State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Sustainability84

  • Columbia Alumni Making Sense of Sustainable Investing

    Columbia Alumni Making Sense of Sustainable Investing

    While more institutional investors are factoring sustainability in their investment decisions, there is little agreement about what sustainability means, or how to measure it. Interviews with three sustainable investment professionals—all graduates of Columbia University’s Sustainability Management graduate program—indicate a growing demand for investing that accounts for sustainability performance, but also obstacles to discerning the best…

  • Paying for Infrastructure

    Paying for Infrastructure

    Privatization is seen by some as a way of rebuilding America’s infrastructure more efficiently than public sector reconstruction, but experience with privatization is mixed. Sometimes it works well; sometimes it doesn’t.

  • Learn About Environmental Sustainability and Conservation

    Learn About Environmental Sustainability and Conservation

    The Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability offers an Executive Education Program in Environmental Sustainability and Conservation that is geared toward professionals seeking an understanding of our natural world and our changing environment.

  • Why Are Mines Still Polluting? The Money’s Not There

    Why Are Mines Still Polluting? The Money’s Not There

    Across the nation, abandoned mine sites continue to pollute the environment for decades as acid mine drainage flows into rivers and streams. A 1980 law was supposed to fix that, but lack of funding and enforcement have left the public stuck with the bill.

  • Students Advise County on Permeable Pavement

    Students Advise County on Permeable Pavement

    The biggest barrier to installation or permeable pavement is funding. But the positive outcomes include reduced flooding, less stormwater runoff, and recharging of aquifers.

  • 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.

  • Environment, Jobs, and President-Elect Trump

    Environment, Jobs, and President-Elect Trump

    While many people around the world are concerned about President-elect Trump’s threat to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, I am far more concerned about the possible signal to American corporations and jurisdictions that enforcement of our air, water, and toxic rules would be relaxed under EPA’s new administrator.

  • 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…

  • Beyond the Classroom: Field Visit to Rockefeller State Park

    Beyond the Classroom: Field Visit to Rockefeller State Park

    As part of the course on The Business and Ecology of Sustainable Forestry with Professor Ralph Schmidt, students visited the Rockefeller State Park in October 2016.

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

  • Columbia Alumni Making Sense of Sustainable Investing

    Columbia Alumni Making Sense of Sustainable Investing

    While more institutional investors are factoring sustainability in their investment decisions, there is little agreement about what sustainability means, or how to measure it. Interviews with three sustainable investment professionals—all graduates of Columbia University’s Sustainability Management graduate program—indicate a growing demand for investing that accounts for sustainability performance, but also obstacles to discerning the best…

  • Paying for Infrastructure

    Paying for Infrastructure

    Privatization is seen by some as a way of rebuilding America’s infrastructure more efficiently than public sector reconstruction, but experience with privatization is mixed. Sometimes it works well; sometimes it doesn’t.

  • Learn About Environmental Sustainability and Conservation

    Learn About Environmental Sustainability and Conservation

    The Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability offers an Executive Education Program in Environmental Sustainability and Conservation that is geared toward professionals seeking an understanding of our natural world and our changing environment.

  • Why Are Mines Still Polluting? The Money’s Not There

    Why Are Mines Still Polluting? The Money’s Not There

    Across the nation, abandoned mine sites continue to pollute the environment for decades as acid mine drainage flows into rivers and streams. A 1980 law was supposed to fix that, but lack of funding and enforcement have left the public stuck with the bill.

  • Students Advise County on Permeable Pavement

    Students Advise County on Permeable Pavement

    The biggest barrier to installation or permeable pavement is funding. But the positive outcomes include reduced flooding, less stormwater runoff, and recharging of aquifers.

  • 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.

  • Environment, Jobs, and President-Elect Trump

    Environment, Jobs, and President-Elect Trump

    While many people around the world are concerned about President-elect Trump’s threat to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, I am far more concerned about the possible signal to American corporations and jurisdictions that enforcement of our air, water, and toxic rules would be relaxed under EPA’s new administrator.

  • 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…

  • Beyond the Classroom: Field Visit to Rockefeller State Park

    Beyond the Classroom: Field Visit to Rockefeller State Park

    As part of the course on The Business and Ecology of Sustainable Forestry with Professor Ralph Schmidt, students visited the Rockefeller State Park in October 2016.