Founded within the Columbia University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, this center operates based on the firm belief that local environments, economies, and societies are so tightly interwoven and interdependent that one cannot thrive without the others. They are all “in it together”. Consequently, communities and businesses ought to suppo the government in its efforts to protect the environment by recognizing its social and economic value by the former and investing in it to promote sustainable economic growth by the latter. CEES is funded by more than a dozen foundation grants and gifts. It employs a two-pronged strategy to promote its values based on Applied Research and Implementation coupled with a focus on Education, Professional Development, and Outreach.

Initiatives:

• The Rainforest Standard: the world’s first integrated forest carbon credit standard tailored to accommodate the Amazon region and the demands of emerging carbon markets.
• Amazon Forest Carbon Partnership: a collaboration to reduce carbon emissions and provide an economic alternative for forest-dwelling communities and commercial enterprises in the Amazon.

Programs:

• Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Economic Growth: management and creation of economic growth consistent with sustainable natural resources and social capacities of communities.
• Environmental Protection through Incentives and Commerce: creation of a case study library composed of analyses of incentive-based approaches to conservation.
• Integrated Ecology Curriculum and Columbia Environmental Education at a Distance: a context-based curriculum promoting cross-disciplinary collaborations between teachers and engaging middle school students in the experiential learning of environmental science.
• New York Times Institute on Environmental Journalism: an annual 5-day institute providing journalists with training in the latest environmental science, economics, and business.