Kelly Levin

Senior Associate, Pillar Lead TRAC Policy

Bio

Kelly Levin is a senior associate with WRI’s global climate program. She focuses her work on supporting countries in the design and tracking of climate commitments, as well as planning for long-term transitions associated with decarbonization. Kelly closely follows the negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and analyzes related emissions reduction commitments. Kelly also plays a leading role in WRI on communicating climate science developments.

Kelly pursued her doctoral work at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where her research focused on adaptation policies to contend with climate impacts to biodiversity. During her PhD studies, she was also a writer for the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Reporting Services, covering the UN climate change negotiations. Kelly has also worked as a climate policy/technical analyst at NESCAUM (Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management), where she devoted her time to developing a regional greenhouse gas registry in the Northeast and assisting states in the development of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

Kelly holds a PhD and Master of Environmental Management from Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Yale College. She has been awarded the Google Climate Science Communication Fellowship and the Academic Council on the United Nations System Dissertation Award, and is a Switzer Fellow, Teresa Heinz Scholar, and Udall Scholar.

Blog Posts

This Month in Climate Science: Migrating Mosquitos, Marine Heatwaves, More Hay Fever
by Kelly Levin and Dennis Tirpak - April 18, 2019
This Month in Climate Science summarizes significant new research and provides a clearer picture of the threats posed by climate change. Studies published in March 2019 reveal the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, dolphin-killing heat waves, earlier allergy seasons and more.
This Month in Climate Science: First Climate-Induced Mammal Extinction, Color-changing Oceans and Stranded Sea Turtles
by Kelly Levin and Dennis Tirpak - March 19, 2019
This Month in Climate Science summarizes significant new research and gives a clearer picture of the threats posed by climate change. Studies published in February 2019 reveal the first mammal extinction caused by climate change, shifting bird migrations, disintegrating clouds and more.
This Month in Climate Science: Threatened Coffee, Asylum Applications and Antarctic Ice Loss
by Kelly Levin and Dennis Tirpak - February 14, 2019
Every month, climate scientists make new discoveries that advance our understanding of climate change's causes and impacts. This installment of the This Month in Climate Science blog series explores research on climate threatening coffee production and changing patterns of asylum applications.
Climate Change, Frigid Temperatures and the Polar Vortex: 3 Things to Know
by Kelly Levin - January 30, 2019
The latest scientific research shows how a melting Arctic could be contributing to extreme winter weather.
Climate Action Barometer: 12 Charts Explain Where We Are Today, and Where We Need to Be in 2020
by Kelly Levin, Katie Lebling and Mengpin Ge - January 21, 2019
Our best chance of preventing the worst impacts of climate change is to peak carbon emissions by 2020. New WRI research finds that despite progress in some areas, the world is not yet on track.
This Month in Climate Science: Emissions at All-time High, Extremer Weather, Bad Report Card for the Arctic
by Kelly Levin and Dennis Tirpak - January 17, 2019
This Month in Climate Science summarizes significant new research and gives a clearer picture of the threats posed by climate change. Some findings from December 2018 include more record wet and dry months, record carbon emissions in 2018, and thick Arctic sea ice declining by 95 percent.
2018: A Year of Climate Extremes
by Kelly Levin and Dennis Tirpak - December 27, 2018
This year we learned, once again, that climate change is not a distant phenomenon. It is here right now.
This Month in Climate Science: More Winter Crime, Dying Shellfish, Drier Forests
by Kelly Levin and Dennis Tirpak - December 21, 2018
This Month in Climate Science summarizes significant new research and gives a clearer picture of the threats posed by climate change. Findings from November 2018 include a link between milder winter temperatures and violent crime, shellfish populations in decline, trees in the Amazon shifting to tolerate a drier climate, and many others.
New Global CO2 Emissions Numbers Are In. They’re Not Good.
by Kelly Levin - December 05, 2018
Emissions are still rising when they need to be declining. We are using more oil and gas, and though coal is declining in some places it is surging in others.
5 Things You Need to Know About the UN Emissions Gap Report
by Kelly Levin, Taryn Fransen and Mengpin Ge - November 27, 2018
There's a large and growing gap between where global greenhouse gas emissions are headed and where they need to be to prevent the worst climate impacts.

External Publications

"The Interplay between Accounting and Reporting on Mitigation Contributions under the Paris Agreement."
By Levin Kelly.
Carbon & Climate Law Review 12 (2018): 203-208 DOI: 10.21552/cclr/2018/3/6.

"Overcoming the tragedy of super wicked problems: constraining our future selves to ameliorate global climate change."
By Levin Kelly.
Policy Sciences 45 (2012): 123-152 DOI: 10.1007/s11077-012-9151-0.

"National GHG emissions reduction pledges and 2°C: comparison of studies."
By Höhne Kelly, Taylor Kelly, Elias Kelly, Elzen Kelly, Riahi Kelly, Chen Kelly, Rogelj Kelly, Grassi Kelly, Wagner Kelly, Levin Kelly.
Climate Policy 12 (2012): 356-377 DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2011.637818.

"Building the Forest-Climate Bandwagon: REDD+ and the Logic of Problem Amelioration."
By McDermott Kelly, Levin Kelly.
Global Environmental Politics 11 (2011): 85-103 DOI: 10.1162/GLEP_a_00070.

"Tradeoffs in the Policy Process in Advancing Climate Change Adaptation: The Case of Australia's Great Eastern Ranges Initiative."
By Levin Kelly.
Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research 3 (2011): 145-162 DOI: 10.1080/19390459.2011.557879.

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Kelly Levin

This Month in Climate Science: Migrating Mosquitos, Marine Heatwaves, More Hay Fever

This Month in Climate Science: First Climate-Induced Mammal Extinction, Color-changing Oceans and Stranded Sea Turtles

This Month in Climate Science: Threatened Coffee, Asylum Applications and Antarctic Ice Loss

Climate Change, Frigid Temperatures and the Polar Vortex: 3 Things to Know

Climate Action Barometer: 12 Charts Explain Where We Are Today, and Where We Need to Be in 2020

This Month in Climate Science: Emissions at All-time High, Extremer Weather, Bad Report Card for the Arctic

2018: A Year of Climate Extremes

This Month in Climate Science: More Winter Crime, Dying Shellfish, Drier Forests

New Global CO2 Emissions Numbers Are In. They’re Not Good.

5 Things You Need to Know About the UN Emissions Gap Report

Tracking Progress of the 2020 Climate Turning Point

Long-Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategies: Approaches and Methodologies for Their Design

Foundational Questions on Carbon Removal in the United States

Technological Carbon Removal in the United States

Recommendations For Accounting for Mitigation Components of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Under the Paris Agreement

Setting the Paris Agreement in Motion: Key Requirements for the Implementing Guidelines

Enhancing NDCs by 2020: Achieving the Goals of the Paris Agreement

Designing the Enhanced Transparency Framework Part 1: Reporting under the Paris Agreement

Turning Points: Trends in Countries’ Reaching Peak Greenhouse Gas Emissions over Time

MRV 101: Understanding Measurement, Reporting, and Verification of Climate Change Mitigation

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