Exxon, Chevron Focus on Oil Projects in the Americas
The two largest U.S. oil companies are pulling back on big international oil projects and concentrating on a handful of more lucrative assets closer to home.
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Trade Policy Disputes at COP Are Here to Stay
This year’s Conference of the Parties (COP-29) broke new ground with the Baku Initiative for Climate Finance, Investment, and Trade (BICFIT)—the first high-profile COP initiative to place trade...
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This week host Jason Bordoff talks with Cheryl LaFleur and David Hill about the incoming Trump administration, its impact on FERC, and the status of permitting reform measures.
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January 30, 2025
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Can AI Help Reduce Emissions of Greenhouse Gases?
Please join the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs for a special webinar "Can AI Help Reduce Emissions of...
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Dr. Varun Sivaram Joins Biden-Harris Administration as Senior Adviser to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
February 4, 2021
New York — The Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy is delighted to congratulate senior research scholar Dr. Varun Sivaram, who has joined the Biden-Harris administration as a senior adviser to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and former Secretary of State John F. Kerry. A newly created position, the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate reports directly to President Biden, has a seat at the National Security Council and at the State Department, and leads diplomatic efforts to reassert U.S. climate leadership and raise global climate ambition.
During his tenure at CGEP, Dr. Sivaram led the Global Energy Innovation Initiative, and research focused on clean energy innovation policy, energy transitions in emerging economies such as India, and digital technologies for decarbonization. He was the lead author of Energizing America: A Roadmap to Launch a National Energy Innovation Mission, which offers policymakers a strategic framework to triple U.S. federal energy research, development, and demonstration funding to $25 billion by 2025. Bloomberg reported that “The book details down to the budget line item exactly how much money America should spend and how it should spend it,” and former Secretary Kerry endorsed it as “a plan to make the United States the world leader in clean energy innovation and rise to an existential challenge — creating exciting new jobs along the way.”
“I am thrilled that Varun will have a chance to deploy the research he did at Columbia — from his study of innovative energy technologies to his insights about India’s energy transition — in his new role in the Biden-Harris administration to advance ambitious climate action, speed global energy transitions through innovation, and boost U.S. global competitiveness in clean industries,” said Jason Bordoff, Founding Director of the Center on Global Energy Policy. “It is critical to elevate the issue of climate change across all elements of U.S. foreign and national security policy, and John Kerry’s appointment as Special Presidential Envoy signals how seriously the Biden-Harris administration takes the daunting challenge of climate change.”
Before joining CGEP, Dr. Sivaram was Chief Technology Officer of ReNew Power, a multibillion-dollar renewable-energy firm that is India’s largest. His previous roles include director of the energy & climate program at the Council on Foreign Relations, senior energy advisor to the Los Angeles Mayor and New York Governor, professor at Georgetown University, and consultant at McKinsey & Co. He has served as a board member for Stanford University’s energy and environment institutes, on the board of directors of Peridot Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: PDAC), as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council for the Energy Transition, and as one of the 25 advisors to the UN COP26 climate conference in 2021. TIME Magazine named him to its TIME 100 Next list of the next hundred most influential people in the world, and his TED talk on India’s clean energy transition has been watched more than 1 million times. His books include Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet, and Digital Decarbonization: Promoting Digital Innovations to Advance Clean Energy Systems. A Rhodes and Truman Scholar, he holds a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from Oxford University and undergraduate degrees from Stanford University.
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• December 25, 2024
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Davos, Switzerland, 17 January 2023 – The World Economic Forum, supported by more than 45 partners today launched the Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA), a global initiative to fund and grow new and existing public, private and philanthropic partnerships (PPPPs) to help unlock the $3 trillion of financing needed each year to reach net zero, reverse nature loss and restore biodiversity by 2050.
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• December 23, 2024
Trump’s Tariffs Threaten Trade War with Mexico, but Natural Gas Remains Unaffected for Now
Trump's Tariffs Threaten Trade War with Mexico, but Natural Gas Remains Unaffected for Now By Christopher Lenton U.S. President-elect Trump’s social media announcement that he would impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico set off a series of alarm bells in the energy sector across the integrated North American region. Mexican President Claudia
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Fossil Fuel Provisions of the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 and Their Effects on Climate Goals
A bipartisan permitting-reform proposal in the US Senate includes provisions that reduce barriers to an improved electricity transmission system, which would help fortify the country’s energy system and accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.
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by Noah Kaufman • December 20, 2024
Africa’s Climate Finance Problem: African Sovereigns, Green Bonds, and Climate Action
TRENDS Research & Advisory strives to present an insightful and informed view of global issues and challenges from a strategic perspective. Established in 2014 as an independent research center, TRENDS conducts specialized studies in the fields of international relations and political, economic and social sciences.
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• December 20, 2024
Trade Policy Disputes at COP Are Here to Stay
This year’s Conference of the Parties (COP-29) broke new ground with the Baku Initiative for Climate Finance, Investment, and Trade (BICFIT)—the first high-profile COP initiative to place trade...