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Columbia University Task Force on Climate: Report

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Columbia University Task Force on Climate: Report COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TASK FORCE ON CLIMATE: REPORT Delivered to President Bollinger December 1, 2019 UNIVERSITY TASK FORCE ON CLIMATE FALL 2019 Contents Preface—University Task Force Process of Engagement ....................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary: Principles of a Climate School .............................................................................................................................. 4 Introduction: The Climate Challenge ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 The Columbia University Response ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 Columbia’s Strengths ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Columbia’s Limitations ...................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Why a School? ................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 A Columbia Climate School .................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Research .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 13 1 - Living with a Changing Planet/Adaptation ................................................................................................................................. 14 2 - Climate Management/Decarbonization ..................................................................................................................................... 16 3 - Climate and an Ethical Society ................................................................................................................................................... 17 Education ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 18 Courses ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 19 Certificates ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Graduate Programs ......................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Undergraduate Education ............................................................................................................................................................... 20 Executive Education ........................................................................................................................................................................ 21 Global & Local Education/Training .................................................................................................................................................. 21 Solutions and Impact ........................................................................................................................................................................... 22 Extension Services/Knowledge Support .......................................................................................................................................... 22 Convening ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 Communications ............................................................................................................................................................................. 23 Faculty Resources ................................................................................................................................................................................ 23 New Faculty Hiring .......................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Appointment and Tenure ................................................................................................................................................................ 23 Joint Appointments ......................................................................................................................................................................... 24 A School for Faculty ......................................................................................................................................................................... 24 Physical Space ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 24 A University Pledge: Sustainability ...................................................................................................................................................... 25 Next Steps ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 26 Appendix A: Frequently Asked Questions about a Columbia Climate School ...................................................................................... 27 Appendix B: Task Force Member Bios ................................................................................................................................................. 29 Appendix C: Engagement across the University .................................................................................................................................. 38 Appendix D: A Climate Change Primer ................................................................................................................................................ 46 Appendix E: Climate at Columbia: An Inventory .................................................................................................................................. 49 2 UNIVERSITY TASK FORCE ON CLIMATE FALL 2019 Preface—University Task Force Process of Engagement This document lays out recommendations for what more Columbia can do to tackle the world’s rapidly worsening climate crisis and challenges through academic research, education, external engagement, and the design and implementation of solutions. It is informed by the work of the University Task Force on Climate, a committee established in September 2019 by President Bollinger. The recommendations take the form of eleven principles set out below. A key recommendation is that Columbia establish a Climate School but that it should be a school that is designed like no other. This document does not lay out a detailed blueprint for the School or how it would operate. Assuming broad agreement on the principles outlined here, these elements will be developed through a follow-up design process described below. The 24-person Task Force was chaired by Alex Halliday, director of the Earth Institute, and met four times over the course of the fall semester. Task Force members are listed in Appendix B. Members were deliberately selected from diverse backgrounds, invited to serve not as representatives of their schools, departments, or even disciplines—but rather to consider the needs and opportunities that the climate challenge presents and how the University, as a whole, can respond. Climate is an unusually broad topic—the causes, impacts, and solutions require expertise across vastly different subjects. A broad level of engagement is needed, embodied to some extent in the composition of the Task Force, but also necessitating additional research into the university’s current activities. To this end, Alex Halliday engaged personally with each Columbia school to explore with the deans and their colleagues the key subject areas in which there is strength, or where greater capability would be useful. Given the urgency of the situation and the complexity of the possible solutions and responses, Columbia needs to consider what it can do that is both novel and impactful. To discuss these and other aspects, Halliday held nearly 30 meetings with representatives of individual schools, divisions, and other relevant entities such as Barnard College, Teachers College, and the Data Science Institute. In addition, two student town halls and four town halls for the Earth Institute and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory campus communities were held. He received over 85 emails with feedback from various university constituents. All of this feedback was considered in Task Force discussions and much is reflected in this report; a summary
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