Fulfilling the promise of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change—most notably the goal of limiting the rise in mean global surface temperature since preindustrial times to two degrees Celsius—will require a dramatic transition away from fossil fuels and toward low-carbon energy sources.

The European Union could meet its climate goals and save billions of Euro by extending its emissions trading system to include the private transportation sector.

“What we’re trying to do is to use data sources and methods that other people have not used, and that are more flexible and sophisticated, to do this estimation,” says Kishimoto, who is pursuing this research in preparation for his PhD thesis.

Two veteran environmental economists at MIT, John Reilly (left) and Henry "Jake" Jacoby, briefly outline a couple of the most important, and least appreciated, facts about human-driven climate change. One is that the system has enormous inertia, preventing any quick fix. Another is that deep...