From the Director: Director Steven Cohen's most recent State of the Planet blog articles on sustainability & politics
Program News:
The Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management recently released the China Sustainable Development Indicator System, a new sustainability indicator framework and annual ranking of the sustainability performance of Chinese cities.
Columbia University, New York State, and others will host the former Federal Advisory Committee for the National Climate Assessment.
Sustainability isn’t just about the environment. Guo explains how social and economic factors, like employment and education, fit in.
Get a sneak peek at the major takeaways from The Sustainable City, the latest book by Earth Institute executive director Steve Cohen. Available now from Columbia University Press.
During a talk on Wednesday, panelists discussed the benefits and challenges of this emerging industry.
As cities begin to rebuild infrastructure ravaged by hurricanes, now is the time to adopt climate-resilient energy systems. Innovative collaborations between public and private stakeholders can help.
“It costs 20,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of cotton, which is just enough to produce a pair of jeans,” observed Guo—a stark measure of the importance of incorporating sustainability into fashion enterprises.
On March 7, 2016, Charles Chen, co-founder of China’s largest internet service portal, Tencent, gave a presentation on the impact of the internet on Chinese society. He talked about everything from the economic impacts of the internet, to education models that use mobile internet platforms.
The Earth Institute hosted a panel focused on how New York City, and other cities like it, can take steps to become stronger and more resilient in the face of climate change.
As part of a generous $2 million donation to Columbia University, the Earth Institute’s Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management will receive $700,000 to expand its research efforts on sustainability in China.
The problem of air pollution in China continues to reach new heights. To combat the problem in any real way stringent regulation is needed. A new paper from Columbia University’s Earth Institute finds that this can be done without hurting job creation.
What role does public policy play in encouraging and facilitating the green economy? What are the policy tools and incentives that steer green investment effectively?
How do we transition to sustainability in a positive and effective way? In this video, Steven Cohen, executive director of the Earth Institute, discusses a positive vision of sustainability—one that avoids the gloom and doom rhetoric so often seen in headlines—and focuses on the technology, ingenuity and innovation that can build a sustainable economy.
Last week, members of the Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management traveled to Huizhou, China, to present their initial findings for a study on sustainable tourism for the IBM Smarter Cities initiative.
Last week, representatives from Columbia University traveled to Tianjin Binhai, China to finalize a partnership with the Government of the Tianjin Binhai New Area. Both parties signed a memorandum of understanding as a first step in the development of a series of programs for research, education and executive training in the Tianjin Binhai New Area.