Columbia Climate School

09/01/2026

🔥 New Online Professional Learning Course: Climate Finance

Led by Lisa Sachs, director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and our MS in Climate Finance program, this course demystifies how capital moves in response to climate change, why it often fails to flow where it’s needed most, and how financial tools can be matched to different climate needs.

You’ll gain practical insights into:
• How financing needs differ across mitigation, adaptation, resilience, and loss and damage.
• Why capital doesn’t always reach the places and solutions that need it most.
• The strengths and limits of tools like green bonds, ESG investing, carbon markets, and net-zero pledges.
• How to match climate needs with the right financial instruments.

➡️ Learn more and enroll today: https://plus.columbia.edu/content/climate-finance

No prior financial background is needed. By the end of the course, you will have a practical framework for moving beyond climate finance labels and pledges to diagnose what needs financing; identify what is preventing capital from flowing; and evaluate the financial tools, institutions, and reforms that can help address those barriers.

🌍 This course is the fourth in our new Climate Foundations for Executive Leadership series, on-demand professional learning courses in collaboration with Columbia Plus.

08/31/2026

"Solar bonds" are a financial model that could cut the cost of installing solar panels for many homeowners in the UK and US, writes Columbia Climate School Dean and sustainable energy technology expert Alexis Abramson. "States that build this now won’t just be filling a financing gap; they’ll be shaping what energy independence looks like over the next decade," writes Abramson. Via The Guardian.

Letter: A financial model that could cut the cost of installing solar panels for many homeowners is welcomed by Alexis Abramson

08/31/2026

Gain strategic skills to lead resilient organizations in the face of climate hazards in our 7-week, virtual professional learning workshop taught by Columbia Climate School professor and climate scientist Radley Horton.

Climate Resilience for Decision Makers equips professionals in government, business, and nonprofits to address climate challenges, bridging climate science with practical tools required to adapt and thrive amid rapid change.

➡️ Learn more/RSVP for our September 8 info session: https://www.climate.columbia.edu/content/climate-resilience-decision-makers

Through the lens of the current super El Niño, learn to anticipate compound and cascading risks, apply hazard-exposure-vulnerability frameworks, and build adaptation into strategic planning — transforming climate volatility into advantage across supply chains, infrastructure, and policy.

Columbia Climate School's Professional Learning programs are designed for working professionals and adult learners who want to develop new skills and explore new topics in climate and sustainability, especially to further job-related interests.

08/26/2026

Alex de Sherbinin, director of our Center for Integrated Earth System Information, has been named director of the Earth Institute Hub, a new Columbia Climate School initiative to strengthen university-wide collaboration on issues spanning climate, Earth, society and sustainability.

“Alex de Sherbinin brings the interdisciplinary vision and collaborative spirit that the Earth Institute Hub is designed to advance. His work has long connected environmental science, data, and society, and his leadership will help carry forward the Earth Institute’s legacy while creating new opportunities for partnership and impact across Columbia,” says Alexis Abramson, dean of Columbia Climate School.

A central goal of the Climate School is to make interdisciplinary engagement easier, more visible, and more rewarding for faculty and researchers across the university. Administered through the Climate School's Office of Engagement and Impact, the Earth Institute Hub will provide a home for activities that continue to catalyze systems thinking, holistic inquiry, and cross-disciplinary partnership.

Learn more via State of the Planet:
https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2026/08/26/alex-de-sherbinin-named-director-of-new-earth-institute-hub

08/25/2026

Power outages are becoming more frequent, longer, and more expensive due to increasingly frequent extreme weather events and an aging power infrastructure, says Columbia Climate School Dean and sustainable energy technology expert Alexis Abramson. Here are tips to prepare, including The Preparedness Wizard from the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University. Via Yahoo Finance.

Power outages are becoming more frequent, longer, and more expensive. Here's what consumers can do to prepare.

08/24/2026

In the aftermath of tornadoes and storms in the Northeast Indiana/Illinois area, Columbia Climate School professor/ National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University faculty director Jeff Schlegelmilch shares guidance on recovery and preparation for extreme weather events. Via FOX32 Chicago.

