By Jose Luis Cabrera Â
This piece was created using a utility belt and LED lights found discarded at Parsons The New School for Design. The belt had no use and it was in bad condition, but I saw potential in its texture and interesting shape. I transformed the belt by taking it apart and playing with its shape on the human body. The result was an accessory that captures the essence of a strong and feminine women.Â
Work was done as part of Carol Peligianâs Space and Materiality class, 2016.
Tuesday, Sep 15, 6PM in the Earth Institute student lounge
Are you a writer or creator interested in promoting the understanding of sustainable development? Come learn about our media projects, training workshops, and how you can get involved!
Directions to EI Student Lounge
Enter Hogan via the Broadway entrance, and sign in at the front desk to access the student lounge.
Did you miss out event, Resilient New York? If you want to catch up on the latest in architecture and urban planning for New York Cityâs climate change plans, watch the presentations on YouTube!Â
Make It Work: SML Talks with a Student Organizer of Sciences Poâs COP21 Simulation
Make it Work: A Conversation with a Student Organizer of Sciences Poâs COP21 Simulation
By Monica Carty
Photo courtesy of Sciences Po
On May 26th to 31st , Sciences Po, one of the premier universities in France and the world will be hosting the âCOP21 Simulation: Make It Workâ in Paris, France. COP21 is a meeting of the member states of the United Nations in Paris later this year, which is hailed as the worldâs last chance to mitigate the effects of serious climate change. Sciences Po has taken it upon themselves to host a student simulation of the COP21 negotiations where 200 students from Sciences Po, and from around the world (Columbia students as well) will act as delegates in this simulation. One of the results of simulation is to present the results of it to the real COP21 delegates in November 2015. SML spoke to Jennifer Ching, one of the Sciences Po student organizers, about the simulation in order to understand how indeed they were going to âmake it workâ.
SML: Where did the idea come from for doing the COP21 simulation?
Jennifer: The background for the simulation is that this are simulations is actually within the greater initiative of Sciences Po itâs called the âSciences Po: Make It Work Initiativeâ. And so this is actually not something that we came up with but something that was derived from professor and philosopher of France, Bruno Latour and another professor at Sciences Po who is also very very prominent in the environmental sphere in France in general and she is actually going to be the French representative at the real negotiations, her name is Laurance Tubiana. So this is all of this kind of preparatory initiative that is supposed to engage students and engage the public as well, to prepare for the negotiations in November/December. A couple of years ago, there was another simulation called the COP rewind and that was also held at Sciences Po and it was called a rewind because it was supposed to be a re-enactment of the negotiations that had already occurred and I believe that it was the COP15 So this is not really a completely new concept, in itself. There was already something quite similar and itâs following the COP rewind.
SML: Will the structure of this COP21 simulation be similar to that of the COP15 Rewind?
J: Whatâs really new about it this time is that, the COP15 followed the procedures very carefully. This time, weâre really trying to create something new from the negotiations. Itâs not going to be conventional at all. And one of the biggest ways that you can see this is in the actors. Instead of having just member states, weâre going to have around half states and half non-states entities.
SML: What are some of the non-state actors that are going to be participating?
J: Weâre going to have networks of cities, a delegation that can hopefully represent oceans, one that represents the biosphere or biodiversity. But not just the scientific aspect, but also for example, like Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, and also the concept of the seven sisters, and these are the main oil and gas companies. And so what weâre trying to do is that when we approach a global issue, states often put these ideas of boundaries where technically, this issue is very clearly a cross boundary aspects. What weâre trying to do this break down these boundaries and see what are the actual networks that influence climate negotiations, underneath this whole idea of the state. Because even if you have members or delegates form the states, they often have double loyalties. They are often representative of a country, but often you know, they have other interests as well. So itâs not very clear-cut. I think a phrase that Latour uses is that weâre making it more realistic and real.
SML: Part of the simulation is that youâll be proposing the results of the Simulation to the UN, what is your best hope of what would happen with the results?
J: Of course, that as students and as organizers of this event, we hope that the results of the simulation would be taken into account. After the simulation ends we will be proposing the results to the UNESCO and at the actual negotiations [COP21]. I do think we are a strong enough group as youth to actually have some sort of voice or impact in these negotiations so I think that motivates us to make it work even more.
