The main activity of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is to publish regular reports on the state of knowledge about climate change.

Multinational corporations dominate markets, trade, investment, research and development, and the spread of technology. To fight climate change, the international community needs to harness this power.

Blake Clayton argues that federal lawmakers should overturn the ban on exporting crude oil produced in the United States.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, "determined to protect the climate system for present and future generations," acknowledged that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by greenhouse gases and human activity. Climate Change Research Links highlights resources about effects of climate change on international issues, and includes news, databases, statistics, conventions, and treaties.

Although public trust in nuclear safety has faltered in South Korea, it can recover. Nuclear power expansion is likely to continue under President Park Geun-hye, though it is uncertain whether Park will be as eager as her predecessor to embrace green growth as a justification for it.

Michael Levi and Jason Bordoff commend President Obama's new plan to mitigate climate change, but they warn that Congressional inaction poses a threat to future progress.

"The hard edges of Syria's frontlines—dogmatic, revolutionary, Islamist or pure murderously sectarian—almost melt away outside the oilfields. New lines emerge pitting tribesmen against battalions, Islamists against everyone else, and creating sometimes surreal lines of engagement."

President Obama spoke at Georgetown University, before the release of his Climate Change Plan, on June 25, 2013. The plan focuses on cutting carbon pollution, preparing for the impact of climate change, and leading international ifforts to address global climate change.

In this Energy Brief, Blake Clayton and Adam Segal argue that cyber threats to oil and gas suppliers pose an increasingly challenging problem for U.S. national security and economic competitiveness.

In a Foreign Affairs snapshot, Thomas E. Donilon says, "Energy is a profoundly important aspect of U.S. national security and foreign policy: the availability of reliable, affordable energy is essential to economic strength at home, which is the foundation of U.S. leadership in the world."

Determining the "most urgent" global environmental issue is somewhat subjective; many would argue that carbon emissions and climate change is the most pressing issue. Others are just as passionate about deforestation, water scarcity, groundwater contamination, loss of biodiversity, landfills, ocean acidification, air quality… the list goes on.

Read full answer

Israel has discovered substantial natural gas deposits off its shores in the last four years. While these gas finds are not significant in terms of global gas supply (they constitute less than two percent of the world's proven gas reserves), they do appear large enough not only to meet Israel's needs, but to enable Israel to export significant quantities.

Read full answer

The International Energy Agency (IEA) released this report on June 10, 2013. It explains current and future energy and climate policies and the importance of the energy sector's help to meet international targets on greenhouse gas limits.

President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in California June 7-8, 2013. Based on the Montreal Protocol findings regarding ozone layer-depleting emissions, they issued this agreement to reduce the production and consumption of HFCs, to address one aspect of climate change.

"The United States is more entangled in the global energy system than it has ever been," argues Michael Levi, "and ever-rising world demand for energy will remain at the root of transformations in American energy for years to come."

The costs of China's deep and enduring environmental crisis are growing, yet Beijing's response to the country's environmental challenges has been far from sufficient. Increasingly, the Chinese people are pushing the government to do more to protect the environment, and Beijing must rise to the occasion, says Elizabeth Economy.

In this op-ed in the Dallas Morning News, Michael Levi argues that those who believe bullish reports on North American energy should also accept the possibility of a price crash.

According to Michael Levi, the boom in American energy production could be short-lived, "if we don't get serious about the accompanying risks and make sure that oil and gas development is done right."

"Even as the United States ramps up its oil production," writes Michael Levi, "it's critical that we continue to cut the amount of oil we use."

In her testimony before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Elizabeth C. Economy argues that Beijing has thus far been willing to ignore the people's demands for greater transparency, though the burden on both the environment and the Chinese leadership's legitimacy will only continue to grow.