Bård Harstad

The climate conference in Belém tried but failed to raise funding for tropical forest conservation.
(Due to design flaws, I'd add.)
So, what's next?
Hybrid workshop Nov. 28, which you can sign up for here: www.tropicalforestarena.org

In One Week, Trump Moves to Reshape U.S. Environmental Policy

While others concluded COP30:
-This was the week from hell for environmental policy in the United States... Unless stopped by the courts, each of these proposed rollbacks will do irreparable harm to the nation’s water quality, endangered species and marine ecosystems.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/c...

State department to cut 38 universities from research program over DEI policies Exclusive: Trump administration proposal would exclude elite schools that use diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices

-Elite institutions including Stanford University, Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, Duke University and the University of Southern California are among those marked for suspension
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Who Pays Trump’s Tariffs?

By October, 2025, Importers now bore only 27% of the tariff cost—less than half the estimate for June. A slightly higher 18% was now borne by exporters, and a much higher 55% was being passed on to consumers.

www.cfr.org/article/who-...

If you read French, I hope you can confirm:
I point to security concerns, the importance of independence of Russian gas, Norway’s relatively clean extraction technology, how it can be transferred to others,
and how all of this relates to The Gas Trap.
Thanks @baptlanglois.bsky.social @lexpress.fr

Hard questions loom at COP30 summit ‘Climate finance’ approaches are under scrutiny

FT refers to my criticism of current forest financing
and the solution that payments should be forest-linked loans.
de Resende's concern about indebted tropical countries can be addressed because:
-FLLs can and will replace existing debt
-FLLs are not supposed to be repaid
www.ft.com/content/5e84...

YouTube video by Norges Bank Investment Management Norges Bank Climate Conference 2025 | Exploring the Macroeconomic and Financial Impacts

Now on YouTube:
An important econ & climate conference by Norway's NBIM&NB.
@president.ecb.europa.eu, Gore, Hsiang etc
At 1:25, I explained why policy and finance decisions are coordination games, why expectations are self-fulfilling, and what consequences this has
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsGL...

På klimakonferansen, som ofte ellers, fokuserer vi økonomer ofte på BNP/vekst. Dette er først og fremst fordi vi kan måle/verdsette slike effekter, og det underestimerer effektene:
Om det blir mindre regnskog og is kan BNP øke, men det gjør ikke effektene ønskelige
www.nbim.no/en/responsib...

Nobel Peace Center | Museum of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway The Nobel Peace Center in Oslo is the museum of the Nobel Peace Prize. Experience our exhibitions, events and guided tours inspired by the ideas and work of the Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

Note the wording.. Ms. Machado receives the prize for:
- promoting democratic rights
- struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition
- At a time when democracy is under threat
- where democracy is in retreat
- more and more authoritarian regimes are challenging norm
www.nobelpeacecenter.org/en

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7

Nations ramp up climate efforts after latest U.S. Paris Agreement withdrawal President Donald Trump made the decision to withdraw from the agreement on his first day back in office, echoing what he did in his first term

What now - for the future of climate policies - after USxit from Paris?
I got a couple of seconds with @ekoslof.bsky.social and Spectrum News:
spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/hudson-v...

The atlas can also be use to illustrate the distribution of benefits (and bargaining powers...) when countries negotiate more ambitious cuts at COP30.

Today is a beautiful date for honoring Pythagoras (and the simplest proof of his theorem)

On the "economics" of it, of course...

Det er for tidlig å konkludere at venstresiden vant valget.
Når (/om) både Sp og MDG innser at de kan vippe regjeringen, er det høyresiden som vinner:
Siden Sp og MDG ønsker motsatt politikk på noen områder, vil høyresiden kunne "kjøpe" en av dem, uansett hvilken platform Ap ender opp med å tilby.

What's the future of carbon pricing?
To answer, one must understand political economics.
More than 800 scholars have realized this and signed up for the 9/9 Webinar by @eaere.bsky.social on this exact topic.
You can still do it:
www.eaere.org/events/suppo...

Petropraten: Står gassen i veien for fornybar energi? Det sies at gass er veien til fornybar, men kan gass i stedet stå i veien for fornybar? En ny studie viser at gass kan bidra til å bremse omstillingen.

Nå tilgjengelig opptak av @kholtsmark.bsky.social mm:
www.klimastiftelsen.no/arrangement/...

To conserve forests, @cop30brazil.bsky.social proposes TFFF. TFFF has severe weaknesses but can, fortunately, be modified if payments are forest-linked loans rather than grants -- among other things discussed in this Policy Brief:
drive.google.com/file/d/1B4sW...

Brazil’s president signs environmental ‘devastation bill’ but vetoes key articles Campaigners had urged Lula to veto the bill entirely, but many have welcomed his alterations

Indeed:
- if this destructive bill becomes law – just weeks ahead of Cop30 in Belém – it threatens to erode Brazil’s credibility on the global stage.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Beautiful -- but this is a Norwegian pic of climate change. Melting glaciers bring particles that color lakes green.

And Brazil has been criticized for investing in roads through the Amazon before: www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Just as roads are main drivers of deforestation in other parts of the world: le.uwpress.org/content/77/2...

Road network and deforestation of indigenous lands in the Brazilian Amazon This research evaluates the relationship between the official and unofficial road network and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon within and around …

Roads are main drivers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon not only when they are built, but years later too:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Predictors of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Aim and Location We assessed the effects of biophysical and anthropogenic predictors on deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia. This region has the world's highest absolute rates of forest destruction .....

Because an abundant body of research finds that new roads, as those being built to host COP30, causes more deforestation: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Amazon rainforest cut down to build highway for COP climate summit The infrastructure required to host COP30 in Belém is undermining the cause, campaigners say.

Why is it not only sad and ironic, but also indicative of extremely poor Brazilian judgement to select Belém as the location for COP30? 🧵
www.bbc.com/news/article...

I’ll modestly suggest my own book ‘Resources Matter: ending poverty while protecting nature’ (OUP). The PDF is free to download (open access) 👇 global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Europa kan havne i gassfellen Naturgass er bra for klimaet på kort sikt – men ikke på lang.

Forskningspublikasjonen "The Gas Trap", med @kholtsmark.bsky.social, byr på et par anbefalinger for norsk energipolitikk:
www.dn.no/kronikk/det-...

The Gas Trap FT OpEd - paper version
(based on the forthcoming JPE with @kholtsmark.bsky.social )

The natural gas trap Switching to gas reduces emissions in the short term but increases them in the long run

Today in @financialtimes.com:
OpEd on how it is tempting to let gas outcompete coal,
but why the long-term consequence is less renewables and more emissions
+ policy implications for Europe
based on:
The Gas Trap, with @kholtsmark.bsky.social, forthcoming in JPE.
www.ft.com/content/e969...

The Rush to Quit Coal Is Leading Countries Into the “Gas Trap”

"The Gas Trap" paper, with @kholtsmark.bsky.social, is accepted in JPE!
GSB Insights @stanford.edu wrote an article about it:
www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/rus...