Climate Change Policy
Led by Andrew Light, the Institute has maintained an active climate change portfolio that engages
a broad array of organizations, governments, and scholarly disciplines in such areas as the
architecture of international climate agreements, climate finance, clean energy transitions (especially
in the electricity sector), mitigation of short-lived climate pollutants, climate and security, and
climate engineering. The success of this project has been demonstrated since 2011 through the participation by Institute and other Mason faculty in some of the most consequential global agreements in international climate and energy policy. To name just a few of the highlights:
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• Creation of the Clean Energy Ministerial (over 30 countries cooperating on a range of
sectoral initiatives to advance deployment in the global clean energy transition), 2010.
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• Negotiation and finalization of the climate goal and climate and clean energy-related parts of
the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, 2015.
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• Negotiation and ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, 2015.
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• Launch of Mission Innovation (over 20 countries cooperating on a range of sectoral
initiatives to advance early-stage research in the global clean energy transition), 2015.
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• Negotiation and ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on
reduction of hydrofluorocarbons (a “super pollutant” thousands of times more potent than
carbon dioxide), 2016.
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• Publication and successful dissemination of the Fourth U.S. National Climate Assessment,
2018.
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• Publication of the National Academies of Sciences report, Reflecting Sunlight:
Recommendations for Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance,
2021.
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• Creation of the Global Methane Pledge (over 90 countries committed to reduction of
methane, another greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide), 2021.
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• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change agreement in 2023 (over 190 countries) to
triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency by 2030.
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• Creation of a commitment and “club” of 31 countries in 2023 to triple deployment of
nuclear energy by 2050.
One year later,Trump and the Paris Accord
PARTNERS
David Morrow (George Mason University and American University)
Gwynne Taraska (Climate Advisers)
George Mason University, Center for Climate Change Communication
George Mason University, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences
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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
B. Hale & A. Light (eds.) Routledge Companion to Environmental Ethics, Routledge, (forthcoming).
Light, A. and Gwynne Taraska. “A Responsible Path: Enhancing Action on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants” in Climate Justice in a Non-Ideal World. C. Heyward and D. Roser (eds.). Oxford University Press, (2016).
Light, A. “Climate Diplomacy" in The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics. S. Gardiner and A. Thompson (eds.). Oxford University Press, (2016).
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SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
Light, A. “U.S.-Canadian Climate Cooperation at a Crossroads,” “The Palmer Conference on Public Sector Leadership,” University of Prince Edward Island, August 30, 2017 (plenary address).
Light, A. “Do We Need a Global Moratorium on Climate Engineering Research?” Forum for Climate Engineering Assessment workshop, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, September 8, 2017.
Light, A. “Does the Anthropocene Imply Anything for Geoengineering?” Climate Engineering Conference 2017, Berlin, Germany, October 11, 2017.
Light, A. “Policy Opportunities for Mitigation of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants After Paris,” Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate meeting, National Academy of Sciences, November 6, 2017.
Light, A. “America’s Climate and Security Gambit,” “Enhancing Climate Diplomacy in a Changing Political Environment,” workshop, Institute for Environmental Security, GLOBE-EU, and EU Presidency, Brussels, November 20, 2017.
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