political science, or a related field. A clear focus on transportation will be a plus. Candidates who have focused on other aspects of energy policy in their doctoral work, or who hold a Master’s degree and have extensive experience, will be considered. ETIP is seeking pre-and post-doctoral research fellows to work on domestic or international climate policy. The Fellow will report directly to ETIP’s Director. Candidates interested in working on climate policy in China, India, or the United States are particularly encouraged to apply, as well as candidates with a special focus on the intersection between climate policy and energy technology development and deployment. Technology transfer/cooperation for low-carbon technologies is of special interest. The Research Fellow will be expected to produce at least one publishable article, present his findings before internal and external audiences, and play a substantive role in the dissemination process of any findings. The Research Fellow will be expected to produce at least one publishable article, present his findings before internal and external audiences, and play a substantive role in the dissemination process of any findings. Applications for the Research Fellowship on Climate Policy are welcome from recent recipients of the Ph.D. or equivalent degree. The ideal candidate will have academic and/or professional experience analyzing climate. Candidates will also have excellent skills in presenting complex material to a wide range of audiences. Candidates will ideally hold a Ph.D. in public policy, economics, political science, or a related field. A clear focus on transportation will be a plus. Candidates who have focused on other aspects of energy policy in their doctoral work, or who hold a Master’s degree and have extensive experience, will be considered. ETIP is seeking fellows to work on energy technology innovation (ETI) policy. The ETI fellows will be committed mainly to a three-year project with three related but distinct goals: 1) producing a comprehensive set of recommendations for the next U.S. administration for a greatly expanded federal energy innovation budget; 2) preparing annual budget commentaries and recommendations to policy makers on current ERD&D spending priorities ; 3) producing a report comparing energy-technology innovation activities in the public and private sectors in the United States and internationally. Fellows will work toward one or several of the above goals. ETI fellows participate in Congressional briefings, meetings with relevant stakeholders in business, industry, academia, and elsewhere, and interviews with the media. Applications for ETI fellowships are welcome from recent recipients of the Ph.D. or equivalent degree. The ideal candidate will have professional experience analyzing policy for publicly-funded ERD&D; developing and analyzing federal budgets for ERD&D; or strategic planning for ETI. Candidates will also have excellent skills in presenting complex material to a wide range of audiences. Candidates will ideally hold a Ph.D. in public policy, economics, political science, or a related field. A clear focus on ETI will be a plus. Candidates who have focused on other aspects of energy policy in their doctoral work, or who hold a Master’s degree and have extensive experience, will be considered. Application procedures Please visit http://belfercenter.org/fellowships/ for complete application information. For more information about the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, please visit www.energytechnologypolicy.org. We encourage applications from women, minorities, and citizens of all countries. Although we are mainly interested in the above topics and regions, other applications will be considered. _______________________________________________ Sam Milton, MALD ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 13th, 2008
SEI-US Symposium
Taking Climate Change Seriously: Friday, December 5, 2008 Coolidge Room, Ballou Hall The symposium is free of charge. Scientists are reporting with increasing urgency about the impacts of unabated climate change. With the new administration taking office there is a significant opportunity to reshape the US’ role in addressing the climate challenge. A one day symposium of the SEI has been working to address the challenges of climate mitigation and adaptation for more than two decades in both the US and all around the globe. SEI staff and invited speakers from NGOs and policy makers will present relevant projects and discuss how their experience and research can inform US policy makers. Agenda:
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 2nd, 2008 Google got onto a Green Business Information Spree With Its GREEN CHIP sending out Green Chip Review International Companies are Dominating the Cleantech Space: Many of the world’s new energy technologies are being developed in countries outside the United States. Germany, for example, is mother to the modern solar industry. The Danes have all but cornered the wind industry with the now-famous Vestas Wind Systems. Green Chip International is taking full advantage of this phenomenon. Its latest German solar recommendation is up about 11% in under two weeks. Everyday, international renewables companies are delivering monster gains. Further: Google’s Green Imperative The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy research center at the University of California, says data center energy costs can be 100-times higher than those for typical buildings. Or, as the techies put it: RE < C Intel and Google are both pushing hard into power reduction and production. Intel has paved the way in energy-efficient microchips, and Google’s constant advances in streamlining daily life make telecommuting more possible than ever. But with well over 200,000 buzzing servers used to run the world’s top search engine, it appears that Google’s massive data processing facilities may have started something of an IT arms race. The quest for cheap power today is already pushing American tech heavyweights from Silicon Valley overseas, to downstream solutions for energy optimization… According to Strand’s piece in Harper’s, “Microsoft has announced plans for a data center in Siberia, AT&T has built two in Shanghai, and Dublin has attracted Google and Microsoft. In all three locations, as in the United States, the burning of fossil fuels accounts for a majority of the electricity.” But keep in mind that the same low-cost draw of Chinese energy is also attracting foreign direct investment that goes further in China than it would in U.S. startups. Intel announced in the last week of October that it will invest $20 million in a Chinese solar power company through its investment arm, Intel Capital. Moves like that earned Intel the EPA Green Power Partner of the Year designation, awarded to companies that voluntarily move to minimize their carbon footprint and ramp up efficiency.
