Economics Welcomes Harvard Environmental Economics Expert

One of the world's leading experts on environmental economics will offer a new framework for addressing the global climate crisis when he visits the University of Cincinnati on Nov. 6.

Robert N. Stavins, the Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government at Harvard University, will present his lecture, "Can an Effective Global Climate Treaty Be Based on Sound Science, Rational Economics, and Pragmatic Politics?,"on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 5:30 p.m. in Room 112 of Lindner Hall.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is part of the UC economics department's James C. Kautz Speakers Program on Political Economy.

Stavins is the director of Harvard's Environmental Economics program and the chairman of the Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Group at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is also a member and immediate past chair of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's top economic advisory board.

Stavins proposes to address global warming through an alternative approach to the Kyoto Protocol, which the United States has not signed onto as a participant. Stavins' approach builds upon the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and features three key elements: meaningful involvement of all nations; phased-in, long-term targets; and use of market-based policy instruments. Stavins will contrast his proposal with those endorsed by the current U.S. administration and the major presidential candidates.

The Kautz Speakers Program is a program of the Hewett Kautz Fund, which was started by a gift from UC economics alum James C. Kautz to honor the legacy of UC economics professor and department head William W. Hewett. The fund sponsors undergraduate scholarships within the UC economics department, and currently awards three fellowships that include in-state tuition and books for an academic year. That program is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.