Climate
It is impossible to discuss energy without acknowledging the climate impact of the way we power our buildings, cities, vehicles, and industries. As we imagine our energy future, we must do so with the recognition that climate change will transform how we move and power our lives.
Recent Work
Has Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme Taken Away a Country’s Ability to Reduce Emissions?
Many individual countries pursue climate policies yet are also covered by a broader, overlapping emissions trading system. We explore when such overlapping policies help mitigate climate change, and when they are ineffective or might backfire.
Closing the Climate Finance Gap: A Proposal for a New Green Investment Protocol
While international legal agreements protecting foreign investment are much criticized for standing in the way of government efforts to address climate change, these same agreements—if properly deployed—can help close the climate finance gap.
Emissions
Cooling People, Not Spaces: Surmounting the Risks of Air-Conditioning Over-Reliance
The growing global demand for air conditioning is exacerbating carbon emissions. This trend will intensify unless alternative solutions are sought and massively adopted. Solutions already exist and new ones are emerging, but face barriers include technology, building design, education, finance, and policy.
The Net-Zero Governance Conveyor Belt
While the proliferation of net-zero targets represents progress toward reaching our global climate goals, targets vary enormously in quality. This report proposes four governance tools to steer net-zero targets toward higher integrity.
Featured Researcher
Oscar Serpell
Deputy DirectorOscar Serpell oversees all student programming, alumni engagement, faculty and student grants, and visiting scholars. He is also a researcher, writer, and policy analyst working on research initiatives with students and Center partners.
Featured Researcher
Michael Mann
Presidential Distinguished ProfessorMichael E. Mann is the Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science. He is a faculty fellow with the Kleinman Center and the first vice provost for climate science, policy, and action at Penn.
People
- Parrish Bergquist
- Eugenie Birch
- William Braham
- Stephanie Carlisle
- Cornelia Colijn
- Danny Cullenward
- Jesús Fernández-Villaverde
- Mark Alan Hughes
- Sarah Light
- Lauren Lutzke
- Kristina Lyons
- Michael Mann
- Ioana Marinescu
- Irina Marinov
- R. Jisung Park
- John Quigley
- Megan Ryerson
- Oscar Serpell
- Andy Stone
- Arthur van Benthem
- Erik Wibbels
- Bethany Wiggin
- Jennifer Wilcox