State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

UN MDG Summit

  • In the Fight Against Poverty, Higher Priority Needed for Environmental Sustainability

    In the Fight Against Poverty, Higher Priority Needed for Environmental Sustainability

    By Cheryl Palm As the state of the environment directly affects human health and economic wellbeing, the attainment of Millennium Development Goal 7: Ensuring environmental sustainability is critical to the success of all the MDGs.

  • MDG Summit Media Rundown #4

    The Guardian – ‎Sep 23, 2010 Millennium development goals in an age of fear and loathing Inter Press Service – Sep 23, 2010 Obama Lays Out Vision, Details Still Blurry Associated Press – Sep 21, 2010 State of the World: Progress in a small Kenyan village Financial Times – Sep 23, 2010 Rationalise aid to increase efficiency…

  • Educated Girls Lead to Empowered Societies

    Educated Girls Lead to Empowered Societies

    Educating girls and women is an important step in overcoming poverty. Millennium Development Goals 2 and 3 reflect the commitment that female education has a strong relationship with many other development indicators, and that education is an indispensable tool for women empowerment and the reduction of poverty. Girls’ education and the promotion of gender equality…

  • MCI’s MDG Heroes Series: Physicians for Peace’s Ron Sconyers Helps Millennium Cities Attain Health-Related MDGs

    MCI’s MDG Heroes Series: Physicians for Peace’s Ron Sconyers Helps Millennium Cities Attain Health-Related MDGs

    Since 2006, Physicians for Peace (PfP), a U.S. based non-profit focused on providing health care training and education to developing countries, has been working with the Millennium Cities Initiative to help the Millennium Cities in their efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals. Under the leadership of Brigadier General Ron Sconyers, PfP has shipped containers…

  • Over $1m in New Commitments to Support Earth Institute Work

    Over $1m in New Commitments to Support Earth Institute Work

    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.

  • MDG Summit Media Rundown #3

    Financial Times – Sep 20, 2010 Pool resources and reinvent global aid by Jeffrey Sachs Financial Times – Sep 20, 2010 Jeffrey Sachs: yearning for happiness – and innovative financing Blog by Jeffrey Sachs. Telegraph.co.uk – Sep 20, 2010 US ‘failing to keep up with Britain’ on aid promises Wasington Post – Sep 20, 2010…

  • Useless Condoms and the Trap of HIV-sensitization

    Useless Condoms and the Trap of HIV-sensitization

    In Ruhiira, Uganda, one of 14 clusters of Millennium Villages across sub-Saharan Africa, combating HIV, including Mother to Child Transmission (MTCT), through sensitization campaigns, condoms, and antiretrovirals (ARVs) is only half the battle. Addressing the other half—a deeply ingrained culture of female disempowerment— is an unavoidable challenge, which is dangerously neglected. The victimization of females…

  • MDG Summit Media Rundown #2

    There’s a LOT more today. Stick  with us while we continue to update. TV and radio media at bottom of the page. By Jeffrey Sachs Financial Times – Sep 21, 2010 Pool resources and reinvent global aid Independent – Sep 19, 2010 Professor Jeffrey Sachs: It’s not a question of capacity, it’s a matter of…

  • The Challenge of the Half-Acre Plot

    The Challenge of the Half-Acre Plot

    Ask most who have worked in this region, “what characterizes small holder farming in sub-Saharan Africa ?”, and the answer, which sadly, has remained unchanged for the past ten years, will go something like this: mono-cropping, reuse of seeds season after season, no fertilizer, and ever diminishing land holding sizes. Add to that the fluctuations…

Colorful banner image over Earth with text "Open House Discover Science, October 19, 2024, 10am to 4pm

Join us on Saturday, October 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House! Celebrate 75 years of science with us at our beautiful Palisades, NY campus. The event is free and open to everyone, with a suggested $5 donation. Learn More and RSVP

  • In the Fight Against Poverty, Higher Priority Needed for Environmental Sustainability

    In the Fight Against Poverty, Higher Priority Needed for Environmental Sustainability

    By Cheryl Palm As the state of the environment directly affects human health and economic wellbeing, the attainment of Millennium Development Goal 7: Ensuring environmental sustainability is critical to the success of all the MDGs.

  • MDG Summit Media Rundown #4

    The Guardian – ‎Sep 23, 2010 Millennium development goals in an age of fear and loathing Inter Press Service – Sep 23, 2010 Obama Lays Out Vision, Details Still Blurry Associated Press – Sep 21, 2010 State of the World: Progress in a small Kenyan village Financial Times – Sep 23, 2010 Rationalise aid to increase efficiency…

  • Educated Girls Lead to Empowered Societies

    Educated Girls Lead to Empowered Societies

    Educating girls and women is an important step in overcoming poverty. Millennium Development Goals 2 and 3 reflect the commitment that female education has a strong relationship with many other development indicators, and that education is an indispensable tool for women empowerment and the reduction of poverty. Girls’ education and the promotion of gender equality…

  • MCI’s MDG Heroes Series: Physicians for Peace’s Ron Sconyers Helps Millennium Cities Attain Health-Related MDGs

    MCI’s MDG Heroes Series: Physicians for Peace’s Ron Sconyers Helps Millennium Cities Attain Health-Related MDGs

    Since 2006, Physicians for Peace (PfP), a U.S. based non-profit focused on providing health care training and education to developing countries, has been working with the Millennium Cities Initiative to help the Millennium Cities in their efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals. Under the leadership of Brigadier General Ron Sconyers, PfP has shipped containers…

  • Over $1m in New Commitments to Support Earth Institute Work

    Over $1m in New Commitments to Support Earth Institute Work

    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.

  • MDG Summit Media Rundown #3

    Financial Times – Sep 20, 2010 Pool resources and reinvent global aid by Jeffrey Sachs Financial Times – Sep 20, 2010 Jeffrey Sachs: yearning for happiness – and innovative financing Blog by Jeffrey Sachs. Telegraph.co.uk – Sep 20, 2010 US ‘failing to keep up with Britain’ on aid promises Wasington Post – Sep 20, 2010…

  • Useless Condoms and the Trap of HIV-sensitization

    Useless Condoms and the Trap of HIV-sensitization

    In Ruhiira, Uganda, one of 14 clusters of Millennium Villages across sub-Saharan Africa, combating HIV, including Mother to Child Transmission (MTCT), through sensitization campaigns, condoms, and antiretrovirals (ARVs) is only half the battle. Addressing the other half—a deeply ingrained culture of female disempowerment— is an unavoidable challenge, which is dangerously neglected. The victimization of females…

  • MDG Summit Media Rundown #2

    There’s a LOT more today. Stick  with us while we continue to update. TV and radio media at bottom of the page. By Jeffrey Sachs Financial Times – Sep 21, 2010 Pool resources and reinvent global aid Independent – Sep 19, 2010 Professor Jeffrey Sachs: It’s not a question of capacity, it’s a matter of…

  • The Challenge of the Half-Acre Plot

    The Challenge of the Half-Acre Plot

    Ask most who have worked in this region, “what characterizes small holder farming in sub-Saharan Africa ?”, and the answer, which sadly, has remained unchanged for the past ten years, will go something like this: mono-cropping, reuse of seeds season after season, no fertilizer, and ever diminishing land holding sizes. Add to that the fluctuations…