Although this year's Rio+20 conference produced only vague goals and few concrete commitments, it provided a major opportunity to shift the global environmental focus to the national and local levels, says this Expert Roundup.

Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation, discusses North America's natural gas and oil resources, technological innovations, and their effect on the global energy market.

This meeting is part of the Corporate Program's CEO Speaker Series, which provides a forum for leading global CEOs to share their priorities and insights before a high-level audience of CFR members. The series aims to educate the CFR membership on the private sector's important role in the policy debate by engaging the global business community's top leadership.

Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation, discusses North America's natural gas and oil resources, technological innovations, and their effect on the global energy market.

This meeting is part of the Corporate Program's CEO Speaker Series, which provides a forum for leading global CEOs to share their priorities and insights before a high-level audience of CFR members. The series aims to educate the CFR membership on the private sector's important role in the policy debate by engaging the global business community's top leadership.

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

Michael A. Levi examines whether a surge domestic oil and gas productions really liberates the United States from the Middle East.

Michael A. Levi argues that the likely benefits of allowing U.S. natural gas exports outweigh the costs of explicitly constraining them, provided that appropriate environmental protections are in place.

Forty years ago, the Club of Rome produced a best-selling report warning humanity that its escalating wants were on a collision course with the world's finite resources and that the only way to avoid a crash was to stop chasing economic growth. The predictions proved spectacularly wrong. But the environmental alarmism they engendered persists, making it harder for policymakers to respond rationally to real problems today.

Despite not delivering major mandates, the summit could start a new process for sustainable development and open opportunities for new stakeholders, says CFR's Thomas Bollyky.

Though on May 2, 2012, the South Korean parliament passed legislation establishing an emissions trading scheme (ETS), effectiveness of this scheme will be determined by its ability to clear at least three hurdles on the road to implementation.

Coal combustion is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions on the planet. But the fuel isn't going away anytime soon, since demand for it is ballooning in the developing world. So instead of indulging in quixotic visions of a coal-free world, policymakers should focus on supporting new technologies that can reduce how much carbon coal emits.

Blake Clayton discusses oil speculation and the U.S. energy market.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave these remarks on the Green Partnership for Growth, before the Danish parliament, on May 31, 2012.

President Obama gave this speech on energy in Newton, Iowa on May 24, 2012.

Meghan O'Sullivan says that discoveries of large, underwater gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean could bring economic and political benefits as well as regional clout to Israel at a time when Israel's regional standing is more uncertain than it has been for decades.

G8 leaders released this statement regarding the global oil market at the G8 summit in Maryland on May 19, 2012.

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.

Recent advances have made wind and solar power more competitive than ever. Still, governments must redesign their policies and help renewables slash costs.

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.

CFR Fellow Terra Lawson-Remer of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy initiative proposes four steps for capital-exporting countries, international financial institutions, and private-sector companies to follow to foster democracy and sustainable development in emerging economies with significant natural resource endowments.