State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

sustainable

  • Ruth DeFries, Jeffrey Sachs Named University Professors

    Ruth DeFries, Jeffrey Sachs Named University Professors

    Ruth DeFries and Jeffrey Sachs have been named University Professors, the highest rank Columbia University bestows on its faculty.

  • Brownfields: Untold Stories, Unrealized Value

    Brownfields: Untold Stories, Unrealized Value

    Across the country, in distressed urban centers, hundreds of thousands of industrial sites have been left lying fallow. These properties, known as brownfields, embody the story of America’s twentieth-century industrial might and bear the mark of that period’s unenlightened practices. Their closing and subsequent abandonment culminated in the loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs, the creation…

Earth Month Graphic Collage: "Our Power, Our Planet - April 2025"

The first Earth Day in 1970 ignited a movement to stop polluting our planet. This Earth Month, join us in our commitment to realizing a just and sustainable future for our planet. Visit our Earth Day website for ideas, resources, and inspiration.

  • Ruth DeFries, Jeffrey Sachs Named University Professors

    Ruth DeFries, Jeffrey Sachs Named University Professors

    Ruth DeFries and Jeffrey Sachs have been named University Professors, the highest rank Columbia University bestows on its faculty.

  • Brownfields: Untold Stories, Unrealized Value

    Brownfields: Untold Stories, Unrealized Value

    Across the country, in distressed urban centers, hundreds of thousands of industrial sites have been left lying fallow. These properties, known as brownfields, embody the story of America’s twentieth-century industrial might and bear the mark of that period’s unenlightened practices. Their closing and subsequent abandonment culminated in the loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs, the creation…