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- Course
One in three seems to be the indicative number. 30% of earth’s land area is covered by forests (5000 years ago it was 50%); one third of current total CO2 emissions are reabsorbed by forests; one third of humanity cooks with wood every day; agroforestry is the preferred system for these same 2 billion people. Hundreds of millions of indigenous peoples have their native land in forests. The biodiversity score is much higher: more than half of all of earth’s species are found in forests (about 25% are in the oceans); forests are the major system for fresh water conservation; and the traded value of global forest products is about $300 billion. Finally, to be in the forest (especially with your
eyes open) makes life worth living.
Forests are therefore intimately connected with climate, water, biodiversity, food production, global poverty, indigenous people, and human spiritual well-being; not to mention the major global industries based on them. They are best understood when considered holistically, and that is the approach of this course. We will examine all the
issues mentioned above and their connections with forests to develop a comprehensive understanding of them. We will study both forest ecology, economics and business. We will examine indigenous peoples’ vision and view of forests and nature. We will delve deeply into the role of forests in climate change; forests both absorb and produce
CO2 emissions. We will consider temperate, tropical and boreal forests. On Saturday field trips we will learn to measure forest biomass, commercial volume and carbon content. We will learn to financially analyze forest business ventures. Students will produce reports at the end of the course on one of the connections outlined above
or on a country of interest. Mid semester, students will develop analytical work products on measurement andfinancial analysis.
Without an understanding of forests, one’s grasp of all the issues mentioned above is incomplete. Also forests provide a rather straight-forward context for understanding and analyzing many issues that are critical to all areas of sustainability. We will utilize the forest context to better understand, for example, management of water, biodiversity, poverty alleviation, environmental justice, forest industries and the global carbon cycle and climate. In other words, skills acquired here will be useful in other fields of study. The instructor managed forest projects for UNDP in many countries for many years. He also lived and worked in Colombia, Puerto Rico, Italy, Australia, and Argentina for 16 years. We will weave these experiences into our study of principles. I (to switch the pronoun) am also available throughout the semester for any career discussions students may wish to pursue.
- Topics on: Ecology
- Course
Agriculture is at a pivotal point in addressing climate change, facing the dual challenge of being both a victim and a contributor to it. As other sectors reduce their carbon footprints, agriculture’s emissions could rise without intervention. This sector must now embrace transformative actions, including regenerative practices and smart technologies, to adapt and mitigate climate impacts. This urgency was highlighted in global discussions, like at the COP28 meetings in the UAE, focusing on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) – an approach integrating cropland,
livestock, forests, and fisheries to tackle food security and climate change.
This course is tailored for future sustainability leaders, offering a deep dive into the intersection of climate change and agriculture. With climate change threatening to reduce global crop yields significantly, understanding and addressing these challenges is critical. The course explores CSA solutions, from AI and IOT to hydroponics and
urban agriculture, emphasizing adaptive strategies for diverse environments. Students will analyze key agricultural regions and crops, assess real-world challenges, and discuss successful adaptation strategies.
The course demands analytical thinking and practical application of climate-smart solutions in assignments reflecting real-world challenges. Through this, students will enhance their ability to convert theory into actionable strategies, preparing them for roles in the $1+ trillion US agriculture sector or the global sustainable agriculture industry.
- Topics on: Food
- Course
This class provides a broad, quantitative introduction to the science underlying our understanding of the Earth’s climate system. Students will first learn the basic, fundamental concepts of energy transfer, the greenhouse effect, and general circulation in the climate system. We will then build on these ideas to explore more specialized topics,
including climate variability now and in the past, the signs of climate change, climate models, extreme events, and projections of future climate. Lectures and slides will draw from the scientific literature, as well as the latest IPCC Assessment Report (AR6). By the end, students will have a working knowledge of the climate system, giving them
the knowledge and skills to evaluate statements and claims in the media and from their peers. Limited math (basic algebra) will be necessary for some of the assignments. All lectures will be recorded, and all slide decks will be uploaded to Courseworks after class.
