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

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.
National Climate Assessment: U.S. Climate Action Can Avoid Tens of Thousands of Deaths, Hundreds of Billions in Damages Annually
by Kelly Levin and Andrew Light - November 25, 2018
The new National Climate Assessment provides an unprecedented look at the climate impacts the United States is already experiencing and those it is on track for in the future. Here are four important findings.
This Month in Climate Science: Rising Beer Prices, Eroding World Heritage Sites and Disappearing Birds
by Kelly Levin and Dennis Tirpak - November 19, 2018
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 studies published in October 2018.
This Month in Climate Science, September 2018: Glacial Tsunamis, Warmer National Parks, and More Hurricanes
by Kelly Levin - October 26, 2018
Our This Month in Climate Science blog series offers a snapshot of the month's significant scientific literature, compiled from some of the leading peer-reviewed journals. Research published in September 2018 found that U.S. national parks are warming at double the rate of the country overall, among dozens of other findings.
According to New IPCC Report, the World Is on Track to Exceed its “Carbon Budget” in 12 Years
by Kelly Levin - October 07, 2018
Scientists have calculated the amount of carbon dioxide the world can emit while limiting warming to the internationally agreed upon goals of 1.5°C-2°C. This amount is our “carbon budget.” We're on track to exceed it in little more than a decade.
Half a Degree and a World Apart: The Difference in Climate Impacts Between 1.5˚C and 2˚C of Warming
by Kelly Levin - October 07, 2018
Countries around the world agreed to limit global temperature rise to 1.5˚C-2˚C. A new IPCC report finds that the half-degree difference matters—a lot.
8 Things You Need to Know About the IPCC 1.5˚C Report
by Kelly Levin - October 07, 2018
New research from the world's leading climate scientists finds that annual emissions will need to be roughly half what they are today by 2030 in order to limit temperature rise to 1.5˚C. Exceeding this level of warming will bring climate impacts so catastrophic the world will be unrecognizable.
This Month in Climate Science, August 2018: Runaway Warming, Marine Heat Waves and Foods Get Less Nutritious
by Kelly Levin and Dennis Tirpak - September 17, 2018
This month's discoveries inch us towards a more perfect understanding of the carbon cycle, and the various ways we are changing it.
Recent Scientific Advancements Show New Connections Between Climate Change and Hurricanes
by Kelly Levin - September 14, 2018
Scientists have known for years that global warming can exacerbate storms. But our understanding of the connection between hurricanes and climate change has evolved significantly in just the past year.

External Publications

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

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

Levin, Kelly. "National GHG emissions reduction pledges and 2°C: comparison of studies." Climate Policy 12 (2012): 356-377. doi:10.1080/14693062.2011.637818.

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

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

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Kelly Levin

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

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

National Climate Assessment: U.S. Climate Action Can Avoid Tens of Thousands of Deaths, Hundreds of Billions in Damages Annually

This Month in Climate Science: Rising Beer Prices, Eroding World Heritage Sites and Disappearing Birds

This Month in Climate Science, September 2018: Glacial Tsunamis, Warmer National Parks, and More Hurricanes

According to New IPCC Report, the World Is on Track to Exceed its “Carbon Budget” in 12 Years

Half a Degree and a World Apart: The Difference in Climate Impacts Between 1.5˚C and 2˚C of Warming

8 Things You Need to Know About the IPCC 1.5˚C Report

This Month in Climate Science, August 2018: Runaway Warming, Marine Heat Waves and Foods Get Less Nutritious

Recent Scientific Advancements Show New Connections Between Climate Change and Hurricanes

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

Staying on Track from Paris

Advancing the Key Elements of the Paris Agreement

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