Harvard Project Engages with Policymakers, Issue Advocates, and Others at COP-25 in Madrid

With representatives from nearly 200 countries gathering in December in Madrid, Spain for the 25th annual UN climate change conference (COP-25), the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements played a very active role by engaging with policymakers, issue advocates, academics, and journalists to help inform the discussions. The Harvard Project hosted two side events, participated in several others, and interviewed climate science experts for the “Environmental Insights” podcast.

Although Project Director Robert Stavins, the A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy and Economic Development, acknowledged some disappointment that negotiators in Madrid were unable to agree on a framework for Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to facilitate global carbon markets to help meet emissions reduction goals, he writes in a recent commentary published by The Conversation that no deal is better than a bad deal.

“If they had adopted guidance that extended much beyond basic accounting rules, as some countries wanted, the result could have been restrictive requirements that would actually impede effective linkage. This would have made it more expensive, not less, for nations to achieve their Paris targets,” he wrote.

Stavins published an edited version of his post-COP commentary on his blog, “An Economic View of the Environment.”

In Madrid, the Harvard Project hosted a very well-attended and spirited panel discussion on the topic of “Realizing the Potential of Article 6.” Moderated by Professor Stavins, the event featured panelists Kelley Kizzier, Associate Vice President for International Climate for the Environmental Defense Fund, and a former United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) co-chair for the negotiations under Article 6; Andrei Marcu, Senior Fellow with the European Roundtable on Climate and Sustainable Transition; and Joseph Aldy, Professor of the Practice of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and former special advisor on climate policy during the Obama Administration.

The panelists shared the common sentiment that with or without Article 6, countries would find ways to link their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions-reduction policies and continue efforts beyond Madrid to share responsibility among themselves, thereby reducing costs.

The Harvard Project hosted another side event, which drew an audience of several hundred people. This panel focused on the effectiveness of two distinct types of carbon pricing — carbon taxes and cap-and-trade — to drive reductions in emissions. The discussion featured speakers from both academia and practice, including Daniele Agostini, Head of Low Carbon and European Energy Policies at the Enel Group; Joseph Aldy; Raffaele Mauro Petriccione, Director-General of Climate Action at the European Commission; Claudio Seebach, a member of the Advisory Commission to Chile’s COP-25 Presidency, and Executive Chairman of the Chilean Association of Power Generators; and Zhang Xiliang, Professor of Management Science and Engineering, and Director of the Global Climate Change Institute at Tsinghua University.

The event was moderated by Professor Stavins, who initiated the discussion with a review of his recent research paper comparing the effectiveness of carbon taxes versus cap-and-trade policies to achieve meaningful reductions in GHG emissions in the United States and elsewhere. Stavins explored similarities and differences between the two policy approaches, concluding that the design details of a particular instrument are at least as important as the differences between the two instruments — and that through informed policy design, the merits of each approach can be combined to some degree in a hybrid instrument.

Stavins also participated in several other discussions during the second week of the COP, including the “Seventh Global Climate Change Think Tank Forum” at the China Pavilion, and a panel discussion titled “Enhancing Capacity of Developing Countries to Address Climate Change: Issues and Opportunities” held at the Korea Pavilion.

Professor Aldy also participated in two side events in Madrid — a UNFCCC official side event and an event hosted by the Japanese government — focusing on the use of economic tools to inform the transparency of countries’ mitigation actions and informing the updating and enhancing of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in 2020. Aldy presented work jointly undertaken with Billy Pizer of Duke University that illustrated through simulation models and statistical forecasting methods the emission, cost, and competitiveness impacts, of NDCs under the Paris Framework. Raymond Kopp, Vice President for Research and Policy Engagement at Resources for the Future, moderated both events.

While in Madrid, Professor Stavins interviewed two experts in the field of climate policy for his “Environmental Insights” podcast — Paul Watkinson, Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice with the UNFCCC; and Andrei Marcu.

Professor Stavins also discusses COP-25 and his expectations for future climate negotiations in an episode of “Policycast,” a podcast produced by the Harvard Kennedy School.