#conferenceoftheparties

[josdimension]

COP pt.2 -> the intersection of climate policy and climate stakeholders

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and other scientific findings play a crucial role in shaping COP policies and actions which can feed into US policies and actions. This week's class made me think of my trip to DC about 3 weeks ago and my brief visit to the Capitol Building which I describe as "the place where decisions are made... sometimes". It also made me reflect on the ways in which the global Conference of the Parties (COP) is both similar and different when compared to the US Congress:

Global vs. National Scope, though one might argue that given the geopolitical power the US wields they are making decisions that often affect the globe.

Binding vs. Non-Binding Agreements, though COP meetings focus on resolving to implement changes that are not legally binding because they are not supreme across jurisdictions, the decisions made in congress do "rule the land" but are not always implemented uniformly across all states.

Ultimately, these differences highlight the distinct roles and mechanisms through which global and national bodies like the COP and the US Congress contribute to addressing climate change. While COP meetings focus on international cooperation and agreements, the US Congress shapes domestic policies and legislation related to climate action. So technically COP feeds into the US legislation... or at least it should.

Multilateral cooperation and diplomacy among nations is crucial to building trust, transparency, and mutual understanding, especially given the interconnected nature of climate change impacts. For progress to be made on climate action it’s imperative that countries which lead on emissions (like the US) make ambitious commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Including:

Setting clear targets for emission reductions for towards a low-carbon economy.

Mobilizing sufficient financial resources, to support adaptation efforts, encourage innovation and technological development, increase capacity-building, and resilience-building. 

Facilitating collaboration between public and private sectors to act on climate change with meaningful stakeholder engagement.

The annual COP events play a crucial role in shaping global climate policies and actions in addition to fostering international cooperation on climate-related issues including sessions, negotiations, and side events for not only governments but also NGOs, businesses, and scientific experts and academics (among others). While the COP meetings directly influence international climate agreements and norms, their indirect effects on US climate policy stem from the interconnectedness of global efforts and the shared responsibility to address climate change.

International climate agreements and discussions at COP meetings send market signals and create investment opportunities in clean energy and climate-friendly technologies. Participation in COP meetings exposes the US to peer pressure from other countries, in a good way. The discussions during class highlighted that there needs to be more acknowledgement and action addressing the risks of exceeding planetary boundaries, particularly concerning climate change and the risk of overshooting the 1.5 degree target.

[hpcaatcop28]

Read Professor Stavins newest blog offering thoughts on his recent podcast discussion with Amy Harder, the founding Executive Editor of Cipher News.

"A few days ago, I posted at this blog my personal take on what happened at COP-28 in Dubai (and what didn’t happen).  Feedback from readers indicates that some people found my assessment helpful and realistic, but it’s conceivable that some found it insufficiently enthusiastic.  So, today, I’m pleased to offer some potential balance."

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Amy Harder, the founding Executive Editor of the climate policy publication Cipher News, expressed her pleasant surprise with several outcomes from the recent 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) in Dubai during a special episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program and is hosted by HPCA Director Professor Robert N. Stavins.

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HPCA Director Robert Stavins goes beyond the headlines to analyze the outcomes of COP 28.

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Harvard delegates reflect on COP28 - The Salata Institute

Faculty returning from Dubai discuss their experiences at COP28, and how attending propels their ongoing efforts to forge climate solutions.

HPCA Professor Robert Stavins shares his thoughts on the outcomes of COP 28 in this article published by the Salata Institute at Harvard.

[hpcaatcop28]

HPCA Hosts COP 28 Side Event on the Challenges and Opportunities of Reducing Global Methane Emissions

The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements (HPCA) assembled a panel of leading academics and government officials to discuss strategies for achieving significant methane emissions reductions at relatively low costs at an official COP 28 Side Event last Wednesday (Dec. 6).  The event, titled “Reducing Global Methane Emissions: Imperatives, Opportunities, and Challenges,” was moderated by HPCA Director Robert Stavins.

