Since 1988, Brazilians have cleared more than 153,000 square miles of Amazonian rain forest, devastating the environment and driving global climate change forward ever faster. Recently, however, Brazil has changed its course, reducing the rate of deforestation by 83 percent since 2004. At the same time, it has become a test case for a controversial international climate-change prevention strategy that places a monetary value on the carbon stored in forests.

Michael A. Levi, CFR's David M. Rubenstein senior fellow for energy and the environment, and director of the program on energy security and climate change, leads a conversation on President Obama's climate change policies.

While California may not be getting much attention at this year's UN climate talks in Doha, "California's new cap-and-trade system is perhaps the biggest good news climate story this year, and delegates in Doha should be celebrating it," says Michael A. Levi.

The UN climate meeting could show progress on outstanding issues from previous rounds, but negotiators are focused on modest steps forward rather than major breakthroughs, says CFR's Michael Levi.

With the UN climate meeting in Doha under way, five experts discuss what needs to happen to advance a comprehensive global climate policy.

Michael A. Levi says natural gas is a good and inexpensive alternative to coal and oil, but it's still a fossil fuel. Keeping in mind that gas is far from a permanent climate solution, delegates meeting in Doha for the UN climate change negotiations "should strengthen their efforts, individually and collectively, to promote innovation and development of cost-effective zero-carbon energy options."

Michael Spence writes that Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath have highlighted the need for greater investment in critical infrastructure to minimize economic disruption after a disaster.

As the recovery from hurricane Sandy gets under way, CFR's Michael A. Levi highlights three policy takeaways from the storm.

The success of the Global Green Growth Institute, a new international organization dedicated to changing the way countries grow economically, depends on its ability to effectively address developing countries' institutional and technical shortcomings. If efficacious, however, it could revolutionize international economic development efforts.

Benn Steil's Forbes op-ed, co-authored with Dinah Walker and Romil Chouhan, shows why President Obama's touting of renewable energy as a job-creator is misguided.

A broad-sweeping look at international efforts to combat climate change. This is part of the Global Governance Monitor, an interactive feature tracking multilateral approaches to several global challenges.

Peter Orszag discusses ambitious incentives to increase the use of natural gas in the U.S. transportation system.

G8 leaders released this fact sheet on energy and climate change at the G8 summit on May 19, 2012.

Reining in pollution would thus accomplish two goals, while finally getting countries such as China and India into the climate-change business.

This General Accounting Office (GAO) report on Climate Change, "The Quality, Comparability, and Review of Emissions Inventories Vary Between Developed and Developing Nations", was published in July 2010.

Shale gas drilling could help Ohio's economy, but Steven Mufson of the Washington Post asks if fracking is worth the human and environmental cost.

The United States will "increasingly seek partnerships with other like-minded countries [in the region] to ensure global stability, security, and prosperity." In a new volume of collected essays, CFR Senior Fellow Scott Snyder writes that one of the strongest partners for the United States is South Korea.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave these remarks on February 16, 2012 at the launch of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.

A senior Department of State official gave this telephone briefing on February 16, 2012 regarding an upcoming coalition on climate change and clean air.

The United States submitted these observations on the relationship between climate change and human rights to the UN Human Rights Council in 2008. The observations were "requested by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in its communications dated June 3 and August 21, 2008…in accordance with Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution 7/23, in order to conduct "a detailed analytical study on the relationship between climate change and human rights."