Energy and Climate Change

Confronting Climate Change with the Climate Policy Lab at the Center for International Environment & Resource Policy (CIERP)

Based within CIERP, the Climate Policy Lab(CPL) seeks to better understand which climate policies work, which don't, and why. Professor Kelly Sims Gallagher established the Lab in 2016 to support countries around the world in implementing the Paris Agreement and to advance knowledge about climate policy. Gallagher was formerly a Senior Policy Advisor for the Obama Administration and Senior China Advisor in the Special Envoy for Climate Change office at the U.S. State Department. In these roles, she served on the negotiating team based out of the White House that facilitated the U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change, paving the way for the Paris Agreement.

CPL has grown into a trusted source of independent and objective advice for governments contemplating new climate policies as they implement new domestic policies consistent with the Paris Agreement. Through its international and comparative approach, the Lab addresses the issue of policy interaction and evaluates more precisely the cumulative effect of existing and newly-implemented climate policies.

In addition to peer-reviewed articles, policy briefs, and op-eds, the Climate Policy Lab makes its research findings public through its discussion paper series. These papers are co-authored by CPL’s director, pre- and postdoctoral research fellows, faculty affiliates, and master’s degree candidates. The most recent paper, titled Climate Finance Policy in Practice: A Review of the Evidence, takes an empirical approach to evaluating nine types of climate finance policies on the basis of a literature review and case studies.

The director of the Climate Policy Lab, Kelly Sims Gallagher, also frequently shares her insights with the press, including a recent op-ed in The Hill about the stimulus packages being considered by the United States Congress. Gallagher has also been quoted by New York Magazine, appeared on CNBC, and has written for The Financial Times and The Conversation, to name just a few.

Learn more about the Climate Policy Lab as well as CIERP's other research.