Book Launch for The Age of Sustainable Development, by Jeffrey Sachs
By Kaia Rose
Photo courtesy of Kaia Rose
Jeffrey Sachs hardly needed any introduction at launch of his new book on March 2nd, The Age of Sustainable Development, hosted by the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Â Gathered in the audience below the chandeliers of the Casa Italiana was an attentive group mostly comprised of Columbia students and faculty, including Professor Sachsâ own gurus Jim Hansen and Dick Nelson, as well as students from Professor Sachsâ recent MOOC (mass open online course), which has gone viral. Â As Sachs himself noted when thanking Columbia University Press for creating such an aesthetically beautiful tome, the eveningâs event very much felt âall in the family.â
Speaking eloquently without seeming to consult any notes, Professor Sachs began with the timing of this publication: âWe have an opportunity in 2015 to set things on a better courseâŠthis isâŠthe last clear calendar moment.â  If youâre thinking this is beginning to sound a bit melodramatic, youâre right â but itâs also true, Sachs argued.  âNever before was our species capable of doing both the good and the bad that is the drama of sustainable development.â
What followed was a lecture filled with optimism and energy despite the slew of bad news Sachs delivered. Â Planetary boundaries are being violated and pushed into dangerous areas. Â The world is experiencing more droughts and floods and fires and extreme temperatures than ever before. Â This is causing an increasingly unstable world â instability that extends beyond the physical into the realms of politics and economics. Â Regions that are already stricken with violent conflicts, like the Middle East, are getting drier and hotter, which will create even worse food insecurity and more violence. Â And while our survival as a species is being threatened, population is continuing to skyrocket. Â But in the midst of all the doom and gloom, Sachs made space for moments of laughter. Â âJim Hansen has ruined my days innumerable times,â Sachs quipped, pointing at Hansen in the audience, âYou have left me sleepless, nervous but I hope at least energized to try to do something.â
The question now is not whether or not we can do something, the question is will we do something. Â Sachs is pushing for a paradigmatic shift in the way we use energy. The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), which Sachs is director of, has built the groundwork for this shift in their Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project, which asked fifteen countries (including the US, the first time we have created such a plan) to create nation-specific strategies for decarbonization. Â Although each pathway was unique, they outlined three main steps: 1) energy efficiency, 2) decarbonization of electricity, and 3) fuel switching for our transport fleet to electric sources. Â Through this project, the SDSN showed that all major economies can decarbonize at low cost. Â The technologies are there, all we need to do now is act.
The action Sachs is calling for is nothing less than starting off a sixth Kondratiev Wave: sustainable development based on digital technologies. When you look at the growth of mobile phone subscribers over the last thirty years, the curve skyrockets to seven billion within the last ten years, almost mimicking the curves representing the geometric growth of population, GDP and C02 levels. Â In this age where we can stream House of Cards on our phone, Sachs said with a smile, we should be able to address the challenges facing us and grow not only in a robust way, but a sustainable way.
What are these challenges to sustainable development, you may ask.  Sachs has an answer for you: 1) income inequality and social exclusion; 2) the continuing poverty trap in parts of Africa and Asia; and 3) growing environmental crises.  âThis is a test â and we are failing.â  These hurdles will hopefully be addressed with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are in the process of being negotiated by member states at the UN.  At the moment seventeen goals have been drafted, although Sachs is pushing for ten (âIâm preaching the power of the word âandââŠno oneâs listeningâ), covering everything from ending hunger to curbing climate change; a final list will be agreed upon at the UN Sustainable Development Goals summit this year.
Sustainable development is certainly an overarching theme for 2015. Â Along with the SDG summit in September, which Sachs expects to be the largest gathering of world leaders ever, there are two other major conferences scheduled. Â COP21 is the more well known of the two, when the global community will gather in Paris this December to decide on a meaningful climate change agreement. Â But before that, in July, the UN is hosting a conference on Financing for Sustainable Development in Addis Ababa; as Sachs pointed out, along with deciding what to do, we also need to figure out how to pay for it.
Sachs did not mince words on the subject of money. Â He spoke candidly about the role the oil industry is playing in US politics now (âI may send books to all one hundred senatorsâ) and praised universities for fostering innovative environments separate from the commercial world (âmoney and profits disable our thinkingâ). Â Frustrated by the fundraising challenges in the global community, Sachs has his eyes on the 41 billionaires living within a couple miles of Columbia and their collective wealth of $6.4 trillion; he invited the audience to accompany him door-to-door for a different type of trick-or-treating. Â âThere is no shortage of wealth to solve our problems,â he said to applause, âwe are choosing the world we want. Â Thereâs nothing we canât do right now.â Â
And that could be used to sum up the tone of the evening. Â Sachsâ lecture was neither hopeful nor pessimistic but realistic; he did not paint a rosy picture of the world today and yet he fully believes that we, as a species, are capable of change. Â His overarching message is that in this age of the Anthropocene, we are the ones in the driving seat. Â Do we want to be drunk drivers, not caring where we go or who we hit along the way? Â Or will we decide on a new destination for our collective road trip and actively figure out the best way to get there? Â If you agree with Jeffrey Sachs that we want to be better drivers, then looking at a map based on sustainable development seems like a very good place to start.
Kaia Rose is a graduate of the University of Bristol in the UK and has been working as a film producer and editor for the last five years. Â She is passionate about curious meaningful filmmaking and is currently embarking on a documentary about the people pulling all the pieces together behind the scenes of the climate change negotiations in this momentous year of 2015. Â You can see more of her work at www.kaiarose.com.
Sustainability Media Lab & Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development Present:
After Hurricane Sandy, it became clear that New York City, one of the largest cities in the country, was not prepared for rising sea levels, storm surge, and generally, the possible future effects of climate change. Preparing for these future challenges means changing and adapting New York Cityâs urban planning and architecture. What will these structures and plans look like, and how are they being implemented today?