- Topics on: Ecology
- Course
The main topics covered in this course include generation of solid waste in municipal, commercial and industrial sectors with proper identification and characterization of various waste streams involved with emphasis on waste prevention in terms of mass, volume and toxicity at the source, along the processing phase and at the disposal
facility, as well as waste minimization by waste reuse and recycling in major commercial and industrial sectors (such as paper, glass, plastics, metals, wood, tire, electronics and construction/demolition wastes) including analysis of state-of-art technologies.
In addition, various collection and transport methods are covered along with all typical disposal methods, including incineration, sanitary landfill, composting, recovery and reutilization. Economic evaluations of factors affecting selection of disposal methods and its impact of reuse/recycling along with all applicable local, state and
national legislative trends and regulatory requirements.
- Topics on: Waste
- Course
Ask a layperson to define “resilience” and you may hear a response that focuses on the capacity to recover from disaster. Another might focus instead on the capacity within regular conditions to absorb an unanticipated shock. Both definitions – recovery and bandwidth – are correct, although each references different values placed on what
constitutes status quo. Resilience can also refer to an individual, a society, a physical environment, a nation or a species. This course will begin with these definitions, then move on to considering how the built environment can serve to support multiscalar resilience as well as a sustainability agenda. It will consider solutions that encourage
social equity, make economic sense and can be tailored to the myriad environmental hazards that our increasing encroachment on a changing natural context produce.
A sustainable and resilient built environment is part of a dynamic system. Conventional infrastructure and buildings have aimed to hold back or transform the non-anthropogenic forces around it. In this course, we will work to understand how manmade conditions can also accommodate and adapt to changing environmental conditions, especially those that have the potential to destroy. We will discuss solutions that allow us to be responsive and adaptive to change. 21
st century civic infrastructure can contribute to improving the way cities
respond to long-term and catastrophic climate events while also enhancing their citizens’ daily lives. We will study techniques and conditions contributing to this change in approach, and have the opportunity to apply our findings in a concrete setting. In past iterations of this course, students have developed solutions for sites in Brooklyn and Bronx, NY; New Rochelle, NY; Butte, Montana; Bridgeport, Ct; and Blue Island, Ford Heights and Robbins, Il. Last year, we looked
at a site closer to us, Newark, NJ, and at the simultaneous challenges of urban heat island, energy insecurity, surface water and coastal flooding at the infrastructural crossroads of the US East Coast. This year, we will travel north to Providence, where we will collaborate with students in the Architecture Department at Rhode Island School of Design to explore four distinct resource flows that are vital to the city but are currently subject to reinvention relative to mitigation of climate change impacts and adaptation to climate change. As always in this
course, issues of environmental equity and civic opportunity will be foregrounded. A weekend workshop will inaugurate the projects that this class will complete over the semester.
The purpose is to envision what is needed for our physical environment to attain and maintain resilience, from the scale of the person all the way up to the scale of regional infrastructure. We will also consider the cultural shifts required for urban systems to become sustainable. And we will ask fundamental questions about how resilience and sustainability can be made relevant to social, spatial and technological approaches to the physical world. This class will also teach you how to visualize, diagram and convey these vital ideas.
- Topics on: Infrastructure, Resilence
- Course
Achieving sustainability requires an understanding of the capacities and dynamics of ecosystems, including their long-term ability to produce resources and to assimilate waste. Students will learn not only the fundamentals of ecology and environmental science, but also how to reconcile the disconnect between human actions and ecological consequences – as well as why managers should care. We will explore the science behind current issues in biodiversity, energy, agriculture, equity, freshwater use, marine conservation, and climate change.
