Something that many people wonder about climate change, especially in light of the current economic crisis, is whether we can afford to focus on the climate when there are so many other pressing global issues like the economy, terrorism, and major public health crises.
Part of our mission here at the Columbia Climate Center is to help communicate how climate is, in fact, inexorably linked to many of these issues. Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs is a prominent advocate of this idea, and he has done much to advance the notion that addressing environmental concerns like climate change is a crucial part of solving problems like those mentioned above.
In a new video on the Earth Institute’s website, Sachs says that “it’s not the crisis versus sustainability but rather sustainability as the way out of the crisis.” He continues, talking about the Climate Center’s role in coordinating a vast array of climate-related research already taking place across Columbia University to address these critical issues. The video is posted below—take a look to find out a little bit more about the Center, and check out the Earth Institute’s new video platform for more climate-related clips.