Panelists
Brian Baer, Director at the Elevated Studio
Brian has over 25 years of implementing sustainable, community-aided design solutions for educational, cultural, civic and non-governmental agency projects across the United States. By combining versatile leadership and managerial skills, Brain has collaborated with a wide variety of constituencies to bring consensus and success to the design and building process. Brian is a licensed architect in several states and am a LEED accredited professional and certified by NCARB. He received his architecture degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
Pippa Brashear, Designer/Planner at Parsons Brinckerhoff
Pippa is a landscape designer and planner with Parsons Brinkerhoff (PB). With her combined expertise, she helps planning, engineering and design teams develop strategies and reach solutions which balance ecology, infrastructure, development, and community quality of life needs. At Parsons Brinckerhoff, she helps ensure that the human experience and ecological funtion are a critical component of planning and engineering solutions. Since the Superstorm Sandy, she has been a part of a number of resiliency planning and design efforts in the region including as consultant to the City of New York in developing the Coastal Protection element of the Mayors Strategic Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency, supporting community resiliency planning in seven NYC communities as part of NY Stateâs NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program.
Tara Eisenberg, Research Coordinator at Rebuild by Design
Tara coordinates Rebuild by Designâs ongoing research projects, facilitating a longitudinal survey of coastal unbuilding, the formation of an international resiliency network, and more. Tara joined Rebuild by Design in 2013 through NYUâs Institute for Public Knowledge to support and develop the competitionâs research stage. Tara is a lifelong New Yorker and studied at NYU for both her BS and MA degrees. Formally, her studies have spanned the course of art, mathematics, and environmental education; informally, she is an expert at connecting people, places, talents, and research. Tara is passionate about environmental design, having worked in the green building sector prior to joining Rebuild by Design. She believes collective action and education are key components to responding to our changing climate.Â
Radley Horton, Associate Research Scientist at Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University
Radley is a climate scientist at the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University. His research interests include regional climate projections, sea level rise, extreme climate events, loss of Arctic sea ice and its implications, and adaptation to climate variability and change. He served as the Climate Science Lead for the New York City Panel on Climate Change, and is a Co-Lead for the NOAA-funded Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast. Radley is also the Columbia University lead for the Department of Interior-funded Northeast Climate Science Center.
Jeffrey Raven, RAVEN A+U / Director & Associate Professor, Graduate Program in Urban + Regional Design, NYIT
Jeffrey is an architect-urbanist with more than 20 years of design and planning experience in the Arabian Gulf, India, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and the United States; including low-carbon communities, green buildings, and smart growth. He contributes to the development of US and international sustainable-resilient performance indicators, including STAR Communities and the Global EcoDistrict Protocol. Jeffrey is Assoc. Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in Urban and Regional Design at NYIT. He lectures extensively, including Cambridge University, Cornell University, Asian Development Bank, The World Bank, the Humboldt Foundation in Germany, United Nations (UNEP, Habitat, UNDP), China International Urban Forum, Shanghai Institute SISS, Xiamen University (China), and The New York Times Knowledge Network. He is author of Climate Resilient Urban Design, Resilient Cities (Springer 2011) and Shaping Resilient Cities in China, India and the United States (P. Lang, 2014); and is currently coordinating lead author (planning/design chapter) of the Assessment Report for Climate Change in Cities (Cambridge).
How can we combine concepts as democratization of society, fashion, pollution, sustainability, supply chains, globalization and new suppliers markets? Well, that is what the audience discovered at the event Fast Fashion: Disposable Society and the Soul with Elizabeth L. Cline.
The exposition room filled up more than expected and many people had to stand, they arrived to see the author in the Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University. The people that were waiting for her were varied, having people from their mid-twenties to mid-sixties, some were artists, some were scientists, some were students and others professionals. When Cline arrived and looking at her style, it became evident why she was interested in the fashion industry.
Passionate for music and fashion, a member of a Heavy Metal group, and very interested in everything related to fashion, she realized that clothes were becoming cheaper over time, but also more disposable, so she decided to research what was happening. Â
The results of the research are very interesting. Now is more possible than ever to find nice and cheap clothes and to look truly fashionable with less money. Even if the trends are changing every season, people can buy and wear beautiful and cheap clothes, full of color and with respectable designs. But one of the first problems related with cheap clothes and with the change of season is that these clothes became almost too disposable: approximately only 15% of the clothes are recyclable, and the rest would be disposed in the landfills, Â increasing the existing problem with waste management.
The problem with disposable clothes is much more complex. Big brands like Zara, H&M, Century 21, amongst others, were achieving competitiveness and presence in the market because they offer nice clothes with attractive prices. Those prices were possible because the suppliers of these big chains, have their production processes allocated in developing countries, and the cost of the inputs there, the labor costs and natural and not natural resources (such as synthetic fibers), are cheaper than in the developed world. She mentioned the cases of China or Bangladesh as examples.
Unfortunately, the relative growth of the economic activity in supplier countries, has been accompanied with âmany externalities lurking behind the scene as poverty pay for retail and garment workers, environmental degradation, resource strain and drain, and waste of historic proportionsâ. Lack of regulation in environmental and human respect are related with these situations, and the governments in that countries seem to be far of the resolution of these issues.
The consumers of these brands are also far and very ignorant about the complex problematic issues involved. One of the asked questions during the meeting was: the consumer has the fault for these issues? No, commented Cline: the responsibility for this issues is in the producers, as well as the internet and social media (which increases the demand through publicity, advertisement and with new distribution channels as e-shops); and the governments that are not regulating the worldwide operations of this industry in an adequate manner.
