Last week, the first-ever Yale @ Climate Week NYC welcomed about 1,200 members of the public and the Yale community to over twenty events at the Yale Club in New York City. The lineup included former Secretary of State John Kerry ’66, who discussed climate leadership with New York Times journalist Lisa Friedman; Roger Cohn, founder and editor of Yale Environment 360, who interviewed esteemed author Bill McKibben; and NPR’s Neela Banerjee, who led a discussion about communicating the case for climate action. Yale President Maurie McInnis, along with Provost Scott Strobel, welcomed guests on the summit’s opening day.
While acknowledging the grave dangers of climate change, Kerry insisted that “we can win this battle.”
“We have bold ambitions, supported by a community that is motivated, passionate, and prepared to invest in Yale’s trailblazing spirit,” President McInnis said during her opening remarks.
Yale @ Climate Week NYC was hosted by Yale Planetary Solutions and the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. Read more about the summit.
Yale Planetary Solutions
Yale Planetary Solutions (YPS) seeks to provide answers to the world’s most pressing climate and environmental challenges. With an emphasis on collaboration, YPS permeates Yale’s teaching, learning, research, and practice across the sciences, humanities, engineering, and the arts. Its ultimate goal is to transform an understanding of the problems facing the world into impact and action.
Among its many activities, YPS oversees a seed grant program to support faculty and staff launching pioneering initiatives and research. Its centers, including the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture and the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions, are actively testing novel ideas for combatting climate change. ClimateHaven, a climate tech incubator, offers workspace, guidance, and support. And Yale’s campus itself is a model for sustainability, progressing toward carbon neutrality and incorporating innovative solutions for stormwater runoff and recapture.