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Columbia Students Win Environmental Policy Competition

From left: winners Andy Zhang, CC '16, Raymond de Oliveira, CC '16, and Francesca Audia, GS '15. Photo: Columbia Spectator
From left: winners Andy Zhang, CC ’16, Raymond de Oliveira, CC ’16, and Francesca Audia, GS ’15. Photo: Columbia Spectator

Three Columbia students recently won the top prize in the Columbia Economics Review’s annual environmental policy competition. The Competitive Climate competition challenged students from eight universities to make policy recommendations addressing climate change. The competition attracted participants from Columbia, NYU, Cornell, Berkeley, Yale, Princeton, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania.

The winning project recommended that government agencies set emissions targets and create obligations for countries to reduce their level of greenhouse gas emissions. Students were judged on four elements: “proving that there is an issue; coming up with a policy solution; addressing the plausibility of the program (political implications); and addressing how the program would address the issue vs other initiatives,” said Columbia Economic Review member Daniel Morgan, CC ’16, one of the competition organizers.

“This competition is at an intersection between economics, politics and the environment,” Morgan said. “Environmental issues have a significant impact on economics—climate change will continue to hugely impact the way markets and industries rise and fall.”

Click here for the full story in the Columbia Spectator.

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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