# Research Cluster on Global Climate Policy ![Four people in business attire are seated in a panel discussion on stage, with one man gesturing while speaking and the others listening attentively.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/2025-12/Program-climate-cluster.jpg?itok=7QsY8-vz) On September 20 during Harvard Climate Action Week, the Global Climate Policy cluster presented its report, “Building a Climate Coalition: Aligning Carbon Pricing, Trade, and Development” featuring, clockwise from front center, Catherine Wolfram, Cristina Fróes de Borja Reis, Ignacio García Bercero, Daouda Sembene, and Mari Pangestu (not pictured). Credit: Sarah Bastille Photography## Updates from COP30 ### By Jessica Barnard The new [Weatherhead Research Cluster on Global Climate Policy](https://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/weatherhead-clusters/25-global-climate-policy) made a significant contribution at the thirtieth United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil. As a central venue for negotiating international climate action, COP30 provided the backdrop for the cluster—working within the broader Global Climate Policy Project (GCPP) at Harvard and MIT—to introduce a new framework for international cooperation on carbon pricing, emissions accounting, carbon offsets, and verification systems. This framework was advanced through the Open Coalition on Compliance Carbon Markets, a new forum designed to promote multilateral coordination on carbon pricing and its interaction with international trade. Coalition participants include Brazil, China, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Mexico, Chile, Canada, Zambia, and Armenia, collectively responsible for approximately 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative represents an emerging effort to align national carbon markets and avoid the fragmented landscape created by unilateral border carbon measures. The project reflects sustained collaboration led by Catherine Wolfram, William Barton Rogers Professor in Energy and Professor of Applied Economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management, alongside GCPP faculty chairs Joseph Aldy and Dustin Tingley. Their analysis shows that a voluntary coalition coordinating carbon prices could substantially reduce global emissions while generating significant resources for climate mitigation and adaptation. According to Arathi Rao, director of the Global Climate Policy Project, “This declaration marks an important first step. It sends a clear political signal that countries are serious about aligning compliance carbon markets. Brazil’s diplomatic leadership made this possible, bringing many major emitters together to shape the next phase of global climate policy.” The Weatherhead Research Cluster on Global Climate Policy aims to expand and strengthen GCPP’s work in partnership with Harvard’s Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability and MIT. The collaboration enables engagement across disciplines, fostering new policy ideas, supporting collective action, and providing students and alumni with opportunities to deepen their understanding of international climate governance. --- ## More from this issue [### Fall 2025, Volume 40 Number 1 ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025) ![Fall 2025 Centerpiece thumbnail showing illustration of soldiers pointing guns at men holding roses, alongside a duotone graphic "W" with the words "Centerpiece" and the issue information.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/Cover-16x9-social-and-thumbnail.png?itok=Lc8SNERC) [### Message from the Executive Director ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/executive-director) ![Headshot of Erin Goodman alongside text that says "Fall 2025 Message from the Executive Director" and her name against a gray background.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-message.png?itok=ypgmpBoO) [### Of Note ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/of_note) ![Aerial view of CGIS buildings and green.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-ofnote_0.png?itok=w_tsZhQB) [### New Books ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/newbooks) ![Collage of about a dozen book covers overlapping set against a beige background.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-newbooks.png?itok=uTNH8bI6) [### The Crisis of Pax Americana with Walter Russell Mead ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/feature_manshel) ![Walter Russell Mead and Erez Manela are seated in wingback chairs in conversation.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/11.12.25%20WCFIA%20Manshel%20Lecture_%20040.jpg?itok=e7HTe_kP) [### Dispatches: Undergraduate Researchers in the Field ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/dispatches) ![A smiling woman stands in front of a blue wooden building with white trim.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-dispatches.png?itok=RT0wz7jv) [### Student Programs ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/prog_student) ![Collage of six PhD student headshots in circular frames set against a red background.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-prog-students.png?itok=EBsXZSt_) [### Research Cluster on LGBTQI+ Human Rights ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/prog_lgbtqi) ![Three men sit at a table with microphones in front of a projected map of Europe, at a Weatherhead Center for International Affairs event at Harvard University.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/Program-LGBTQI-cluster-opener.JPG?itok=fJYdzPUZ) [### Fellowship News ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/fellowship-news) ![An older man sits at a table signing papers with a pen, while a woman sits next to him smiling. Both are indoors at a desk.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/FellowshipNews-Moulay-signing.jpg?itok=AQQMchMp) [### In Memoriam: George Hoguet ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/in_memoriam_hoguet) ![The words "In Memoriam George Hoguet 1947–2025" are written on a green duotone background. ](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-inmemoriam.png?itok=dFwwLPP1) [### Fall 2025 Photo Gallery ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/photo_gallery) ![Two women standing indoors, smiling at the camera; one wears a black blazer and orange top, the other wears a red and white striped shirt, with a framed map on the wall behind them.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-events.png?itok=H4ATAK5C) See also:- [ Centerpiece: Fall 2025 ](/newsletter-issues/centerpiece-fall-2025)