- Topics on: Ecology, Science
- Course
The human population is expected to continue rising over the coming century. The UN, for example, projects that it will exceed 11.2 billion (range: 7.3-16.6 billion) by 2100. Importantly, all population growth after 2030 will be entirely in the world’s cities, largely in developing countries. Developing world urban populations are projected to
increase from 2.6 billion in 2010 to 7.8 billion in 2100. In response to this wave of population growth and urbanization, governments and the private sector will invest an estimated US$90 trillion in infrastructure by 2030 (or about $6 trillion a year. Approximately three-quarters of this infrastructure will be in urban areas and much of this investment will be in developing countries.
Infrastructure includes the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g. buildings, roads, water and power supplies) that keep societies operating. Choices in infrastructure can have lasting impact, as projects are large, expensive and long-lived, helping to lock-in development pathways. Deployed urban infrastructure made over the
next 10 to 15 years can have mid- to long-term implications for global sustainability.
What are urban infrastructures that promote sustainability? Such infrastructure must reduce environmental pollution at all scales, provide necessary urban services efficiently and enhance urban resilience to multiple potential crises (i.e., natural and industrial, climate-related and pandemic hazards). Sustainable infrastructure also must promote social and economic equity and environmental justice. And sustainable infrastructure must be economically feasible.
This class will use these concepts to evaluate urban infrastructure and identify challenges and to make urban infrastructure sustainable. Importantly, the course will use theories of urban transitions to help identify the drivers of potential change in infrastructure development and envision the emergence of sustainable infrastructure. This class
will examine these notions across the energy, transportation, water supply and waste water treatment, buildings, health and open space urban sectors.
The proposed course fulfills Curriculum Area 3, Physical Dimensions of Sustainability, in the Sustainability Management program. The physical dimensions requirement teaches students about the connections between environmental inputs (i.e., natural resources) and outputs (i.e., energy), and their effects on the natural environment. The emphasis in this requirement will be on understanding the environmental impacts from organizational activities. The planning, design or architecture courses give students a foundation in planning, design and spatial issues. This is particularly important, as many sustainability initiatives concern land use, buildings and other physical entities. The sustainability of the built environment on an urban scale is a major area of environmental impact, and a field in which many of our students find work. While our curriculum includes a course on sustainable cities (SUMA PS4130 Sustainable Cities) and on infrastructure (SUMA PS5690 Environmental Infrastructure for Sustainable Cities), we
were looking for a course that provides an overview of the sustainable built environment and answers the following questions: What are its elements (e.g., buildings, parks, water systems, energy, transportation, etc.)? How does a city transition from the current built environment to the sustainable one? How do the pieces fit together and how does
one plan or make policy choices among these elements? What issues do private and public decision makers face? The proposed course complements our existing curriculum, addresses these questions, and provides students with the tools to address climate change through the sustainable built environment, preparing them for careers in
sustainable planning and the management of cities with a focus on infrastructural technologies.
- Topics on: Infrastructure
- Course
Biodiversity, a term popularized in the 1980s, refers to the variety of life at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels. It is crucial for sustainability, as it supports ecosystems that underpin human life, economic activities, and ecological stability. The loss of biodiversity threatens essential ecosystem services like clean air, water filtration, climate regulation, and food security. This course explores how climate change, both current and projected, impacts biodiversity and how natural ecosystems influence greenhouse gas concentrations. Human survival depends on these ecosystems, yet there is uncertainty about how much biodiversity loss can be tolerated. Climate change now poses as serious a threat to biodiversity as direct development activities. Understanding the science behind these threats is essential for sustainability students, and this course aims to provide that knowledge.
Uniquely, this course is taught through collaboration among the SUMA professors who otherwise teach biodiversity classes of their own. Indeed, this course has incorporated several SUMA faculty as guest lecturers partly to ensure full compatibility and complementarity of different courses. We will study biodiversity and climate change in both
terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems, including urban and agricultural landscapes. There is great biodiversity, and great threats to it, in all these ecosystems. Sustainable management of all these different ecosystems can help conserve biodiversity and reduce the rate of climate change. In fact, natural ecosystems have a very significant role in both emissions and sequestration of carbon. Over half of current emissions are absorbed by the forests and oceans rather than remaining in the atmosphere.
