State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Tag: COP 21

  • Melting Glaciers Help Spur a Message on Climate

    Melting Glaciers Help Spur a Message on Climate

    On Oct. 5, several small mountain countries with glaciers—Austria, Bolivia, and Nepal—undertook an important step in advancing global action on climate change. They helped the Paris Climate Agreement reach the threshold to enter into force and become legally binding.

  • From Copenhagen to Paris: Moving From Talk to Action on Climate Change

    Globally, individual nations have volunteered greenhouse gas reduction targets in anticipation of the Paris meetings. Unlike Copenhagen, where calls for mandatory reductions and transfer payments to the developing world caused the collapse of any potential agreements, the world community seems more realistic as it approaches the Paris meetings.

  • Under Pressure, a (Simulated) Climate Agreement

    Under Pressure, a (Simulated) Climate Agreement

    Coming up with an international climate agreement is hard work. But the students at the Make It Work simulated negotiations in Paris managed to find a way, though they left disagreeing over just how effective the pact would be.

  • Learning to Compromise

    Learning to Compromise

    After countless hours of workshopping, brainstorming, writing, and rewriting, I thought that a consensus between parties would not be so far off. However, with 220 opinions boiled down into 42 delegations, it was painfully difficult.

  • Climate Negotiations as a Realistic Fiction

    Climate Negotiations as a Realistic Fiction

    In addition to what might be expected of a climate negotiations simulation, Make it Work enlisted the creative help of artists, actors and dancers to use stage work and meditative methods to improve the channels of communication.

  • The Road to Make It Work

    The Road to Make It Work

    Students throughout Columbia University were notified of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend a student simulation in anticipation of the upcoming United Nations Climate Conference in Paris. Two words jumped out at me immediately: climate and Paris.

Science for the Planet: In these short video explainers, discover how scientists and scholars across the Columbia Climate School are working to understand the effects of climate change and help solve the crisis.
  • Melting Glaciers Help Spur a Message on Climate

    Melting Glaciers Help Spur a Message on Climate

    On Oct. 5, several small mountain countries with glaciers—Austria, Bolivia, and Nepal—undertook an important step in advancing global action on climate change. They helped the Paris Climate Agreement reach the threshold to enter into force and become legally binding.

  • From Copenhagen to Paris: Moving From Talk to Action on Climate Change

    Globally, individual nations have volunteered greenhouse gas reduction targets in anticipation of the Paris meetings. Unlike Copenhagen, where calls for mandatory reductions and transfer payments to the developing world caused the collapse of any potential agreements, the world community seems more realistic as it approaches the Paris meetings.

  • Under Pressure, a (Simulated) Climate Agreement

    Under Pressure, a (Simulated) Climate Agreement

    Coming up with an international climate agreement is hard work. But the students at the Make It Work simulated negotiations in Paris managed to find a way, though they left disagreeing over just how effective the pact would be.

  • Learning to Compromise

    Learning to Compromise

    After countless hours of workshopping, brainstorming, writing, and rewriting, I thought that a consensus between parties would not be so far off. However, with 220 opinions boiled down into 42 delegations, it was painfully difficult.

  • Climate Negotiations as a Realistic Fiction

    Climate Negotiations as a Realistic Fiction

    In addition to what might be expected of a climate negotiations simulation, Make it Work enlisted the creative help of artists, actors and dancers to use stage work and meditative methods to improve the channels of communication.

  • The Road to Make It Work

    The Road to Make It Work

    Students throughout Columbia University were notified of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend a student simulation in anticipation of the upcoming United Nations Climate Conference in Paris. Two words jumped out at me immediately: climate and Paris.