*** Carbon neutrality is a primary goal, and the next step is fostering new power generation techniques for server farms and other juice-guzzling technologies. In September, before the stock market collapse got Washington talking about large-scale investment projects and job creation schemes, Google CEO Eric Schmidt spoke passionately about political will and competitive reality to a roomful of his peers at the Corporate EcoForum: “Why not retool the infrastructure in the U.S.?” he added rhetorically. Well, there’s no good reason why not, other than putting off until tomorrow what could be done today. Google and Intel see energy efficiency as an industrial imperative. To increase shareholder value and minimize costs, smart power is a must. Same goes for the country and the world. Taxpayers will reap the rewards of energy investments with jobs and GDP growth. Schmidt sees a pathway to the kind of sustainable competition that can move us forward, rather than engaging in a race-to-the-bottom mentality of outsourcing and cost-cutting that has dominated in recent decades. It’s no wonder, then, that Schmidt is rumored to be on the short list for a national chief technology officer position that Barack Obama has promised to create, in the event he wins office next Tuesday. Google has set the standard for IT excellence since the turn of the millennium. Out of the thousands of companies that rose and fell during dot-com mania, Google survived to change the way information flows and the way many industries work.
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 1st, 2008 76 U.S. Nobel Laureates in Science Endorse Obama for President. WASHINGTON, DC, October 29, 2008 (ENS) - In an open letter to the American people released Tuesday, 76 American Nobel Laureates in science endorsed Democratic Senator Barack Obama of Illinois for president of the United States. This is the largest number of Nobel prize winners ever to endorse a candidate for office. (*****) “This year’s presidential election is among the most significant in our nation’s history,” the Nobel Laureates wrote. “The country urgently needs a visionary leader who can ensure the future of our traditional strengths in science and technology and who can harness those strengths to address many of our greatest problems: energy, disease, climate change, security, and economic competitiveness.” “We are convinced that Senator Barack Obama is such a leader, and we urge you to join us in supporting him.” (*****) “John McCain’s promise to freeze funding increases for science next year threatens to continue this dangerous trend,” wrote the Nobel Laureates in chemistry, medicine and physics.
The Nobel Laureates were critical of President George W. Bush. Their letter warns, “The government’s scientific advisory process has been distorted by political considerations,” the scientists wrote. “As a result, our once dominant position in the scientific world has been shaken and our prosperity has been placed at risk.” “We have lost time critical for the development of new ways to provide energy, treat disease, reverse climate change, strengthen our security, and improve our economy,” they wrote. The Nobel Laureates praised Obama’s plan for managing and growing the nation’s scientific endeavor. “We especially applaud his emphasis during the campaign on the power of science and technology to enhance our nation’s competitiveness,” the scientists wrote. “In particular, we support the measures he (that is Obama) plans to take - through new initiatives in education and training, expanded research funding, an unbiased process for obtaining scientific advice, and an appropriate balance of basic and applied research - to meet the nation’s and the world’s most urgent needs.” Chalfie was the first of the three to make his intentions known. One of the first actions he took after learning he won the prestigious prize was to contact a friend about signing on to the Obama endorsement letter. Chalfie also recorded a YouTube video explaining his endorsement to the public, saying, “The United States is the leader in scientific discovery and its application, but other countries are working hard to take away this lead. Barack Obama’s administration will continue to keep us the envy of the world.” Permalink | |