Arctic Initiative

Twenty-four Harvard Kennedy School students recently returned from the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavík—the world’s largest annual gathering on Arctic issues—where each presented her or his innovative and interdisciplinary solution to an Arctic challenge. These “Arctic Innovators” are part of Harvard Kennedy School’s Arctic Initiative, which is co-led at the Belfer Center by John P. Holdren, Henry Lee, and Halla Logadóttir. Focused on policy responses to the challenges posed by rapid climate change in the Arctic, the Initiative has recently secured new outside funding totaling $3 million to cover programs over the next three years.

Professor John P. Holdren gave this presentation at the Session on 60 Years of Arctic & Antarctic Science at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in Washington, D.C., on December 13, 2018.

Indigenous communities are facing multiple challenges from a changing climate across the circumpolar North. In this episode, two experts with extensive experience in the American Arctic—former senior Interior Department official Joel Clement and Nicole Misarti of University of Alaska—discuss with Polar Geopolitics the array of impacts affecting native Alaskan communities, and what measures are being taken to build resilience and adapt to climate change.

Joel Clement discusses Federal Lands Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sequestration in the United States: Estimates for 2005–2014, a recently released report by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The authors write that solving the challenges of a changing Arctic will require new approaches.

John P. Holdren gives a comprehensive interview on how climate change is affecting the Arctic.

The authors explain how the consequences of climate change for the Arctic become consequences for the entire planet. 

Halla Logadóttir, former director of the Iceland School of Energy at Reykjavík University and co-founder of the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative, speaks with Aroop Mukharji (@aroopmukharji) about the future of the Arctic region, sustainability in Iceland, and how Icelanders get their names.

Halla Logadóttir, former director of the Iceland School of Energy at Reykjavík University and co-founder of the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative, speaks with Aroop Mukharji (@aroopmukharji) about the future of the Arctic region, sustainability in Iceland, and how Icelanders get their names.

The Arctic Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has named Joel Clement a non-resident Senior Fellow. Clement, former Director of the Policy Office at the U.S. Department of the Interior, will collaborate with Arctic Initiative faculty and staff on research and outreach programs designed to bring attention to the rapidly changing, resource-rich, and environmentally sensitive Arctic region.