The Earth Institute and the University of Iceland Sign Agreement to Promote Research Cooperation and Academic Exchange

The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the University of Iceland signed an agreement on June 13, 2006 endorsing increased academic exchange, scholarly collaboration and research between the two institutions. The agreement sets the stage for future cooperation on global climate change, sustainable development and technological responses to climate change.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute and special advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and Kristín Ingólfsdóttir, president of the University of Iceland. The memorandum states that the two institutions will encourage a range of activities to promote cooperation between their scientists, students, faculty and administrative staff, as well as departments, research and service units. In particular, these activities will include:

• Joint research and scholarly collaboration; Special emphasis
  
  on climate change, sustainable energy solutions, technology responses
  
  to climate change and on sustainable development under a broad
  
  perspective.
• Developing and initiating joint projects and seeking cooperation
  
  with other scientific institutions.
• Sharing scholarly materials and learning and teaching resources.
• Exchanging students and support for international student mobility
  
  initiatives.
• Visits by, and exchange of, faculty members, researchers and
  
  staff.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland and took place at the third meeting of the Earth Institute’s Global Roundtable on Climate Change. The Roundtable is a semi-annual meeting that brings together a wide range of interests to answer difficult questions about how society should face possible future changes to the Earth’s climate caused by increasing energy demand and rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.