A non-exhaustive list of administrative, partnership, advocacy, engagement, educational, and research efforts at Yale to address global climate change.

ADMINISTRATIVE & PARTNERSHIP EFFORTS

Global Alliance of Universities on Climate

Yale is one of 15 leading research universities from 6 continents that work together through the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate to amplify and share research on the climate crisis and provide a platform for further scholarship and advocacy. Yale’s participation in the alliance is led by Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy Daniel C. Esty. 

Planetary Solutions Project

Launched by President Peter Salovey and Provost Scott Strobel in December 2020, the Planetary Solutions Project is Yale’s flagship effort to accelerate how Yale addresses the global climate crisis. The Planetary Solutions Project works across the university and marshals resources to expand research and teaching to address the causes of the global crisis and makes substantive changes to the operations and financial investments of the university to ensure resources are being used sustainably.

Yale Carbon Charge

Across the campus, Yale University officials are being held accountable for the carbon footprint of their own operations. Administrative units will be charged for the carbon dioxide equivalent of their operations. Among other benefits, the Yale Carbon Charge will provide funding to energy efficiencies on campus, helping Yale meet its pledge to eliminate carbon emissions from campus by 2050.

Yale Sustainability Office

Yale’s climate leadership extends to the management of campus affairs, with Yale Sustainability office providing visionary guidance on improving infrastructure, changing behaviors, and conducting business to create a more sustainable campus.

ADVOCACY, EDUCATION, AND ENGAGEMENT             

Environmental Performance Index

The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is a biennial report produced by researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. The EPI offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance and provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.

Yale Center on Climate Change and Health

The Yale School of Public Health’s Center on Climate Change and Health offers Masters of Public Health students a climate change and health concentration and provides an online certificate and a Coursera specialization in climate change and health. 

Yale and UN Climate Negotiations

Each year, members of the Yale community engage directly with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Yale’s influence in the discourse was on display both within and on the vital periphery of the UNFCCC’s Conference of the Parties (COP26) negotiations in Glasgow in 2021. Yale students, faculty, scholars, and alumni have impacted and participated in both the formal talks and related advocacy, scholarship, and analysis of the negotiations.

RESEARCH

Yale Economic Growth Center

The Economic Growth Center’s Inclusion Economics project conducts research focused on environmental justice and increasing accountability for climate change mitigation in privet and public sector entities. 

Yale Energy Sciences Institute

The Yale Energy Sciences Institute hosts interdisciplinary research aimed at developing energy production and storage materials and developing core competencies in solar energy, alternative fuels, and carbon capture.

Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology 

The Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, an international and multireligious project with roots in the Yale Divinity School, the School of the Environment, and the Department of Religious Studies, gathers research and resources addressing the nexus of religion and the climate emergency.

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, led by the School of the Environment’s Anthony Leiserowitz, is the leading hub of research on public climate change knowledge, attitude, and behavior. The program also engages with the public through its own radio programming, media appearances, and educational materials for teachers.

Yale Researchers Working on Climate Change

Researchers across Yale’s schools are addressing the challenges of the climate crisis. A partial list includes:

• Sterling Professor of Economics and Professor in the School of the Environment William D. Nordhaus, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2018 “for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis,” has developed widely used models for researching climate-change economics and policies. 
• The Yale School of Public Health’s Climate, Health, and Environment Nexus (CHEN) Lab investigates the intersection of climate change, air pollution, and human health.
• The research group of Michelle L. Bell, Mary E. Pinchot Professor of Environmental Health at the School of the Environment, explores how weather and heat waves affect health in the present day and models future health risks associated with climate change.