IDC 2010 - Panel speaker bios

FRI, 4/9, 3:00 - 4:30 PM. Location: TBD

This panel will deliberate lessons learned and priorities for international climate change policy in the post-Copenhagen context. There will be a special focus on the nexus between climate change policy and the challenges and opportunities for international development. What does the agreement mean for future climate change policy? Panel presentations will be followed by an interactive question and answer session with the audience.

Biographies

Robert N. Stavins is Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Director of Graduate Studies for the Doctoral Programs in Public Policy and in Political Economy and Government, Co-Chair of the MPP/MBA and MPA/ID/MBA Joint Degree Programs, and Director of the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a University Fellow of Resources for the Future, former Chair of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Economics Advisory Board, and a member of the editorial councils of scholarly periodicals. His research has examined diverse areas of environmental economics and policy and has appeared in a variety of economics, law, and policy journals, as well as several books. Stavins directed Project 88, a bipartisan effort co-chaired by former Senator Timothy Wirth and the late Senator John Heinz to develop innovative approaches to environmental problems. He has been a consultant to government agencies, international organizations, corporations, and advocacy groups. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Northwestern University, an MS in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University, and a PhD in Economics from Harvard University.

A leading Energy Economist, Denny Ellerman is recognized internationally as an authority on emissions trading and energy economics. His current research interests focus on the U.S. and European emissions trading programs and on environmental regulations. Before beginning at MIT, Dr. Ellerman worked for the U.S. government, for an energy industry association, and as an energy economics expert. In 1990, he served as President of the IAEE (International Association for Energy Economics), the leading international energy economics association. In 2001, he received that organization’s Award for Outstanding Contributions. He is co-author of reference books on emissions trading systems. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from Harvard University.

Dr. Najam serves as the Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and Professor of International Relations and Geography & the Environment at Boston University.

He served as a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), work for which the IPCC was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore. In 2009, Najam was appointed to serve on the UN Committee for Development Policy, a 24 member panel that advises the UN Economic and Social Council.

In addition to teaching at Boston University, Dr. Najam has taught at MIT, University of Massachusetts, and at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He has written numerous scholarly papers and book chapters and serves on the editorial boards of many scholarly journals. Much of Dr. Najam’s work has focused on longer-term global policy problems, especially those related to human well-being and sustainable development. Dr. Najam is a Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), a Visiting Fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), and serves on the Boards of the Pakistan Institute for Environment-Development Action Research (PIEDAR) and the Center for Global Studies at the University of Victoria, Canada. Dr. Najam holds two Master’s degrees and a PhD from MIT and an engineering degree from the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Pakistan.

Gernot Wagner is an Economist in the Climate and Air Program at EDF. He specializes on global greenhouse gas emission reduction pathways and works on developing and applying economically sound climate policy in the U.S. and internationally.

Prior to EDF, Gernot worked for the Boston Consulting Group, focusing on the energy and sustainable development practice areas. He also wrote for the editorial board of the Financial Times in London as a Peter Martin Fellow, where he covered economics, energy and the environment. He has MA and Ph. D degrees in Political Economy and Government from Harvard University and an MA in Economics from Stanford University.