Why the governments, far from regulating this industry, seem to be in agreement with it? Unfortunately, they are using the spread of cheap and disposable clothes as a democratization tool, based in the easy access of the masses to this âcheap and beautiful clothesâ.
In that sense, she mentioned: In the absence of solutions for health insurance and housing (two of the biggest problems in the US), the government sometimes seems to use fashion as a âdemocratization processâ. Nowadays many more citizens can wear these cheap and disposable clothes, as a kind of âcompensationâ to unresolved demands. They are being âdistractedâ in the middle of the storm of colors, textures, and great designs; looking for the next opportunity to âgo shoppingâ in each of the seventeen most recognizable shopping-dates (as Christmas, Valentineâs Day, spring, summer, amongst others).
The author checked her cards twice, just to be sure to have covered all the issues, before concluding with the core of her book: this disposable fashion, within this disposable society is totally unsustainable.
Victoria Freyssinier is an economist, currently attending the Msc. Sustainability Management Program at Columbia University. Her background is in energy policy and sustainability solutions. Her research focuses on the impact of personal lifestyles in the sustainability of modern societies. She is a co-founder of the organization, Suissetainable, a community made to help people and all type of organizations understand the power of their lifestyles and how to become more sustainable. They can be found on Twitter at @Suissetainable
A Response to Christiana Wood: Fossil Fuel Divestment
A Response to Christiana Wood: Fossil Fuel Divestment
By Ryan Elivo
Photo courtesy of Columbia Law SchoolÂ
In November 2014, the  Sabin Center for Climate Change Law held a panel asking âShould Universities and Pension Funds Divest From Fossil Fuel Stocks?â Essentially, the questions were whether divestment from fossil fuel corporations responsible for a large portion of global greenhouse gas emissions is the best tactic for tackling climate change and is consistent with fiduciary duty. Investors have long considered whether divestment or engagement would  be the best solution for addressing climate change and, while it must be recognized that proponents of engagement are well intentioned, the claims made by one of the panelists, Christiana Wood, who is against divestment, were misleading. Below are a few important points she made during the panel as well as my own counterarguments.
1. âThe notion that divestment is effective ignores historical fact⊠it wasnât until governments got involved⊠that Apartheid was actually ended in South Africa.â
Pressure from the international community is what indeed ended apartheid. However, this government action was the product of the decades-long effort by grassroots elements, especially divestment crusades, to bring apartheid to the forefront of the policy agenda. Indeed, an Oxford study stated, âfrom adult services to Darfur, from tobacco to South Africa, divestment campaigns were successful in lobbying for restrictive legislation affecting stigmatized firms.â[1] If anyone can testify to the legitimacy of the tactic, it is Nelson Mandela, who, upon being released from prison and coming to the U.S., made his first stop U.C. Berkley, where he thanked the students there for their push to have the university divest from corporations engaged in business with South Africa. Incidentally, Dr. Desmond Tutu, one of the most prominent anti-apartheid activists, has called for an apartheid-style boycott and divestment push against the fossil fuel industry.
2. âDivestment damages investment portfolios. Iâve been involved in numerous divestment initiativesâtobacco; South Africa⊠[At] CALPERS⊠[w]e had every resource in the world to solve this problem, yet it was unavoidable.â
Divestment is a political statement that disregards financial impact. Indeed, the decision, as with any other decision, may involve tradeoffs and losses. However, to make the case that one should not divest because it may lower returns has problematic implications. Ms. Wood evoked the divestment push against tobacco. Even if divesting from tobacco, which is routinely screened out of portfolios for ethical reasons, incurred losses, does that negate the moral reasoning behind the decision? Does that also repudiate the justifications behind decisions to divest from weapons manufacturing, private prisons, and slavery (slavery was once an investment issue)? Institutional investors committed to divesting from apartheid were likely impacted given that those companies engaged in business in South Africa constituted 40% of the S&P 500âit should be noted that fossil fuel comprise only 10% of the index. The fact that Columbia University even has an Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing demonstrates that financial returns are not the only considerations pertinent to Columbiaâs investment decisions.
3. âThe notion that you can build a fossil-free portfolio that will act the same is not borne out by research or evidence in our field. I am familiar with the research that suggests that you can build a fossil-free portfolio⊠And while I think some of the papers are interesting, they are theoretical.â
It is correct that many of the studies investigating the financial impacts of divestment are theoretical, postulating what may happen, or may have happened, to those returns had investment portfolios divested at a certain time and time frame. However, Ms. Wood is conflating these pro-forma analyses with fossil-free portfolios already in existence. Fossil Free Indexes formulated an index excluding publicly traded fossil fuel companies from the S&P 500, and it outperformed the index in 2014 by 1.5%, a huge number. The demand for fossil-free investment has led to a rise in alternatives, with BlackRock creating an index series excluding firms linked to the ownership of fossil fuel reserves. These successes are not âtheoretical.â
4.âDivestment leaves the company unharmed. So there seems to be a misconception that by divesting of companies we have somehow punished the companiesâŠâ
Divestment does not aim to financially harm the companies; it seeks to revoke their social license and spur legislative restrictions on their activities. Studies that are evoked to suggest that divestment was not the reason for the collapse of South Africa Apartheid focus on the companiesâ stock prices â which Ms. Wood did as well â which once again misses the point of divestment by omitting the legislative action and the damage of the companiesâ reputations.