Simultaneously, tropical deforestation across the globe produces CO2 emissions equal to the total current emissions of the United States. Forest fires in Canada have produced emissions equal to the total fossil fuel based emissions of that country. Thawing of permafrost in the arctic north is one of the positive feedback loops, warming leading tomore warming that has catastrophic potential. In studying biodiversity, we will examine ecosystems and species such as muskoxen, whales, penguins, primates, tree frogs, and monarch butterflies. We will also explore human practices like agriculture, forest management, hunting, and fishing, which affect both carbon and biodiversity and rely on climate stability. Students will learn how climate and natural ecosystems interact, a crucial first step toward actions needed to sustain life on Earth. While some readings may be challenging for those without an ecology background, support will be available. Students with prior ecology knowledge should find the course particularly informative.
- Topics on: Biodiversity, Ecology
- Course
Often described as “twin crises,” climate change and biodiversity loss are among the most urgent sustainability challenges to be addressed in our modern era. While much focus has rightfully been placed on climate change mitigation actions at local, regional, and global scales, biodiversity loss is less often addressed by governments, institutions, industries, and individuals as a critical piece of the sustainability puzzle. Yet climate change and biodiversity loss are inextricably linked, and without biodiversity and the associated ecosystem services and
biospheric resilience upon which human society relies, a sustainable world is not possible. Moreover, certain climate change mitigation actions can actually be to the detriment of biological diversity.
Unlike a traditional conservation biology course geared towards ecologists and biologists, this course will be taught through the lens of sustainability management, equipping sustainability managers with the knowledge and direction needed to begin integrating biodiversity conservation and restoration into their professions. This course will
illuminate the critical importance of biodiversity to sustainability and human well-being, the science and politics behind the current biodiversity crisis, and proposals, policies, and actions for bending the curve of biodiversity loss to create more sustainable and equitable outcomes for both humans and the non-humans with which we share our planet.
Students who seek to deepen their understanding of ecological sustainability and address the biodiversity crisis through the lens of sustainability management are encouraged to take this course. This course is an on-campus elective and fulfills 3 credits within the Physical Dimensions of Sustainability Management curriculum area in the
Master of Science in Sustainability Management program. Cross-registration is available to students outside of the Master of Science in Sustainability Management program, space permitting.
- Topics on: Biodiversity, Ecology
- Course
This course facilitates learning about 1) basic principles related to ecological interactions of life on Earth, 2) the causes and consequences of ecological patterns and processes in urban environments, and 3) how ecology can inform sustainability decision-making in cities.
This course addresses the physical dimensions of sustainability management and the connections between the natural and built environments. The beginning of the course offers a brief overview of ecology and ecosystems – both urban and non-urban. This is followed by an in-depth exploration of urban nature, ecosystem services, conservation of urban biodiversity, and best practices for applying lessons from nature to our own pursuit of sustainability. This course aims to provide students with an understanding of the ways in which ecological perspectives can contribute to an interdisciplinary approach to solving environmental problems facing human society, particularly in the urban environment.
Towards that end, this course covers topics ranging from applied ecology and conservation biology to sustainable development. It uses a cross-disciplinary approach to understand the nature of ecology and biological conservation as well as the social, philosophical, and economic dimensions of land use strategies. Although in some ways cities may seem to be isolated from what we would otherwise call “nature,” they are not, and this is a major theme of this course.
We will discuss ecosystem function, evolutionary processes, biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem service valuation in cities. Additionally, we will explore the latest ideas and strategies for improving ecological functioning and biodiversity in urban environments such as green infrastructure and nature-based solutions.
This course is an on-campus elective offered during the Spring semester and fulfills 3 credits within the Physical Dimensions of Sustainability Management curriculum area in the Master of Science in Sustainability Management program. Cross-registration is available to students outside of the Master of Science in Sustainability Management
program, space permitting.
