State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

General212

  • Improving Lives in Koraro, Ethiopia, Through the Millennium Villages Project

    In July 2009 more than 20 people from eight countries set out for the Millennium Village cluster of Koraro, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, to see firsthand the progress and challenges experienced by one of the most remote Millennium Villages. Individuals represented the Earth Institute, Millennium Promise, Millennium Villages project (MVP) sites in…

  • Sea Change

    Bärbel Hönisch, an expert on ocean acidification at Columbia, will speak after a screening of the film “A Sea Change” this Thursday.

  • Webcast With Jeffrey Sachs

    Tomorrow, Sept. 14 at 10am (EST), Jeff Sachs is participating in a webcast on “Globalization in the Era of Environmental Crisis.” The discussion is part of the Raul Prebisch lecture series and organized by the UN Commission on Trade and Development. Should be very interesting considering the current financial crisis and as a run-up to…

  • Designers at Columbia and MIT Promote “Foodshed” Concept

    Contributed by Richard Plunz and Michael Conard On September 10th, Michael Pollan, author of “In Defense of Food” and “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” highlighted the work of designers at the Earth Institute’s Urban Design Lab (UDL) in his Op-Ed Contribution to the New York Times, titled “Big Food vs. Big Insurance.” Since 2007, researchers at the…

  • Cash for More Than Just Clunkers

    Our inability to predict policy outcomes was once again confirmed this week by the wildly popular Cash for Clunkers program. The program provides between $3,500 and $4,500 to anyone who trades in an older auto for a shiny new car that has better fuel efficiency. One billion dollars was originally allocated for the program, which…

  • Rockefeller Foundation Supports Urban Planning in Nairobi

    New York, NY, July, 2009. The Rockefeller Foundation is aiding sustainable development in metropolitan Nairobi, Kenya with a $400,000 grant to Columbia University’s Earth Institute aimed at supporting broad-based grass roots participation in the urban-planning process. The Earth Institute’s Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) will use the support to continue ongoing work with the…

  • The Earth Institute and Merck & Co., Inc./The Merck Company Foundation Collaborate To Strengthen Health Services In Rural Africa

    NEW YORK, June 22 — With the financial support and collaboration of The Merck Company Foundation, the Earth Institute at Columbia University is launching an ambitious initiative to strengthen community health services for over 400,000 people in ten African countries under the Millennium Villages project.  The initiative will advance the development of a professional cadre…

  • Turning CO2 Into Stone

    A power plant in Iceland is set to become the first in the world to try turning carbon dioxide emissions into solid minerals underground, starting this September.

  • Deutsche Bank Launches Carbon Counter in NYC

    Deutsche Bank launched the first real-time carbon counter in June, taking advantage of the unusually rainy weather of the month to underscore the importance of communicating climate change awareness. Located across 33rd street from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, the Carbon Counter displays the running total of long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Deutsche…

  • Improving Lives in Koraro, Ethiopia, Through the Millennium Villages Project

    In July 2009 more than 20 people from eight countries set out for the Millennium Village cluster of Koraro, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, to see firsthand the progress and challenges experienced by one of the most remote Millennium Villages. Individuals represented the Earth Institute, Millennium Promise, Millennium Villages project (MVP) sites in…

  • Sea Change

    Bärbel Hönisch, an expert on ocean acidification at Columbia, will speak after a screening of the film “A Sea Change” this Thursday.

  • Webcast With Jeffrey Sachs

    Tomorrow, Sept. 14 at 10am (EST), Jeff Sachs is participating in a webcast on “Globalization in the Era of Environmental Crisis.” The discussion is part of the Raul Prebisch lecture series and organized by the UN Commission on Trade and Development. Should be very interesting considering the current financial crisis and as a run-up to…

  • Designers at Columbia and MIT Promote “Foodshed” Concept

    Contributed by Richard Plunz and Michael Conard On September 10th, Michael Pollan, author of “In Defense of Food” and “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” highlighted the work of designers at the Earth Institute’s Urban Design Lab (UDL) in his Op-Ed Contribution to the New York Times, titled “Big Food vs. Big Insurance.” Since 2007, researchers at the…

  • Cash for More Than Just Clunkers

    Our inability to predict policy outcomes was once again confirmed this week by the wildly popular Cash for Clunkers program. The program provides between $3,500 and $4,500 to anyone who trades in an older auto for a shiny new car that has better fuel efficiency. One billion dollars was originally allocated for the program, which…

  • Rockefeller Foundation Supports Urban Planning in Nairobi

    New York, NY, July, 2009. The Rockefeller Foundation is aiding sustainable development in metropolitan Nairobi, Kenya with a $400,000 grant to Columbia University’s Earth Institute aimed at supporting broad-based grass roots participation in the urban-planning process. The Earth Institute’s Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) will use the support to continue ongoing work with the…

  • The Earth Institute and Merck & Co., Inc./The Merck Company Foundation Collaborate To Strengthen Health Services In Rural Africa

    NEW YORK, June 22 — With the financial support and collaboration of The Merck Company Foundation, the Earth Institute at Columbia University is launching an ambitious initiative to strengthen community health services for over 400,000 people in ten African countries under the Millennium Villages project.  The initiative will advance the development of a professional cadre…

  • Turning CO2 Into Stone

    A power plant in Iceland is set to become the first in the world to try turning carbon dioxide emissions into solid minerals underground, starting this September.

  • Deutsche Bank Launches Carbon Counter in NYC

    Deutsche Bank launched the first real-time carbon counter in June, taking advantage of the unusually rainy weather of the month to underscore the importance of communicating climate change awareness. Located across 33rd street from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, the Carbon Counter displays the running total of long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Deutsche…