5. âNone of the well-respected institutions and NGOs who are advocating on behalf of the planet and climate change support divestment. I would argue that the UN Global Compact, the Carbon Disclosure Project, the GRI, the IIRC, the INCR, Ceres, among so many others, who really are the vanguard of global sustainability, are not advocating that.â
What about the organizations that are the vanguards of climate science, governance, and international development? UN SecretaryÂ-General Ban Ki-moon, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, and World Bank President Kim Jun Young have expressed support for fossil fuel divestment, in addition to other notable figures, and $50 billion in pledges have been made by investors to divest. To say that âwell-respectedâ institutions do not support it suppresses the legitimate voices of the actors that chose to divest. It should also be noted that the organizations Ms. Wood mentions, the so-called âvanguard of global sustainability,â despite having achieved a great deal of initiatives, base their work on a normative vision of sustainability that is very pro-corporate; this is not the only interpretation of sustainability espoused by the world.Â
6. âDivestment leaves you unable to employ the means for change that we know work. We know that corporate activism and engagement really work⊠When long-term owners collectively engage companies in a responsible way, a lot can be accomplished."
Climate change is the issue of our generation. Much has been achieved, but not enough in the grand scheme of thingsâwe have known about climate change for four decades, and carbon emissions have nevertheless been on the rise. Investors have taken a stand and have attempted to engage with fossil fuel companies, the same companies that together spent $674 billion in 2012 exploring for new reserves, even though the science states that 80% of proven fossil fuel reserves must stay underground to prevent runaway climate change.
If there is one thing that these shareholder activists have accomplished, it is showing the ability of fossil fuel companies to disappoint. In their outreach campaign to fossil fuel companies inquiring how they plan on transforming their business models to reflect the realities of a future low-carbon economy, shareholder activists did not get the response they wanted. Coal companies did not respond, while the major oil companies asserted that their reserves were not stranded and that the low-carbon scenario was very unlikelyâunlikely, perhaps, given the colossal campaign contributions given to politicians that are actively working towards realizing that end.
Ultimately, a shareholder resolution is not suitable for changing the entire business model of an industry that relies on a strong Reserves Replacement Ratio (RRR) â the amount of proven reserves added to a companyâs reserve base relative to the amount produced â to sustain its stock price; consider how Shellâs stock price plummeted when it came to light that it had over reported its RRR. Fossil fuel companies have no incentive to participate in the much-needed transition to a low-carbon economy as long as it can make money with its existing model. BP abandoned its âBeyond Petroleumâ PR stunt and sold off its wind assets while Chevron has done the same with its solar assets. Ms. Wood would have us think that fossil fuel firms would be willing to write off trillions of dollars in fossil fuel reserves to save the planet when history has shown that the allure of black gold always prevails. It is not that shareholder engagement per say is a bad tacticâit is that we only have 15 years to make a concerted push to bring our emissions under control; we need to have begun this transition to a low-carbon economy decades ago, and additional years, if not decades, of shareholder engagement will not bring us the magnitude of change that we need. The only tactic proportional to this imperative is, ultimately, divestment.
[1] Atif Ansar et al. âStranded assets and the fossil fuel divestment campaign: what does divestment mean for the valuation of fossil fuel assets?â (Stranded Assets Programme, 2013).
Ryan Elivo is currently a senior in Columbia College at Columbia University majoring in Sustainable Development. He is the Director of Campus Outreach at Sustainability Media Lab as well as Editor in Chief of Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development
You're invited to join us at our 1st meeting of the semester! We'll be mapping out media projects, campaigns, trainings, and events for next semester with, of course, free food.Â
Please join us especially if you're interested in an executive board position (descriptions here).
1ST SML MEETING OF 2015
Wednesday, January 28, 6PMÂ
Earth Institute Student Lounge (in Hogan)
Directions: Enter Hogan via the Broadway entrance, and sign in at the front desk to access the student lounge.
Pressuring Lego to part ways with Shell, putting a stop to the gendered marketing of toys and fighting for the survival of bees: these are the 10 campaigns that have taken 2014 by storm
âWe need better legislation!â Fiona Cousins stated in reference to environmental policies and business practices. âLegislation can make a difference and it creates a floor of incentives,â she continued. Cousins is a principal at Arup Global, an independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists famous for the structural design of the Sydney Opera House and the Alfred Lerner Hall at Columbia University. She was one of four panelists at the âSustainability Frameworks in Action: Practitioners Reflect on âSustainability Theoryâ event, which took place on November 14th, 2014 at Columbia University.
Sitting in a classroom with the blackboard hanging behind them, the panelists spoke for two hours. In addition to Fiona Cousins, the panel included Tooraj Arvajeh, a mechanical engineer with BlocPower, which helps finance clean energy solutions for New York communities; Rhett Godfrey, sustainability director at Loomstate, a clothing company, which uses organic cotton from sustainable cotton farms in India; and finally, Riksum Kazi, operations officer with the non-profit Archive Global, which focuses on housing development globally that foster public health initiatives.
