State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

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Climates Services: Must Help Us Understand Risks

This is the fifth of ten interviews with climate and development experts conducted at the International Conference on Climate Services, held at Columbia University last October. We will be posting a new video every Tuesday and Friday morning.

Carlo Scaramella is the World Food Programme’s Coordinator for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction. He says the WFP’s interest in climate services is fundamentally to make use of climate information to better understand risk, anticipate calamities and inform development programs and interventions for the most vulnerable people.

“One can look at this in terms of enhancing the ability of the humanitarian community to respond, for instance, to food insecurity that comes from climate change, but there is also a potential to support governments, national communities, and other institutions to think about development in a manner that already incorporates climate risks.

…the point for us is setting priorities right, and for an agency like the World Food Programme, our focus is of course vulnerable people in the most vulnerable countries, countries where climate change is a multiplier of hunger risk. That’s where we focus our attention.”

Learn more on the ICCS website and the Climate Services Partnership.

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More

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