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United States Institute of Peace

Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.

Director, Climate, Environment & Conflict

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Dr. Tegan Blaine is the director of climate, environment & conflict at the U.S. Institute of Peace.  

Prior to joining USIP in 2020, she served as vice president on a climate change initiative at the National Geographic Society. She also led the climate change team in USAID’s Bureau for Africa for over a decade, where she developed USAID’s strategy and investment plan for its climate change work in Africa, and built and led a team that provided thought leadership and technical support to USAID’s Africa missions.

Before USAID, Dr. Blaine worked on climate change and international development at McKinsey & Company; served as a policy advisor on water at the U.S. Department of State; and taught math and physics as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania.

Dr. Blaine has a doctorate in oceanography and climate from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and bachelor’s degrees in comparative literature and mathematical ecology from Brown University. She has taught about climate change and international development at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

Publications By Tegan

International action on climate change is failing. How can it be strengthened?

International action on climate change is failing. How can it be strengthened?

Thursday, May 9, 2024

By: Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.;  Daniel A. Reifsnyder, Ph.D.

After a record-breaking 2023, consolidated climate change science clearly shows that the earth’s temperature over the last 12 months was more than to 1.6oC above the pre-industrial average. This makes the most ambitious temperature goal of the Paris Agreement — holding the increase in global temperature below 2°C above pre-industrial levels — no longer scientifically feasible. Most estimates suggest that the increase will be 2.9oC or more by 2100. Meanwhile, international action under the Paris Agreement is faltering. “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said two years ago.

Type: Analysis

Environment

At COP28, Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, But No Deal on a Phase Out

At COP28, Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, But No Deal on a Phase Out

Thursday, December 14, 2023

By: Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.

Few people expected much progress at the 2023 U.N. Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP28) following contentious discussions around the development of a new Loss and Damage Fund, a grim Global Stocktake report detailing exactly how far away the goals laid out in the Paris Agreement still are and questions about the intentions of the conference chair who came from the oil and gas industry. However, the agreement signed on December 13 makes surprising progress in a few key areas, while still leaving much to be desired.

Type: Analysis

Environment

The Outlook for COP28: Fighting, Fighting Everywhere, with Progress on the Line

The Outlook for COP28: Fighting, Fighting Everywhere, with Progress on the Line

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

By: Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.;  Katherine Waters

The 2023 U.N. Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP28) risks becoming two December weeks of negotiations in Dubai rife with visible conflicts: With the chair of COP28 perceived by many as having conflicts of interest with the oil and gas industry, a newly released Global Stocktake report highlights how far global action is from achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Type: Analysis

Environment;  Global Policy

In Earth’s Climate Crisis, Africa Demands a Fairer Sharing of Costs

In Earth’s Climate Crisis, Africa Demands a Fairer Sharing of Costs

Thursday, September 14, 2023

By: Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.;  Emmanuel Davalillo Hidalgo

Earth’s intensifying storms, heat, droughts and floods underscore that humanity is falling behind in its race against climate change. With global powers and institutions still debating how to transform economies and share the costs of surviving a destabilizing climate, the planet’s most vulnerable continent managed partial advances this month toward a regional consensus. The first-ever Africa Climate Summit amplified demands for a robust, fairer collective response to a warming planet — but fell short of forging a unified African position. Critically, it missed a chance to outline a strategy for dealing with the combined impacts of climate and violent conflicts.

Type: Analysis

Environment;  Fragility & Resilience

What Does John Kerry’s Visit Mean for U.S.-China Climate Cooperation?

What Does John Kerry’s Visit Mean for U.S.-China Climate Cooperation?

Thursday, July 20, 2023

By: Tegan Blaine, Ph.D.;  Carla Freeman, Ph.D.;  Henry Tugendhat

This week, U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry spent four days in China in the hopes of facilitating a thaw in U.S.-China climate cooperation and easing tensions between Washington and Beijing more broadly. While the talks did not yield any major breakthroughs, any progress toward a shared climate agenda cannot be taken for granted after nearly two years of frozen relations. And with Kerry announcing plans for more bilateral talks ahead of the next round of U.N. climate negotiations in November, it appears that climate change may offer a tentative path for rebuilding trust between the two world powers.

Type: Analysis

Environment;  Global Policy

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