âSustainability should be less emphasized on the âgreenâ aspect and become more widespread,â Kazi said. As the only panelist representing the non-profit sector, Kaziâs perspective on sustainable development as a buzzword differed from that of his cohort. âWe have to work with the buzzword in order to get funding and continue our work,â Kazi explained. In contrast, Arvajeh, as a for-profit business representative of the sustainability industry, stated: âin business you want monopoly and subsidy, and sustainability policies are against these business guidelines. It is very hard to make money in the sustainability industry.â
The consensus across the panel was that stronger legislation with regards to sustainable practices is needed. However, the panelists disagreed with the idea that politics are the answer to changing current global practices. âWhy are you so focused on politics?â Arvajeh asked the audience. In response, students in the audience said: âitâs what we are taught in our sustainable development classes. We need the government to become active in changing climate change policies in order to see a change in our society.âÂ
âPolicy change can come from the ground up,â Godfrey interjected. âWhen you donât legislate, businesses tend to go to the lowest common denominator,â he continued. As the sustainability director of a for-profit and socially responsible firm, Godfrey emphasizes the importance of community building and involvement in designing sustainable policies. âOur sustainable cotton farms in India are based on community involvement. It is important to have holistic impacts when it comes to sustainability,â Godfrey explained, âand you need a human heart to make a significant impact.â
The overall conclusion from the panel discussion on sustainability is that the link between politics and business practices in the sustainability framework remains tenuous. While there is a need for stronger legislation, politics can be ineffective and can hinder the changing of norms towards a more sustainable lifestyle. âSustainability is not just about the environment, we should also be thinking about being socially and economically sustainable,â Cousins stated.
Amidst the disgruntled relationship between practitioners and politics in the sustainability industry, optimism still prevails. In fact, as Arvajeh exclaimed, âinnovation is key in sustainability!âÂ
Rebecca Salima Krisel is a first year candidate in the masters of international affairs at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs where she studies environmental policy and management. She is passionate about urban planning and sustainable water resource development.Â
In the lead-up to the 2016 general election in the UK, this year's Sense About Science lecture by Professor Steve Rayner, James Martin Professor of Science and Civilisation and director of the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society at Oxford University, looks at efforts to improve the contribution of science and evidence to policy; how to avoid slipping into technocratic approaches to policymaking; and how to protect scientific thinking from policy demands.
In particular, in his lecture "Science, Technology and Democracy: Dissecting the Anatomies of Controversy", Prof Rayner reflects on how the UK response to climate change has dulled the ability of science to be self-correcting.
The SDGs Need to Emphasize Strong Healthcare Systems
The SDGs Need to Emphasize Strong Healthcare Systems
By Olivia Woldemikael
cuglobemed.com
The three Millennium Development Goals that focus on global health are:
1. Reduce under-five mortality by two-thirds
2. Improve maternal health by reducing the maternal mortality rate by two-thirds and achieving universal access to reproductive health care
3. Prevent new cases of HIV/AIDs and reduce malaria transmission, in addition to attaining universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDs[1].
 According to the 2014 UN report[2], the progress of the MDGs has led to significant advances in the field of global health and has improved the quality of millions of peopleâs lives: The expansion of malaria interventions protected 3.3 million people from contracting the diseaseâthe majority were from a high risk population: children under the age of five. From 1990-2013, child mortality has been reduced by 50% and the rate of maternal has decreased by 45% during this same period.
What we also hope to see in the SDGs is a framework that promotes greater accountability. Who, besides those already lacking access to adequate healthcare and resources, faces the consequences of the failure to accomplish the goals? The MDGs represent an abstract (and incomprehensive) set of objectives that lacked an overarching structure to prescribe specific approaches and policies. Further, the organizations and countries committed to achieving these targets were not held to any set of standards should they fall short of their goals. One remedy to the problem of the accountability that is in line with the GlobeMed model is a greater participation by countries and groups in the Global South in defining the SDGs. Without the inclusion of the voices of people whose lives this project is aimed at improving, these goals will never be accomplished.
Our largest response to the MDGs is that as high-minded as the global health-related objectives were, they failed to address the core global health disparities that assign lower values of humanity to people in the developing world. GlobeMed knows (not believes) that access to healthcare is a human right. The right to health is unconditionally linked to the most basic human rightâthe right to life, and it is unacceptable that based on where you live, your ability to exercise this right is diminished. The MDGs, however, do not acknowledge this. They were based too strongly in the ideal, as if improving global health deficiencies in the Global South can be separated from the larger problem of global inequality.
If anything, the Ebola crisis in West Africa has made clear that there is a fundamental inconsistency on the value placed on human lives. It has emphasized the disproportionate worth of Western lives to the lives of people in the developing world. This gulf can be measured in actual dollar amountsâthe cost of resources spent to airlift Western Ebola patients, in addition to the cost of their isolated care, in material weightâthe pounds and pounds of waste (40 bags a day at the peak)[3]Â produced by treating them, and in the worldâs gazeâthe media attention given one American or European patient rivals the amount of coverage given the thousands of people suffering in the afflicted African nations. The Ebola crisis also reveals the monumental failure of the MDGs to improve primary healthcare systems. Despite billions of dollars funneled into the global health projects, the healthcare sector in West Africa is grievously underequipped, which calls into question and undermines progress made in global health. Emphasis on achieving universal primary healthcare and developing health infrastructure should be present in the new SDGs. Improvement in public health cannot only be measured by mortality rates and disease transmission, or even the ability of a healthcare system to respond in an emergency, but also by the ability of communities and individuals to access health services in everyday life.
