Nat Keohane Analyzes the Prominent Issues Central to COP 28 in New Episode of “Environmental Insights”

CAMBRIDGE MA. – With the start of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change just days away, environmental economist Nat Keohane is expressing optimism that the new global stocktake will provide incentives for participating nations to step up their collective efforts to slow the rise of global temperatures. Keohane is the guest in a special pre-COP 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. Listen to the interview here.

Hosted by Robert N. Stavins, A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy and Economic Development at Harvard Kennedy School and director of the Harvard Environmental Economics Program and the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, Environmental Insights is intended to promote public discourse on important issues at the intersection of economics and environmental policy.

Keohane, who serves as president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and previously served in the Obama Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Energy and Environment, told Stavins that he believes the global stocktake will play a prominent role in the COP 28 negotiations in Dubai beginning later this week.

“What we're looking for coming out of this COP is to highlight a handful of those high-level political signals coming out of this global stocktake. Things like a commitment to triple renewable energy globally by 2030. Things like slashing methane emissions. You can imagine a handful of others on land use and carbon sinks, on adaptation and global finance, a handful of things that can define an action agenda for 2024 and then can inform what countries do when they set those more ambitious targets in 2025. That's the real centerpiece of this COP,” he said. “The goal is to catalyze action and collaborative cooperative action in 2024, looking ahead to 2025, not just simply to say, ‘Well, gee, we're off track. That's too bad’… We need to catalyze action going forward.”

Keohane also remarked that the controversial issue of loss and damage will also play a leading role in the negotiations this year as the concept of providing financial support to those nations hardest hit by climate change becomes more widely accepted.  

“I think we've come a long way with the recognition that there are damages that the most vulnerable countries are going to suffer, are suffering already, that go beyond simply the investments in adaptation and climate resilience, and that there needs to be some way to address those. And I think we've made a fair amount of progress, even though it's not going to be satisfying to everybody right away,” he said. “I think it's the first step towards an institution over time that can grow and build and become something more important.”

Keohane and Stavins discussed how the recent COP events have grown larger with a growing contingency of participants from the private sector, NGOs, and multi-lateral organizations that are dedicated to advancing the goals of the Paris Agreement.

“[The COP] really becomes a magnet, a draw for everybody working on climate. And the fact that all those side events have become so big I think reflects the fact that climate is now central to the decisions that policymakers are making, not just in a Climate Ministry or an Environment Ministry, but in the Treasury and in Finance Ministries and in Energy Ministries and so on. Climate is [also] central to what businesses are doing and how they're making plans,” he said. “I've always been of the view [that if] we didn't have the COP already we would have to invent it because we need that kind of focal point for people to come and gather talking about what I think is the most existential issue of our time.”

Both Stavins and Keohane will attend and participate in COP 28 events in Dubai.

Keohane’s interview is the 12th episode of 2023 in the Environmental Insights series, with future episodes scheduled to drop each month.

“Environmental Insights is intended to inform and educate listeners about important issues relating to an economic perspective on developments in environmental policy, including the design and implementation of market-based approaches to environmental protection,” said Stavins. “We speak with accomplished Harvard colleagues, other academics, and practitioners who are working on solving some of the most challenging public problems we face.”

Environmental Insights is hosted on SoundCloud and is also available on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Podcast Addict, and Spotify.

LINK TO PODCAST: https://on.soundcloud.com/eVMMm