Climate School
President Bollinger created a Climate Change Task Force lead by new-ish director of the Earth Institute Alex Halliday in September 2019 "to consider what more the University should be doing with respect to climate change" (email, Sept 19, 2019). "Are we marshaling our academic resources in ways that are proportionate to the magnitude and gravity of the challenges civilization will face? If we should be doing more, what would that entail and what structures within the University should be created to enhance our research, teaching, and engagement?"
The 104-page report described the current areas of strength in the university, the ways the task force engaged with the rest of the university for feedback, the reasons for creating a climate school, and how it might function. It emphasized a systems-level, interdisciplinary approach to research, two-way engagement with the public, and "bringing knowledge to actions. Research themes identified were Living with a Changing Planet, Climate Management, and Climate and an Ethical Society. It proposed a "hub and spokes" model to resist inflexible bureaucracy that starts with recruiting existing faculty for dual-appointments with the climate school and creating joint degree/certificate programs.
On January 30, 2020, President Bollinger released the report, which proposed the formation of a climate school "like no other". Bollinger additionally announced that he was going to appoint a Chief Climate Officer (CCO), who will report directly to him, that Commencement 2020 (canceled due to coronavirus) would be plastic water bottle free (usually they hand out tons of them), that he would like "new ideas" on divestment be submitted to ASCRI (which he characterized as an "efficient and highly effective group"), and his commitment that Columbia be carbon neutral by 2050 if not sooner.
On July 10, 2020, President Bollinger announced that the university trustees unanimously voted for the creation of the Columbia Climate School. From Halliday's July 13 blog post, "Why do we need a climate school?", it seems they will be taking the next three years to design and start the school. In an August email, Halliday wrote: "it already is clear that programs in de-carbonization, sea-level change, and food security will be major areas of expansion. At the same time, we will build upon cross-cutting expertise in climate finance, disaster resilience, environmental justice and law, communication and the arts, and climate policy and services."
