State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Poverty / Development22

  • A Sustainable Strategy to Deal with Urban Poverty

    A Sustainable Strategy to Deal with Urban Poverty

    When architect Fernando Arias first arrived in Kumasi, Ghana last year, he saw unpaved roads, trash burning, garbage everywhere, and shoeless children running all around. He knew he needed to act on their behalf.

  • Students Share Findings from Global Research

    This April over fifty students shared the results of their respective research projects with the rest of the Columbia community as part of the 2013 Student Research Showcase. While all within the field of sustainable development, research topics ranged from climate change to community development and included work from across the world.

  • With 1,000 Days Left to Reach MDGs, a Look Back and Forward

    With 1,000 Days Left to Reach MDGs, a Look Back and Forward

    The 1,000-day milestone to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) gathered professors Jeffrey Sachs, Prabhjot Singh, and Vijay Modi on April 4 for the Sustainable Development Seminar Series to take a critical look at how far the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) has come in the eight years since its founding and analyze what still needs…

  • Bright Lights, Big City?

    Bright Lights, Big City?

    Researchers using nighttime lights data to ask questions about economic development in sub-Saharan Africa have findings counter to expectation.

  • Water Security: Finding Solutions for a World at Risk

    Water Security: Finding Solutions for a World at Risk

    “This is a mess, and it is a mess that we have not attended to yet,” Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs said at a conference on water security held today at Columbia University. “Humanity is the driver, but we don’t have our hands on the steering wheel very much.”

  • Partnering to Expand Access to Water: PepsiCo and CWC Announce Achievement of Safe Water Goal

    Partnering to Expand Access to Water: PepsiCo and CWC Announce Achievement of Safe Water Goal

    Earth Institute partner PepsiCo has achieved its stated goal of partnering with organizations, including the Columbia Water Center, to provide access to safe water to three million people in developing countries by the end of 2015.

  • IRI to develop climate adaptation tools to help farmers in South and Southeast Asia

    IRI to develop climate adaptation tools to help farmers in South and Southeast Asia

    A new two-year climate change initiative, led by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society aims to help farmers in Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Bangladesh reduce their vulnerability to climate risks.

  • A Road Map Toward Better Understanding of Global Environmental Change

    A Road Map Toward Better Understanding of Global Environmental Change

    The Social Process Diagram published in 1992 was an attempt to map out the key systems and interactions among systems that were seen as underpinning the human drivers of global environmental change.

  • Overcoming Challenges to Local Development in Haiti

    Overcoming Challenges to Local Development in Haiti

    Haiti Dialogue Series: Should funds be more effectively channeled through the Haitian government, a decentralized finance program could help streamline financing and reinforce local government planning efforts. As part of the Haiti Research and Policy Program dialogue series, Tatiana Wah was joined by Leslie Pean to discuss possible approaches to achieving the call for decentralization…

Columbia Climate School Giving Day on October 28, 2026, featuring students and renewable energy imagery

October 28, 2026 is Columbia Giving Day! Your gift to Columbia Climate School helps advance interdisciplinary research, educate the next generation of leaders, and transform bold ideas into real-world solutions for climate, Earth, and society.

  • A Sustainable Strategy to Deal with Urban Poverty

    A Sustainable Strategy to Deal with Urban Poverty

    When architect Fernando Arias first arrived in Kumasi, Ghana last year, he saw unpaved roads, trash burning, garbage everywhere, and shoeless children running all around. He knew he needed to act on their behalf.

  • Students Share Findings from Global Research

    This April over fifty students shared the results of their respective research projects with the rest of the Columbia community as part of the 2013 Student Research Showcase. While all within the field of sustainable development, research topics ranged from climate change to community development and included work from across the world.

  • With 1,000 Days Left to Reach MDGs, a Look Back and Forward

    With 1,000 Days Left to Reach MDGs, a Look Back and Forward

    The 1,000-day milestone to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) gathered professors Jeffrey Sachs, Prabhjot Singh, and Vijay Modi on April 4 for the Sustainable Development Seminar Series to take a critical look at how far the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) has come in the eight years since its founding and analyze what still needs…

  • Bright Lights, Big City?

    Bright Lights, Big City?

    Researchers using nighttime lights data to ask questions about economic development in sub-Saharan Africa have findings counter to expectation.

  • Water Security: Finding Solutions for a World at Risk

    Water Security: Finding Solutions for a World at Risk

    “This is a mess, and it is a mess that we have not attended to yet,” Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs said at a conference on water security held today at Columbia University. “Humanity is the driver, but we don’t have our hands on the steering wheel very much.”

  • Partnering to Expand Access to Water: PepsiCo and CWC Announce Achievement of Safe Water Goal

    Partnering to Expand Access to Water: PepsiCo and CWC Announce Achievement of Safe Water Goal

    Earth Institute partner PepsiCo has achieved its stated goal of partnering with organizations, including the Columbia Water Center, to provide access to safe water to three million people in developing countries by the end of 2015.

  • IRI to develop climate adaptation tools to help farmers in South and Southeast Asia

    IRI to develop climate adaptation tools to help farmers in South and Southeast Asia

    A new two-year climate change initiative, led by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society aims to help farmers in Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Bangladesh reduce their vulnerability to climate risks.

  • A Road Map Toward Better Understanding of Global Environmental Change

    A Road Map Toward Better Understanding of Global Environmental Change

    The Social Process Diagram published in 1992 was an attempt to map out the key systems and interactions among systems that were seen as underpinning the human drivers of global environmental change.

  • Overcoming Challenges to Local Development in Haiti

    Overcoming Challenges to Local Development in Haiti

    Haiti Dialogue Series: Should funds be more effectively channeled through the Haitian government, a decentralized finance program could help streamline financing and reinforce local government planning efforts. As part of the Haiti Research and Policy Program dialogue series, Tatiana Wah was joined by Leslie Pean to discuss possible approaches to achieving the call for decentralization…