Though we believe the MDGs have fallen short of their global health targets, we recognize the danger in the repeated criticism of the methods and the achievements of the MDGs. As our final point, we want to emphasize that the Millennium Development Goals and its associated projects, have increased funding and awareness of critical global health issues of the Global South and have benefitted millions of people both directly and indirectly. The global movement to define and respond to main drivers of poverty has reinvigorated the sphere of development and global health. In no way should imperfectly framed objectives and flawed approaches decrease funding or attention to these problems. Our global financial, cultural, political, and health systems have inequality so deeply entrenched in them that correcting the global balance and addressing deficiencies in the realm of global health will be a long process. That means, we must shift focus away from the short-term limits of the millennium goals and move towards more long-term and sustainable goals for the future.
Olivia Woldemikael is a member of GlobeMed at Columbia University, a chapter of GlobeMed. She is a senior in Columbia College. GlobeMed is a student-run nonprofit that creates long-term partnerships between university chapters and grassroots NGOs in developing countries to advance the movement for global health and social justice.
âWho will tell their stories?â asked Palagummi Sainath in response to my question regarding the similarities in reporting on women and reporting on environmental issues. Keynote speaker of the conference on Global Muckraking: Journalism, Human Rights and Social Change, Mr. Sainath is the foremost Indian journalist writing about Indian poverty and rural development. Â
When he speaks, this writer is passionate about the lives of women living in rural India and their relationship to water. âItâs about the power of solidarity,â he continued.
âWe have the UN led âinternational day of eradicating poverty,â yet I see poverty getting worse in rural India everyday, â declared Mr. Sainath as he gave the all-day Conferenceâs keynote speech. He spoke in a charismatic, and sometimes humorous tone. âWomen [in rural India] spend a third of their lives on just three chores: fetching water, firewood and fauna,â he explained, âAs water sources are being depleted by companies like Coke and Pepsi who are drilling wells for water in India, rural women are forced to walk further and further to fetch water for their families.â
The fine line between journalism and advocacy was the thread of separate panel discussions that were held at this conference. The event took place on Friday October 17th 2014 on the fifteenth floor of the International Affairs building at Columbia University. It was in celebration of the publication of Anya Schiffrinâs newest anthology, Global Muckraking: 100 Years of Investigative Journalism from Around the World published by The New Press.
Ms. Schiffrin is the director of the International Media, Advocacy and Communications specialization at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and the editor of books on contemporary journalistic issues.
The journalists invited to speak across the panels are the modern-day muckrakers, keeping up with century long traditions to uncover political and corporate corruption and bring to light global societal ills. The Muckrakers present at the panel were invited to discuss issues with investigative reporting on women, labor issues and extractives.
 Engaging with an audience of about seventy people, mostly attended by senior level professionals involved in journalism and a dozen students, the speakers often focused on the relationship between journalism and human rights.
âStop taking the advocacy point of view and treat it like itâs investigative journalism, â suggested Howard French, a former New York Times foreign correspondent, now an Associate Professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He was speaking on the panel discussing human rights and the media.
 âThere is very little investigative journalism happening today. Reporters look for information for a story they already want to write,â said Prue Clark, a panelist discussing reporting on women. She is an award winning journalist and co-founder of New Narratives a media development non-governmental organization that provides resources, editorial and business support to leading independent African media organizations. âI believe in the role of journalism for social change,â she continued, âbut it is not a place for advocating. We need objective reporting.â
 Ken Silverstein disagreed. He is the author of The Secret World of Oil published by Verso in 2014 and senior investigative reporter at First Look Media, an online publication committed to editorial independence and dedicated to improving society through journalism and technology. âThereâs nothing wrong with activism in journalism, journalists have points of views,â he declared while participating in a discussion of reporting on oil, gas and coal. âI am not an ideologue, but I have strong views,â he insisted.
The same goes for environmental issues. âJournalism is under-sourced in areas where extracting is happening,â noted the conference organizer, Ms. Schiffrin, who believes there are too few journalists out there covering oil, gas and coal. Part of the problem, Ken Silverstein asserted was due to the audience for whom they are reporting. âWhen you are pitching a story on extractives, you have to make sure you package it as a U.S. story,â Mr. Silverstein noted.
By giving a voice to the voiceless, journalism can bring social change, and this is particularly important when reporting on environmental and womenâs issues. âHow is this getting better for women if they are not even being allowed to exist?â wondered Madhusree Mukerjee, who spoke on the panel about reporting on women. The act of reporting on women gives them existence to the outside world, Ms. Mukerjee, herself a former physicist and science journalist, believes.