08/24/2026

🔥 New Online Professional Learning Course! Managing Disaster Risk Through Climate Uncertainty

Led by Columbia Climate School professor and National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University faculty director Jeff Schlegelmilch, this course explores how organizations can make informed decisions amid uncertain climate risks, using practical frameworks, risk analysis techniques, and data-driven approaches to build resilience.

You’ll gain practical insights into:
• The uncertainties surrounding climate change and disaster management.
• Strategies for making decisions in unpredictable environments.
• The key components of climate and disaster risk.
• How to use data to assess hazard exposure and support planning.

➡️ Learn more and enroll today: https://plus.columbia.edu/content/managing-disaster-risk-through-climate-uncertainty

Ideal for:
* Leaders and decision-makers across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
* ESG, strategy, and investment professionals managing climate-related financial risks.
* Managers of essential services, utilities, and physical assets exposed to increasing environmental hazards.
* Government officials and policy analysts working in urban planning, emergency management, or international development.
* Sustainability and impact professionals seeking to integrate climate adaptation and resilience into organizational strategy.
* Professionals interested in how businesses and governments use data to better understand and respond to complex environmental risks.

🌍 This course is the third in our new Climate Foundations for Executive Leadership series, on-demand professional learning courses in collaboration with Columbia Plus.

08/19/2026

A global partnership between Columbia Climate School and UNICEF leaders is building climate knowledge and capacity to help protect more than a billion children worldwide facing multiple climate hazards, writes Miren Gil-Vernet.

The Climate School team—Lisa Dale, Jeff Schlegelmilch, and Gil-Vernet with support from the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University—has partnered with UNICEF leadership to deliver a series of trainings around the world and online.

The results: staff walk in without deep climate knowledge and walk out understanding how to start building climate into the projects they lead.

"The children exposed to climate hazards cannot wait for perfect knowledge or endless training. They need the people closest to them—the health workers, educators, engineers and policymakers—to act now with the understanding and tools to do it," writes Gil-Vernet.

"This is how the Columbia Climate School reaches beyond academia to share knowledge and learn from inspirational practitioners," says Dale.

Learn more via State of the Planet:
https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2026/08/13/when-knowledge-travels-translating-climate-awareness-into-action/

📷 The Climate Leadership Capacity Strengthening Programme in Panama. Photo courtesy of Miren Gil-Vernet Pagonabarraga

08/17/2026

We are very pleased to welcome our inaugural Climate, Earth and Society Distinguished Fellows, five exceptional leaders who will enrich our teaching, research, and impact:

🔷 Rohit “Rit” Aggarwala is a leader in urban sustainability and infrastructure who previously served as New York City’s Chief Climate Officer and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

🔷 Justin Brice Guariglia is a visual artist whose work explores changing ecosystems and humanity’s relationship with the natural world through collaborations with scientists and other thinkers.

🔷 Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis is an entrepreneur and creative leader focused on sustainable business practices, cultural heritage, and innovation in the creative economy.

🔷 Sarah B. Kapnick is a climate scientist and Global Head of Climate Advisory at J.P. Morgan, who previously served as Chief Scientist at NOAA, where she advanced climate research and prediction.

🔷 Miranda Massie is the founding director of The Climate Museum, where she has pioneered the use of arts, storytelling, and community engagement to build public understanding and action on climate change.

“By bringing accomplished leaders into our community, the program creates opportunities for our students, researchers, and faculty to engage with new perspectives, learn from experience, and explore how knowledge can be translated into meaningful action. I am delighted to welcome this year’s Fellows and to have them contribute to the intellectual life of the school,” says Alexis Abramson, dean of the Columbia Climate School.

Learn more via State of the Planet: https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2026/08/17/columbia-climate-school-welcomes-inaugural-cohort-of-climate-earth-and-society-distinguished-fellows/

08/14/2026

Lisa Sachs, director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and our MS in Climate Finance program, joins BBC News to discuss the impacts of extreme heat, and what a proper, thoughtful, technical response should be to address the underlying cause and build resilience against future crises.