MIT Climate Policy Center

The MIT Sloan School of Management is launching a new center aimed at providing evidence-based climate policy research to help inform and support local, state, national, and international policymakers. Jump-started by a $25 million investment by MIT Sloan as part of an emerging MIT-wide effort, the MIT Climate Policy Center will engage on a broad set of climate policy issues.

Christopher Knittel, the George P. Schultz Professor of Energy Economics at MIT Sloan, will serve as the center’s faculty director.

The center will connect current and future climate research to policy, measuring the impact and implications of a variety of technologies on the climate system as a whole, both regionally and across the globe. It will explore what climate goals can be met with existing technology, what relevant new technologies are on the horizon, how best to bring those technologies to fruition, and how to make them viable in the marketplace.

The center will connect current and future climate research to policy, measuring the impact and implications of a variety of technologies on the climate system as a whole, both regionally and across the globe. It will explore what climate goals can be met with existing technology, what relevant new technologies are on the horizon, how best to bring those technologies to fruition, and how to make them viable in the marketplace.

The MIT Climate Policy Center will:
(*) Collaborate with existing climate efforts across MIT, working with all faculty, departments, centers, and initiatives engaged in climate policy research and outreach.
(*) Forge ongoing relationships between MIT and relevant policymakers.
(*) Direct new policy-oriented research efforts to serve as a resource for policymakers who wish to advance evidence-based climate policy.
(*) Be a central resource for students, providing them with opportunities to engage more deeply with, and to affect, public policy.
(*) Work closely with the MIT Washington Office on matters of federal policy.

The center is part of the new Climate Project at MIT, which aims to develop and deliver practical climate solutions at scale as quickly as possible. With an initial commitment of $50 million in Institute resources, the new project is the largest direct investment the Institute has ever made in funding climate work, and just the beginning of a far more ambitious effort.