- Topics on: Biodiversity, Ecology
- Course
This course covers all topics and material about water sustainability, the global water crisis and the impacts from climate change. It is a comprehensive introductory water resource class that all sustainable-minded professionals should have. The topics and materials studied in the class strikes a balance for management, business, science, and
technical specialists.
The sustainability of water has become an increasingly critical issue, and over the coming decade, as awareness and resources go into addressing public health, economics, growing development, climate and weather changes, and aging infrastructure. Water resources are affected by changes not only in climate but also in population, economic
growth, technological and scientific changes, and other socioeconomic factors. In addition, they serve a dual purpose; water resources are critical to both human society and natural ecosystems. The objective of this course is to provide a fundamental understanding of key global water challenges and hydrological processes in the natural and
built environment. We will then use this understanding to explore aspects of sustainable strategies for integrated and climate-resilient water resources management. We will explore the roles of humans as an integral part of the water cycle: how we use our water resources and how our actions help shape the water cycle. In addition, students will be
encouraged to think about how climate change will impact water resources.
Ultimately, students will gain insights on the world’s water resources and how to manage them in a sustainable way. Case studies will be highlighted throughout the course as well as the practical challenges faced by water practitioners (researchers, water and sustainability policy makers and managers, technologists). The course consists of 10 lectures; group, individual and discussion board assignments; and a final project/paper submission and presentation. The final project will involve submission of a brief proposal (2 pages max), a final paper presenting the student’s research on a specific question of their choice (15 pages max), and a final presentation (10 minutes). Depending on class size, the final project can be either individual or group of 2. This elective course is open to all who are interested in water resources, including students from other programs. The course is offered
in-person, but remote attendance can be accommodated when needed (e.g., sickness requiring isolation).
- Topics on: Resilence, Water
- Course
Global greenhouse gas emissions are now at a record high, and the world’s scientific community agrees
that continued unabated release of greenhouse gases will have catastrophic consequences. Many efforts
to curb greenhouse gas emissions, both public and private, have been underway for decades, yet it is
now clear that collectively these efforts are failing, and that far more concerted efforts are necessary. In
December 2015, the world’s nations agreed in Paris to take actions to limit the future increase in global
temperatures well below to 2°C, while pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to
1.5°C. The importance of limiting global temperature increases to 1.5°C was highlighted by the IPCC SR15
report, which increased global urgency around this objective. Achieving this goal will require mitigation
of greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors, both public and private. Critical to any attempt to mitigate
greenhouse gas emissions is a clear, accurate understanding of the sources and levels of greenhouse gas
emissions. This course will address all facets of greenhouse gas emissions accounting and reporting and
will provide students with tangible skills needed to direct such efforts in the future.
Students in this course will gain hands-on experience designing and executing greenhouse gas emissions
inventories, employing all necessary skills including the identification of analysis boundaries, acquisition
of data, calculation of emissions levels, and reporting of results. In-class workshops and exercises will
complement papers and group assignments. A key component of this exercise will be critical evaluation
of both existing and emerging accounting and reporting protocols.
This course will introduce many of the challenges facing carbon accounting practitioners and will require
students to recommend solutions to these challenges derived through critical analysis. Classes will
examine current examples of greenhouse gas reporting efforts and will allow students the opportunity to
recommend improved calculation and reporting methods.
Assignments will consist of readings and technical analysis projects. Students are expected to have basic
experience using Microsoft Excel and basic quantitative skills. However, full Excel proficiency is not
required.
- Topics on: Decarbonization, Reporting and Measurement
- Course
Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is a policy assessment method that quantifies the value of policy consequences
(usually called impacts) in monetary terms to all members of society. The purpose of a CBA is to help effective
social decision making through efficient allocation of society’s resources when markets fail. When markets fail and
resources are used inefficiently, CBA can be used to clarify which of the potential alternative programs, policies or
projects (including the status quo) is the most efficient.
