Salata Institute Methane Initiative to Conduct Panel at COP-28

The Harvard Initiative on Reducing Global Methane Emissions – a research cluster supported by the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University – will conduct an official side event at the Twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties (COP-28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Dubai. Time, date, and location:

December 6, 2023
3:00 – 4:30 pm local time
Side Event Room 4, COP-28, Expo City, Dubai
Note: All official side events are within the “Blue Zone” at COP-28; registration for the COP and a badge are required to enter.

The panel, “Reducing Global Methane Emissions: Imperatives, Opportunities, and Challenges,” will focus on approaches to reducing methane emissions in the near term. It will feature several leading scholars and climate policy experts who will discuss current research and practice on technology, policy, and international cooperation. James Stock, Director of the Salata Institute and Harold Hitchings Burbank Professor of Political Economy at Harvard, will make opening remarks. Robert Stavins, director of the methane initiative and A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy and Economic Development at Harvard Kennedy School, will moderate the discussion.

In a blog post on the Harvard methane initiative, Stavins argued that methane emissions abatement can, “in the near term, significantly reduce the magnitude of climate change and its impacts – giving the world time to ‘bend the curve’ on CO₂ emissions, conduct research on carbon removal, and, more generally, to implement longer-term strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change.”

The side event panelists – in addition to Robert Stavins – are:

• Stephen Hammer, Chief Executive Officer, New York Climate Exchange, and former Methane Lead, World Bank;
• Claire Henly, Senior Advisor for Non-CO₂ greenhouse gases, Office of the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate;
• Daniel Jacob, Vasco McCoy Family Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Harvard University and global expert on satellite-based methane detection and attribution;
• Helena Varkkey, Associate Professor of Environmental Politics and Governance, Universiti Malaya and Principal Investigator, UM-CERAH-EDF initiative on methane emissions in Malaysia

The side event is co-sponsored by Foundation Environment – Law Society and the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements.

For questions and further information, please contact:

Jason Chapman  
Jason_chapman@hks.harvard.edu