Media houses can limit the role of journalists in influencing social change. Many newspapers worldwide are subject to corporate interests, and they report on the news that will sell. This reality, some of the speaker asserted, was especially harmful to those who need a voice the most. In particular, issues involving women and issues involving the environment do not get the coverage needed to bring to light the injustices to which they are subjected.
âIt is time for journalism to do something,â said Mr. Sainath who is known throughout India as the countryâs foremost muckraker, âwe need investigative journalism and we also need to investigate journalism.âÂ
---
Rebecca Salima Krisel is a first year candidate in the masters of international affairs at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs where she studies environmental policy and management. She is passionate about urban planning and sustainable water resource development.Â
Road to 2015: A Pivotal Year for Sustainable Development
RSVP REQUIRED
Monday, November 17, 2014 7-9PM
Lerner Hall, Room 555Â
2920 Broadway, New York, NY 10027
Columbia's Sustainability Media Lab is excited to present Road to 2015: A Pivotal Year for Sustainable Development, a panel discussion on the major development priorities of 2015: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Data Revolution, Financing, and COP21. This event seeks to give the audience of an interested general public a primer on how these key moments will shape development in the coming decades, from experts directly involved in shaping the post-2015 agenda. The panel discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A.Â
Four keynote speakers will present on the following topics:Â
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
 Minh-Thu Pham, Senior Policy Director at United Nations FoundationÂ
Minh-Thu Pham is currently Senior Policy Director at the United Nations Foundation, where she leads strategic initiatives to strengthen the UN's ability to solve global problems, including UNF's effort to support the formulation of the next set of global development goals or the "post-2015 development agenda."
She also teaches international policymaking at Princeton University. She has served in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General for both Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon as policy adviser for strategic planning, leading and managing policy initiatives to strengthen the UN and improve relations between the U.S. and the UN during a particularly difficult phase of that relationship. Minh-Thu has advised the UN special envoy for malaria and the top international official in Bosnia.
Data Revolution for Sustainable DevelopmentÂ
Eric Swanson, Director and Co-founder of Open Data Watch
 Eric Swanson is a co-founder and managing director of Open Data Watch, an NGO dedicated to making data by and about developing countries more widely available. Formerly the manager of the World Bankâs statistical publications and databases, he was the World Bank representative to the United Nationsâ Inter-Agency and Expert Group on the Millennium Development Goals. He holds a PhD in economics from the State University of New York at Buffalo.Â
Financing for Sustainable DevelopmentÂ
 Chantal Line Carpentier, New York Office Chief for the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
 Dr. Chantal Line Carpentier, a Canadian economist, specialized in sustainable agriculture, development, trade, and consumption and production joined UNCTAD in July 2014, after 7 years of supporting the intergovernmental processes at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs , Division for Sustainable Development including for Rio+20 Conference and the Sustainable Development Goals for the Post 2015 development agenda. She also led the participation of non-state actors into these processes. She is a 2006 Yale World Fellow and as consulted for UNDP, World Bank, OCDE, and USDA.  Dr. Carpentier regularly publishes journal articles, book chapters, and Secretary General Reports. She is an ultramarathoner and ironman.Â
 21st Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP21)
 Tracy Raczek, Climate Policy Advisor for the UN Secretary-General's Climate Change Support Team (CCST)
 Tracy Raczek is a Climate Policy Advisor in the United Nations Secretary Generalâs Climate Change Team. Previously, she provided technical support to UN delegations in various negotiation processes and is credited with spearheading UN Womenâs integration of gender and environment related issues. She led or contributed to dozens of UN publications, including the Secretary-Generalâs High-Level Panel for Global Sustainability report; and has over ten years of experience before joining the UN in the environmental field as well as in education and social justice advocacy.
  Important Details
 RSVP is required by 11/15 for entrance if you do not have a CUID. Please connect with us on FB and Twitter; video recording of the entire event will be uploaded within a week. Â
The event will also be livestreamed at bit.ly/WatchRoadTo2015.
Join the conversation online & TWEET questions to the panelists at @SustMediaLab + #RoadTo2015! Tell your friends & colleagues to RSVP at bit.ly/Road-to-2015!
Directions
The event will be held in Room 555 of Lerner Hall at Columbia University. The building is located on campus, near the corner of 115th and Broadway. Take the 1 train to 116th Street Columbia University stop, enter through the main gates, and follow the arrows to the public Lerner entrance.
Detailed driving directions along with alternate transportation options and parking can be found on the Columbia University website.
 This event is free and open to the public; RSVP is required for entry into Lerner! Please direct any questions, including press inquiries, to [email protected].
The Sustainability Media Lab is a student initiative at Columbia working to make sustainable development more accessible, relevant, and compelling across all media. This event is cosponsored by Consilience: The Journal for Sustainable Development, FeelGood, and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).Â
Q: Thereâs so much bad news and warnings that have been reported in recent years. How do you keep a certain numbness from setting in on the part of readers?
A:Â The grim news can be overwhelming â droughts, fires, flooding, deforestation, etc. But there is a lot happening around the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. Germany is on track to get close to 30 percent of its energy from renewables this year, for example, as we reported in a recent front-page article. The cost of wind and solar energy is dropping fast around the world.
Interesting interview in which Adam Bryant, New York Times' new Environment Editor, discusses uncertainty, false equivalency, and optimism in climate change reporting.Â
