State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

sustainable development42

  • ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    Since the 1960s, farmers in Punjab, India have practiced some of the most intensive broad scale grain production in the world. As a result, the state has earned the nickname “the food bowl of India” for its out sized role in adopting and implementing Green Revolution technologies that in the last decades of the 20th…

  • Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    For a vast majority of the past fifty years, oil and its abundance defined the Middle East. In coming years, however, that part of the world may well be defined by the dearth of a different natural resource: water.

  • Columbia Engineers an Impact on Water Sustainability

    Columbia Engineers an Impact on Water Sustainability

    The most recent issue of the Columbia Engineering Magazine profiles many of the Columbia University Engineering faculty who are addressing the issues of sustainability in the water, climate and energy fields. Several of Columbia Water Center’s researchers and collaborators were featured. Here are some teasers that demonstrate the depth and breadth of the talent at…

  • ‘Troubled Waters’ Wreaking Havoc, from Minnesota to Mexico

    ‘Troubled Waters’ Wreaking Havoc, from Minnesota to Mexico

    On October 5th, ‘Troubled Waters’, a documentary produced by the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum, was screened for the first time on the U’s main campus in St. Paul.

  • Denmark’s New Mark: Fossil-free by 2050

    Denmark’s New Mark: Fossil-free by 2050

    Last Monday, October 11th, Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the Consulate General of Denmark co-hosted “The Climate Challenge: Revitalizing the Debate”. The daylong symposium included three panel sessions, in which experts from academia, the private sector, government and non-governmental organizations discussed the effects and implications of global climate change as well as steps –both taken…

  • Peruvians Fight for Their Right to Water

    Peruvians Fight for Their Right to Water

    On September 17, one man was killed and 18 others injured when police attempted to break up demonstrators protesting an irrigation project recently approved by the Peruvian government.

  • $3.8 Million Raised for Millennium Cities Initiative

    The Earth Institute successfully completed a $1.9 million landmark challenge grant, awarded by the Tides Foundation, to benefit the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI). Because of the Tides challenge and our generous donors, a total of $3.8 million has been raised to support the project’s work to help targeted mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa promote sustainable…

  • New Private Funds to Support Millennium Development Goals

    Today, two of the world’s leading companies announce grants and technical support totaling more than $1,000,000 aimed at ending global poverty by 2015. Nestlé and the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development each pledged support for the Earth Institute’s work through the Millennium Villages project (MVP) as world leaders gather at the Millennium Development Goals summit…

  • More Ways to Study Sustainable Development Than Ever Before

    More Ways to Study Sustainable Development Than Ever Before

    There are several new courses and educational opportunities open to students this fall: Undergraduate Major in Sustainable Development (NEW MAJOR) Economic and Financial Methods for Sustainable Development (Satyajit Bose) The objective of this course is to introduce students to the skills and methods necessary to understand and evaluate the economic and financial aspects of sustainable…

Composite banner with modern building at night and portrait of Dean Alexis Abramson that reads "Science for the Planet"

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

  • ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    Since the 1960s, farmers in Punjab, India have practiced some of the most intensive broad scale grain production in the world. As a result, the state has earned the nickname “the food bowl of India” for its out sized role in adopting and implementing Green Revolution technologies that in the last decades of the 20th…

  • Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    For a vast majority of the past fifty years, oil and its abundance defined the Middle East. In coming years, however, that part of the world may well be defined by the dearth of a different natural resource: water.

  • Columbia Engineers an Impact on Water Sustainability

    Columbia Engineers an Impact on Water Sustainability

    The most recent issue of the Columbia Engineering Magazine profiles many of the Columbia University Engineering faculty who are addressing the issues of sustainability in the water, climate and energy fields. Several of Columbia Water Center’s researchers and collaborators were featured. Here are some teasers that demonstrate the depth and breadth of the talent at…

  • ‘Troubled Waters’ Wreaking Havoc, from Minnesota to Mexico

    ‘Troubled Waters’ Wreaking Havoc, from Minnesota to Mexico

    On October 5th, ‘Troubled Waters’, a documentary produced by the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum, was screened for the first time on the U’s main campus in St. Paul.

  • Denmark’s New Mark: Fossil-free by 2050

    Denmark’s New Mark: Fossil-free by 2050

    Last Monday, October 11th, Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the Consulate General of Denmark co-hosted “The Climate Challenge: Revitalizing the Debate”. The daylong symposium included three panel sessions, in which experts from academia, the private sector, government and non-governmental organizations discussed the effects and implications of global climate change as well as steps –both taken…

  • Peruvians Fight for Their Right to Water

    Peruvians Fight for Their Right to Water

    On September 17, one man was killed and 18 others injured when police attempted to break up demonstrators protesting an irrigation project recently approved by the Peruvian government.

  • $3.8 Million Raised for Millennium Cities Initiative

    The Earth Institute successfully completed a $1.9 million landmark challenge grant, awarded by the Tides Foundation, to benefit the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI). Because of the Tides challenge and our generous donors, a total of $3.8 million has been raised to support the project’s work to help targeted mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa promote sustainable…

  • New Private Funds to Support Millennium Development Goals

    Today, two of the world’s leading companies announce grants and technical support totaling more than $1,000,000 aimed at ending global poverty by 2015. Nestlé and the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development each pledged support for the Earth Institute’s work through the Millennium Villages project (MVP) as world leaders gather at the Millennium Development Goals summit…

  • More Ways to Study Sustainable Development Than Ever Before

    More Ways to Study Sustainable Development Than Ever Before

    There are several new courses and educational opportunities open to students this fall: Undergraduate Major in Sustainable Development (NEW MAJOR) Economic and Financial Methods for Sustainable Development (Satyajit Bose) The objective of this course is to introduce students to the skills and methods necessary to understand and evaluate the economic and financial aspects of sustainable…