State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Poverty / Development13

  • Open Dialogue and Sustainability Education

    Among the academics I find a mix of optimism and dire pessimism. It’s a recurring theme—can we build an economic life that can preserve the planet, or is it already too late? My responsibility is to ensure that our students hear both perspectives.

  • Philanthropy and Inequality

    Philanthropy and Inequality

    In the field of philanthropy, foundations have been confronted with how to address structural racism and various forms of systemic inequities. How can foundations play a greater role in reducing racial disparities, promoting criminal justice reform, and tackling any range of manifestations of inequality?

  • Anchor Institutions and their Significance to Community and Economic Development

    Anchor Institutions and their Significance to Community and Economic Development

    Partnerships between anchor institutions and local organizations and businesses are vital to solving problems in localities and regions. Through engagement, investment and collaboration, anchor institutions can continue to play a crucial role in providing significant social and economic development opportunities to the communities in which they operate.

  • Come on Mr. Mayor, Leave the Central Park Carriage Horses Alone

    The mayor seems almost desperate to complete this carriage deal and move on, but in the process is simply giving his enemies more ammunition to do battle with him. In the process, he has managed to antagonize park advocates, pedicab workers, and good government advocates.

  • A Sustainable Lifestyle and the Changing Nature of Work

    In the process of changing the economic role of the city, we need to pay more attention to the impact of our production and consumption on the environment and on all elements of the supply chain that bring goods and services to us. Building systems that reduce environmental impacts is more important than individual consumption…

  • The Not in My Backyard Syndrome and Sustainability Infrastructure

    As we make the transition to a more sustainable, renewable resource based economy, we will need to build new smart-grid electrical systems, new water infrastructure, coastal resiliency projects, mass transit, public charging stations, and other types of development. This will require innovative efforts to plan, design, build, manage and communicate if it is to succeed.

  • How Bad Will this El Niño Be? Worse Than You May Think

    How Bad Will this El Niño Be? Worse Than You May Think

    Today’s El Niño is unfolding over a world that is in many ways more vulnerable than the world of 1997-1998. Just as today’s climate continues to generate extremes without historical precedent, we are starting to see elements of social vulnerability also without historical precedent. That is an alarming combination.

  • Sustainability Requires Technology, Ethics and Political Will

    What we are missing here in the United States is the environmental leadership that we had during the 1970s and 1980s when we showed the world how to grow an economy while building our knowledge of ecosystems and reducing the degree of damage we were inflicting on the natural world. Since 1990, technology has advanced…

  • Sustainability Has Entered the Political Mainstream

    Environmental protection and economic development have been integrated into the single overarching idea of “sustainability.” These are centrist public policy positions in the mainstream of politics here in New York State.

Banner with images representing environmental issues and text "You Asked: Our Scientists and Experts Answer Your Burning Questions."

You Asked invites you to share your most pressing questions about climate, science, and sustainability. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School experts will respond with clear, evidence-based answers. Pose your questions and story ideas!

  • Open Dialogue and Sustainability Education

    Among the academics I find a mix of optimism and dire pessimism. It’s a recurring theme—can we build an economic life that can preserve the planet, or is it already too late? My responsibility is to ensure that our students hear both perspectives.

  • Philanthropy and Inequality

    Philanthropy and Inequality

    In the field of philanthropy, foundations have been confronted with how to address structural racism and various forms of systemic inequities. How can foundations play a greater role in reducing racial disparities, promoting criminal justice reform, and tackling any range of manifestations of inequality?

  • Anchor Institutions and their Significance to Community and Economic Development

    Anchor Institutions and their Significance to Community and Economic Development

    Partnerships between anchor institutions and local organizations and businesses are vital to solving problems in localities and regions. Through engagement, investment and collaboration, anchor institutions can continue to play a crucial role in providing significant social and economic development opportunities to the communities in which they operate.

  • Come on Mr. Mayor, Leave the Central Park Carriage Horses Alone

    The mayor seems almost desperate to complete this carriage deal and move on, but in the process is simply giving his enemies more ammunition to do battle with him. In the process, he has managed to antagonize park advocates, pedicab workers, and good government advocates.

  • A Sustainable Lifestyle and the Changing Nature of Work

    In the process of changing the economic role of the city, we need to pay more attention to the impact of our production and consumption on the environment and on all elements of the supply chain that bring goods and services to us. Building systems that reduce environmental impacts is more important than individual consumption…

  • The Not in My Backyard Syndrome and Sustainability Infrastructure

    As we make the transition to a more sustainable, renewable resource based economy, we will need to build new smart-grid electrical systems, new water infrastructure, coastal resiliency projects, mass transit, public charging stations, and other types of development. This will require innovative efforts to plan, design, build, manage and communicate if it is to succeed.

  • How Bad Will this El Niño Be? Worse Than You May Think

    How Bad Will this El Niño Be? Worse Than You May Think

    Today’s El Niño is unfolding over a world that is in many ways more vulnerable than the world of 1997-1998. Just as today’s climate continues to generate extremes without historical precedent, we are starting to see elements of social vulnerability also without historical precedent. That is an alarming combination.

  • Sustainability Requires Technology, Ethics and Political Will

    What we are missing here in the United States is the environmental leadership that we had during the 1970s and 1980s when we showed the world how to grow an economy while building our knowledge of ecosystems and reducing the degree of damage we were inflicting on the natural world. Since 1990, technology has advanced…

  • Sustainability Has Entered the Political Mainstream

    Environmental protection and economic development have been integrated into the single overarching idea of “sustainability.” These are centrist public policy positions in the mainstream of politics here in New York State.