Sustainability87
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Housing in New York City: Updating the History
“Beyond doubt the large question facing New York housing production today has to do with a market that can not provide for the half of our households that are low income.”
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No Free Passes: Making Renewable Energy Responsible
As the world rushes to invest in clean energy, the potential impacts of these projects on the rights of local individuals and communities need to be properly addressed.
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Leaving Fossil Fuels in the Ground: Who, What and When?
In order to promote a broader conversation on the issue of equity and stranded assets, Oxfam recently released a report discussing whether there is a reasonable case to be made that developing countries should get preferential treatment so that they bear less of the burden when it comes to having their assets stranded.
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Stranding Equitably in the Current Market and Geopolitical Context
The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment’s conference of early November will consider, notably, how world production of oil and gas could be significantly reduced in manners protecting the interests of lower-income producing countries, given that staying on carbon budget will require leaving two thirds of our fossil fuel reserves unburnt.
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Shareholders Turn Up the Heat on Climate Change
2016 was a hot year for climate change shareholder resolutions hitting the boardrooms of oil and gas companies. Although more familiar climate news headlines have carried calls to “keep it in the ground” and divest investment portfolios from fossil fuels, a patient strategy has been quietly gaining momentum: shareholder engagement on climate change.
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Tunisia Says Yes to Resource Contract Transparency
Tunisia’s commitment to disclose extractive industry contracts was a critical step in promoting improved governance in Tunisia’s natural resources sector, as well as an important move toward improving trust between the government, investors and extractive project-affected communities.
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Protecting Indigenous Land Rights Makes Good Economic Sense
Indigenous peoples and other communities hold and manage 50 to 65 percent of the world’s land, yet governments recognize only 10 percent as legally belonging to these groups, with another 8 percent designated by governments for communities. That’s bad economic policy.
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Urban Sustainability and the Sharing Economy
A growing aspect of sustainable urban living is the “sharing economy.” Sharing has always been a part of urban life; we have long shared books in public libraries, nature in parks, and seats on the stoops of row houses. But in the past few years, cities have seen a significant revival and acceleration in sharing…
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Trade Deals and the Paris Climate Agreement
With the approval of the Paris Climate Agreement comes a key question: Do our trade and investment agreements—current and proposed—create the space, send the right signals, and clear the path for the U.S. and other countries to meet their Paris commitments?
By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings“
