Energy & Environment

Peak Demand Comes to Paris

By Robert J. Johnston

December 5 was probably not a happy day for tourists in Paris. The good news was the traffic was much better than usual, and the Metro and other forms of public transit were free. The bad news was that the city was having yet another pollution crisis. Choking smog and murky air are often associated […]

Evaluating Western Sanctions on Russia

By Sergey Aleksashenko

It has been more than two years since the European Union (EU) and the United States imposed economic sanctions on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. For some of the measures that is time enough to evaluate effectiveness. “The sanctions’ greatest achievement is that they have been an important demonstration of transatlantic unity. Still, there […]

Drones in the Energy Sector: Soaring into the Future?

By Kate Schwartz

On December 2, 2016, an expert panel joined the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center for a conversation about the practices, risks, and benefits of drone use in the energy industry. The panel deliberated whether regulations currently under development impede or facilitate the emerging role for drones. They also discussed the huge potential for drone technology […]

Italy and Austria go to the polls as Europe holds its breath

By Future Europe Initiative

THIS WEEK’S KEY TAKE-AWAYS Special brief: what you need to know about the Italian referendum European court case threatens Uber’s expansion Commission releases new clean energy proposal WTO rules against US in decades-long trade battle

A Path to Growth for US LNG

By Edoardo Saravalle

The shale boom and the newfound abundance of natural gas have put the United States on track to become the world’s third-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). This new role in the global market has the potential to benefit both the United States and its worldwide partners. It will make the natural gas trade […]

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.