The course introduces practitioners of sustainability management & sustainability science to the techniques of
preparing a CBA, including microeconomic foundations, valuation methods, discounting, the impact of uncertainty
and optionality, and distributional consequences. The course provides a basic introduction to revealed preference,
contingent valuation and benefits transfer method of valuing environmental impacts.
The use and interpretation of CBA in specific cases is critically evaluated, with a detailed examination of alternative
approaches. Worked examples and case studies are integral to each topic. Although the techniques of CBA are
generally associated with social decision-making, we will examine case studies involving both social and private
decisions.
This course is both for those who want to perform CBA and those who want to know how to understand and
interpret it: in other words, the various clients of CBA. Students are assumed to have had no previous exposure to
economics. Students who have had an undergraduate course in intermediate microeconomics or taken Economics of
Sustainability Management will be adequately prepared to excel in the course. Those who have not had such
preparation will need to work hard to absorb the theoretical concepts along with the applications. However, it is not
uncommon for students with little economics preparation to excel in a course on CBA. In the absence of any
economics preparation, it is useful to have some mathematical fluency. If you are concerned about your level of
mathematics preparation, you are strongly encouraged to attend the Math Camp provided during the first few
weekends of the Fall semester or to go through the notes and exercises in the Foundations course site.
- Topics on: Economics
- Course
Data science is an exciting new field of applied research that takes advantage of the ever-growing volume of data
being collected to support decision-making in both the public and private sectors. Similar to traditional statistical
analysis, these new approaches have limits and issues that are important to understand before application to problem
solving. This is a full semester course taught in person. It aims to introduce the common methods used in data
science, best practices in data management, and the basic scripting skills required to start analyzing data in R and
Python. After introducing foundational scripting and data analysis methods, a case study approach will be used to
highlight both what can be accomplished with data analysis and the limits of the data and methods used. Lab
exercises will teach basic skills in scripting in Python and R and then move to a common approach for data analysis:
adapting existing scripts and software libraries to solve applied data problems.
The requirement to understand the interaction of social and natural systems requires data-driven policy decisions,
and the ongoing assessment of policies requires rigorous, reproducible assessments of effectiveness for promoting
sustainability. Both requirements can be met in part by data science approaches that are applicable to the natural and
social sciences and reproducible in academic and applied settings. Data science techniques have been developed to
derive insight from large volumes of available data that are often collected for purposes other than the interests of
the data scientist. This flexibility in approach means that the techniques used in data science are well adapted to
support gaining insights from data relevant for sustainability science. This course has been designed to introduce
these techniques in anticipation of increased use in promoting sustainability.
The course has no prerequisites; however, an understanding of statistics and probability will be very useful
background, and any previous programming or scripting skills will be applicable to the lab assignments. This course
satisfies the M.S. in Sustainability Management program’s Area 2: Quantitative Analysis requirement. The course
is open, space permitting, to cross-registrants from other fields and/or Columbia University programs.
- Topics on: Analytics, Data Science
- Course
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a methodology to assess the environmental impact of products, services, and
industrial processes, is an increasingly important tool in corporate sustainability management.
The course will provide continuous context regarding the need for environmental analysis of product design,
services, and industrial processes. LCA will be thoroughly explained and conducted, including both the advantages
and shortcomings. The course will humanize the environmental data through readings and discussion. Design
strategies will also be examined as a larger system context for which to conduct an LCA.
The course also covers the application of LCA metrics in a companies’ management and discusses the logical
weaknesses that make such an application difficult, including how these can be overcome. Product carbon
foot-printing (as one form of LCA) receives particular focus, owing to its widespread practical use in recent and
future sustainability management.
