Energy & Environment

COP22, Climate Change, and Africa’s Future

By J. Peter Pham

On Monday, November 7, the 22nd Conference of Parties (COP22) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will convene in Marrakech. The meeting’s venue in the fabled Moroccan caravan town—long a cultural, religious, and trading hub between the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa—will focus attention on the irony that while among the regions of […]

Disclosing Climate-Related Financial Risk

By Kate Schwartz and Lexie Ryan

On Monday, October 31, 2016 the Global Energy Center hosted a conversation on the necessity of financial disclosures for public and private interests. In light of increasing regulation from climate change legislation, investors are demanding risk disclosures in order to make rational decisions about where to target stakeholder and taxpayer money. Mary Schapiro, Secretariat of the […]

Collaboration Seen as Key in Climate Change Fight

Major geopolitical players such as China, India, the United States, and the European Union have committed to cut emissions, but it is equally important to mobilize private sector investment in this effort, Jonathan Pershing, the US special envoy for climate change, said at the Atlantic Council on October 25. “Climate change is a problem that […]

Defining an Arctic Strategy

National security and climate change makes it imperative for the United States to develop the strategic infrastructure needed to play a key leadership role.

With Pipeline, Russia Sustains Dominance of Turkish Gas Market

By John M. Roberts

Russia’s decision to go ahead with Turkish Stream, an offshore pipeline that will bring Russian gas to Turkey, cements its dominance of the Turkish gas market. In political terms, the revival of Turkish Stream—or TurkStream as Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy company, now terms the project—epitomizes the entente developing between Moscow and Ankara, a relationship that […]

Going Green: Devising a Clean Energy Strategy for Developing Countries

Developing countries need a concrete strategy, backed by political will, that is focused on using clean energy for growth, according to a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center.  As the date on which the Paris climate agreement goes into effect draws near and participating countries begin to take steps toward implementing […]

Transforming the power sector in developing countries: A strategic framework for post-Paris action

By Robert F. Ichord, Jr.

As the Paris Agreement on Climate Change enters into force, signatories will face the challenges of transforming their energy sectors into more efficient, lower-carbon systems. This report provides a strategic framework to understand and address the challenges and hard choices developing countries face in moving to a cleaner energy mix while expanding access to those without electricity.

Alaska’s Microgrid Experience Applied Across Borders

By Penny Gage

There is a stark divide between rural and urban Alaska, with 41 percent of the state’s residents residing in the city of Anchorage. Most communities are located off the road system, accessible only by airplane or boat. Supplying reliable, secure, and affordable energy is a challenge. Remote electricity systems, and even large cities concerned about […]

As Arctic Council Chair, United States Will Stay the Course on Climate Change

Despite the opposing positions on climate change adopted by Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, a senior US official has expressed confidence that the United States’ efforts to curb the effects of global warming over the course of its chairmanship of the Arctic Council will transcend the political transition in Washington. Regardless of the outcome of […]