State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Agriculture21

  • Students Compete in Food Security Simulation

    Students Compete in Food Security Simulation

    How do multiple stakeholders compromise their competing needs and develop a global coordinated strategy that is politically palatable, possible and comprehensive enough to have an impact? Students from universities all over the U.S. Northeast gathered at Columbia for the 2017 NASPAA-Batten Student Simulation Competition that challenged students to do just this.

  • Trump’s Unifying Opportunity: Food Security

    Trump’s Unifying Opportunity: Food Security

    A sound strategy to secure the nation’s food supply and reduce its vulnerability within and beyond our borders will be a major step towards making America and the world more resilient in the face of increasing uncertainty.

  • The Risks and Impacts of Expropriating Community Lands

    The Risks and Impacts of Expropriating Community Lands

    While a government might consider that a community’s lands can generate greater public benefits if used as the site of a large-scale project, such as for agriculture or forestry, that needs to be balanced with how taking the land will affect the people who lived there and depended on that land.

  • Study Finds Oil Palm Certification Plays Limited Role in Curbing Fires

    Study Finds Oil Palm Certification Plays Limited Role in Curbing Fires

    Oil palm is in everything from food to cosmetics to fuel and is consumed and used by most people without giving it a second thought. Yet oil palm cultivation is a large contributor to environmental and social problems, especially in places like Indonesia, where the business of oil palm cultivation has become the second largest…

  • Earth Institute 2017 Calendar Now Available

    Earth Institute 2017 Calendar Now Available

    To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we asked members of the Earth Institute community to submit photographs for a 2017 wall calendar highlighting our work. Watch a slide show of some of the submissions. Donate $25 or more and we’ll send you the calendar.

  • Sustainable Development Fall 2016 Workshop Briefings

    By Chandler Precht On December 9, 2016, students in the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development presented practical solutions to sustainability issues and challenges faced by real world clients. Under the guidance of Professor Stuart Gaffin and Professor Radley Horton, the Capstone Workshop offers students a chance to convey the knowledge and theories gained throughout their time in the…

  • Sustainable Agriculture Through Innovation and Collaboration

    Sustainable Agriculture Through Innovation and Collaboration

    Individuals and institutions are becoming increasingly concerned about the social and environmental impacts and the broader societal ramifications associated with conventional agricultural systems. In response, many are acting to bring into view a brighter future that is capable of satisfying a long list of criteria that define sustainable agriculture.

  • Executive Training on Sustainable Investments in Agriculture

    Executive Training on Sustainable Investments in Agriculture

    The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment’s annual Executive Training Program on Sustainable Investments in Agriculture will be held at Columbia University in New York City from July 12-21, 2017. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until March 31, 2017.

  • Mapping Risks and Building Resilience, from Plot to Plate

    Mapping Risks and Building Resilience, from Plot to Plate

    Michael Puma, an associate research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a Center for Climate and Life Fellow, works to improve understanding of the fragility of the global food system and how it might respond to major disruptions.

  • Students Compete in Food Security Simulation

    Students Compete in Food Security Simulation

    How do multiple stakeholders compromise their competing needs and develop a global coordinated strategy that is politically palatable, possible and comprehensive enough to have an impact? Students from universities all over the U.S. Northeast gathered at Columbia for the 2017 NASPAA-Batten Student Simulation Competition that challenged students to do just this.

  • Trump’s Unifying Opportunity: Food Security

    Trump’s Unifying Opportunity: Food Security

    A sound strategy to secure the nation’s food supply and reduce its vulnerability within and beyond our borders will be a major step towards making America and the world more resilient in the face of increasing uncertainty.

  • The Risks and Impacts of Expropriating Community Lands

    The Risks and Impacts of Expropriating Community Lands

    While a government might consider that a community’s lands can generate greater public benefits if used as the site of a large-scale project, such as for agriculture or forestry, that needs to be balanced with how taking the land will affect the people who lived there and depended on that land.

  • Study Finds Oil Palm Certification Plays Limited Role in Curbing Fires

    Study Finds Oil Palm Certification Plays Limited Role in Curbing Fires

    Oil palm is in everything from food to cosmetics to fuel and is consumed and used by most people without giving it a second thought. Yet oil palm cultivation is a large contributor to environmental and social problems, especially in places like Indonesia, where the business of oil palm cultivation has become the second largest…

  • Earth Institute 2017 Calendar Now Available

    Earth Institute 2017 Calendar Now Available

    To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we asked members of the Earth Institute community to submit photographs for a 2017 wall calendar highlighting our work. Watch a slide show of some of the submissions. Donate $25 or more and we’ll send you the calendar.

  • Sustainable Development Fall 2016 Workshop Briefings

    By Chandler Precht On December 9, 2016, students in the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development presented practical solutions to sustainability issues and challenges faced by real world clients. Under the guidance of Professor Stuart Gaffin and Professor Radley Horton, the Capstone Workshop offers students a chance to convey the knowledge and theories gained throughout their time in the…

  • Sustainable Agriculture Through Innovation and Collaboration

    Sustainable Agriculture Through Innovation and Collaboration

    Individuals and institutions are becoming increasingly concerned about the social and environmental impacts and the broader societal ramifications associated with conventional agricultural systems. In response, many are acting to bring into view a brighter future that is capable of satisfying a long list of criteria that define sustainable agriculture.

  • Executive Training on Sustainable Investments in Agriculture

    Executive Training on Sustainable Investments in Agriculture

    The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment’s annual Executive Training Program on Sustainable Investments in Agriculture will be held at Columbia University in New York City from July 12-21, 2017. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until March 31, 2017.

  • Mapping Risks and Building Resilience, from Plot to Plate

    Mapping Risks and Building Resilience, from Plot to Plate

    Michael Puma, an associate research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a Center for Climate and Life Fellow, works to improve understanding of the fragility of the global food system and how it might respond to major disruptions.