The panelists, in addition to Stavins, were:

Claire Henly, Senior Advisor for Non-CO2 GHGs, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate;

Daniel Jacob, Vasco McCoy Family Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Harvard University; and

Helena Varkkey, Associate Professor of Environmental Politics and Governance, Universiti Malaya.

HPCA Side Event panelists (from L-to-R): Claire Henly, Helena Varkkey, Robert Stavins, Daniel Jacob, and James Stock

James Stock, the Harold Hitching Burbank Professor of Political Economy, Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability, and Director of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University, framed the context of the discussion with opening remarks.

“This audience needs no words of introduction to why methane provides immediate challenges, urgent opportunities, but also the possibility of driving quick emissions reductions that could ease our transition path as we deal with more challenging carbon dioxide emissions down the road,” he said.

Stavins provided an overview of the new Harvard Initiative on Reducing Global Methane Emissions, one of five research clusters anchored within the Salata Institute. He explained to attendees that the initiative is designed to engage stakeholders in government, business, NGOs, and international organizations in research and policy solutions to address the methane challenge.

“Focusing on methane can give the world time to bend the curve on CO₂ emissions, conduct research on carbon mitigation and on carbon removal, and then begin to implement longer term strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change,” he remarked. “This is not an either or. This is not methane instead of CO₂. This is methane and CO₂, and for that matter, other greenhouse gases.”

Jacob discussed the research that he and his team are doing to monitor methane emissions from their sources using sophisticated satellite technology.

“Quantifying methane emissions is essential for climate action, but it is a very difficult task,” he explained. Yet the task is becoming more achievable, he said, by mapping so-called “global hot spots” of emissions, many of which are located in the global south, and can be attributed to oil and gas, coal, livestock, rice, wetlands, and landfills.

Henly spoke of the Biden Administration’s efforts to address the methane challenge, including the Methane Finance Sprint, launched in April with the goal of raising $200 million to assist low- and middle-income nations to fund emissions reduction programs across all sectors. The Sprint has now raised more than $1 billion from governments, the European Commission, philanthropies, and the private sector. This is part of the Global Methane Pledge.

It was also announced during COP 28, Henly explained, that six of the world’s largest private sector companies have launched the “Dairy Methane Alliance,” in which participants, including Nestle, pledge to begin reporting methane emissions by mid-2024, and develop action plans to reduce their methane emissions before the end of the year.

In her presentation, Varkkey discussed the progress Malaysia is making in climate policy. Methane, she said, represents approximately 15 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the country, a number that is expected to decline after the government signed onto the Global Methane Pledge two years ago.

“It is really important for Malaysia to have decisive methane action even while we are planning for CO₂ and other reductions as well,” she said. While the government hasn’t yet developed a national methane reduction action plan, Varkkey remarked, there are indications that emissions are already dropping due to positive actions by the private sector.

The panel discussion was followed by a lively Q-and-A during which panelists responded to questions ranging from how landfill emissions are measured, the importance of public awareness of methane emissions, links between methane and nitric oxide in the agriculture sector, potential new technologies that can be used to abate methane emissions, the prospects for a binding international agreement to impose costs on methane emissions, and the ways in which Harvard University is leveraging its platform to deepen collaboration with the Chinese government, academic institutions, and companies around climate change issues.

The side event was co-sponsored by the Foundation Environment - Law Society (FURG).

[hpcaatcop28]

Robert Stowe, co-director of the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements (HPCA), delivered remarks as part of a panel at the Expert Meeting of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) Special Policy Study on Pathways to Carbon Neutrality and China’s Role in Global Climate Governance at COP 28, December 5, 2023.

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“I call it climate expo 2023 and I’m not saying it in a pejorative sense. This is the one everyone comes out to. People go because other people go.”

--Prof. Robert Stavins quoted in an article about COP 28 in the New York Times, Dec. 11, 2023.