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EnList Retreat Offers Chance to Learn About Climate Change & Forest Carbon Policy in Costa Rica
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The Nicholas Institute is hosting a 4-day retreat in Costa Rica, March 18-21, that offers participants an exclusive chance to explore some of today's most pressing environmental policy issues while touring a rainforest, cloudforest, volcanoes and the world-renowned La Selva Biological Station.
The EnList Climate Change & International Forest Carbon Policy Retreat will be led by Director Tim Profeta and Director for Economic Analysis Brian Murray. It's designed to give individuals and families a chance to learn firsthand about climate change, conservation and environmentally sustainable practices, through hands-on activities, discussions and tours of some of Earth's most beautiful, and vulnerable, environmental hotspots. Special focus will be placed on helping participants understand the scientific, economic and political concepts behind efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), and the ramifications of international forest carbon policies to the United States and the tropics. For more information or to reserve a place on the retreat, contact Deborah Chay at (919) 613-8742 or deborah.chay@duke.edu, or Kate Johnson at (919) 613-8753 or kate.johnson@duke.edu.
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Olander to Help Lead National Ecosystem Services Partnership
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Lydia Olander, director for ecosystem services, is acting director of the nascent National Ecosystem Services Research Partnership. The partnership is a new initiative funded through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Its purpose is to promote efficiencies and innovation in ecosystem services research and implementation by fostering communication, synthesizing research activities, assessing knowledge gaps and providing credible guidance to public and private organizations at all levels. Kathryn Saterson, an adjunct faculty member at the Nicholas School and assistant lab director at EPA, is also helping lead the new partnership. For more information, contact Olander at lydia.olander@duke.edu, or Saterson at Saterson.Kathryn@epamail.epa.gov.
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Mark Your Calendar for 2010 Institute Seminar Series
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The Nicholas Institute and Environmental Institutions Seminar Series for spring 2010 features timely presentations to the Duke community on a broad range of topical environmental issues. Presented by leading experts from both inside and outside of Duke, upcoming seminars include a Feb. 2 overview from the Duke delegation at the recent Copenhagen climate summit; a Feb. 5 presentation on the role of marine spatial planning in U.S. oceans policy; a Feb. 19 talk on the environmental implications of nanotechnology; and a Feb. 26 seminar on Duke's Corporate Sustainability Initiative. Seminars on the natural resource curse, attitudes toward climate change in India, and North American climate politics are slated for March. A complete list of presenters, topics, times, dates and locations is available on the Web page listed below. Recordings of the seminars will be available at nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/events/seminars-sp10.
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| Policy Labs Yield Insights on Stakeholder Involvement in Marine Spatial Planning | |
Marine spatial planning has the potential to be a powerful tool for improving ocean management and resolving conflicting demands on ocean resources. But for optimal results, it requires buy-in from all stakeholders, including environmental advocates and individuals and industries that depend on ocean and coastal resources for their livelihoods. A series of policy labs co-hosted last year by the Nicholas Institute and the Meridian Institute shed new light on industry groups' concerns - especially the principles they believe should guide and underpin any national marine spatial planning initiatives, and design considerations for how to implement them. Lab leaders from the Nicholas Institute, Meridian Institute and Nicholas School summarized these concerns and shared them with the federal Ocean Policy Task Force. You can read their four-page executive summary, along with a two-page policy brief on coastal and marine spatial planning in North Carolina, at the links below.
More information:
http://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/oceans/marine-spatial-planning-policy-lab/principles-for-marine-spatial-planning-outcomes-of-the-ocean-industries-msp-policy-labs
http://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/oceans/msp/coastal-and-marine-spatial-planning-in-north-carolina
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Murray Testifies on Offsets' Role in a Cap-and-Trade Policy
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Brian Murray, director for economic analysis, presented testimony on the role of agricultural and forest offsets in a cap-and-trade policy to the U.S. House Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research, on Dec. 3, 2009. In his remarks, he explained how the offsets system would work, what it could mean for producers, and how concerns about system integrity can be addressed. The complete text of Murray's testimony, along with related Congressional testimony on greenhouse gas market design, presented in September 2009 by Director Tim Profeta, is available on the Institute's Web site at the URLs listed below.
More information:
http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/murray.12.03.09.pdf
http://www.duke.edu/federalrelations/documents/Tim Profeta on Carbon Markets 9.9.09.pdf
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| Research Roundup: Trio of Recent Reports Addresses Timely Issues | |
Recent research by Nicholas Institute staff members addresses a trio of timely policy concerns facing U.S. leaders today.
"Climate Change and Financial Markets: Regulating the Trade Side of Cap and Trade," by senior policy counsel Jonas Monast, a director of Duke's Climate Change Policy Partnership, provides a concise overview of key issues in the current carbon market debate and broader market reform efforts, along with a review of the approaches to carbon market oversight now under consideration. Monast's article was published by the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.
"Valuing Ecosystem Services from Wetlands Restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley," assesses the dollar value of restoring former crop fields into functioning wetlands, via the Wetland Reserve Program. By estimating its value in terms of social welfare, greenhouse gas mitigation, nitrogen mitigation and waterfowl recreation - accounting for both existing and potential markets - the study finds the restoration's payback exceeds its costs within one year, presenting a handsome return on investment. The study was conducted by Aaron Jenkins and Brian Murray of the Nicholas Institute, Randall Kramer of the Nicholas School, and Stephen Faulkner of the U.S. Geological Survey. It was published online this month in Ecological Economics.
A recent Climate Change Policy Partnership report, "Integrating Biofuels into Comprehensive Climate Policy," demonstrates that biofuels can play a strong role in comprehensive U.S. climate policy, but only if lawmakers pay careful attention to cross-policy interactions and other unintended consequences of existing biofuels policies. A 10-page policy brief summarizes the report's findings.
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