- Topics on: Impact, Reporting and Measurement
- Course
We begin by introducing the linkages between the environment and the economy. We discuss methods by which
aggregate resource allocation decisions occur in capitalist economies, with implications for social welfare and
economic efficiency. We briefly discuss the policy and welfare implications of perfectly competitive markets that
represent an idealized analytical benchmark. We then analyze markets where the benchmark assumptions do not
hold. We see how a laissez-faire approach leads to inefficient outcomes in the presence of “market failures” such as
monopoly power, externalities, and public goods.
We discuss the appropriateness of various public policy options (taxes, subsidies, regulations, public provision of
goods and services) to correct these failures. We examine practical steps in the implementation of these tools by
studying environmental valuation techniques and cost-benefit analysis. We examine “government failure” to
consider the limits of regulatory intervention arising from asymmetric information and the limitations of political
economy.
We then analyze more sophisticated regulatory approaches that consider information problems. We also study the
possibilities for sustainability that arise from corporate social responsibility. We examine basic techniques of
renewable and non-renewable resource management. We analyze the implications of risk management methods for
resource allocation.
- Topics on: Economics
- Course
The course provides an overview of the scenario analysis and climate risk modeling process for corporate issuers
and government entities. There is a brief introduction to the climate models utilized by the IPCC, both global and
regional. There is a description of the scenario generation and analysis process, with linkages to benchmark
scenarios outlined by international bodies. This is followed by a review of the linkages between climate models and
socio-economic variables in the form of integrated assessment models, Ricardian models and economic input-output
analysis. There is one module on the information systems needed to ensure good adaptation and a review of best
practices and guidelines for climate risk management strategies. Integrated examples of climate risk and
opportunities for specific issuers are discussed in the last 2 classes. The problem sets and exercises are designed to
provide practice in applying high-level guidelines and climate damage relationships to the strategies and operations
of specific countries, industries and companies.
- Topics on: Business, Governance, Reporting and Measurement
- Course
Modernizing energy systems is essential for achieving a sustainable future. In the 18th century, society’s dependence
on whale oil for lighting nearly drove whale populations to extinction—until the invention of kerosene provided a
cheaper, more efficient alternative. This historical shift illustrates how technological breakthroughs can
fundamentally resolve systemic crises. Today, fossil fuels present an even greater environmental and geopolitical
challenge. The solution lies in the electrification of energy consumption and the rapidly declining costs of renewable
energy. Although electricity currently accounts for about 20% of global final energy consumption, it is projected to
exceed 50% by mid-century. This transition—driven by renewables like solar and wind—demands a modernized
grid capable of reducing carbon emissions, meeting growing energy needs, and managing complex operational
dynamics.
The IES course dives into how intelligent energy systems can help solve some of the biggest challenges in today’s
clean energy transition. As we shift away from fossil fuels toward electricity powered by renewables like solar and
wind, the power grid must also evolve. Right now, electricity makes up just 20% of global energy use—but that
number is expected to rise to over 50% by mid-century. To keep up, we need smarter, more flexible grids that can
handle things like energy intermittency, curtailment, and growing demand. Technologies like Battery Energy Storage
Systems (BESS) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are key to making this happen. In this course, you’ll learn how these
tools are already reshaping the energy industry—and gain the practical skills to be part of this transformation.
This elective course is designed for students in Columbia University’s Master of Science in Sustainability
Management program, particularly those interested in the intersection of renewable energy, technology, and
environmental stewardship. The program is dedicated to preparing professionals with the knowledge and tools to
develop and implement effective sustainability strategies. This course supports that mission by emphasizing
transformative technologies in grid modernization, highlighting the pivotal roles of AI and BESS.
- Topics on: Energy, Innovation, Technology
- Course
At the end of this course, students will be prepared to fully evaluate the technical and financial aspects of a solar
project. They will be equipped with skills allowing them to either develop or rigorously vet solar project proposals.
The course introduces and provides students with a holistic understanding of the end-to-end solar development
process. The course has two goals:
1. To provide students a deep understanding of the dozens of critical interrelated steps critical to developing a
successful operating solar project.
2. To equip the students with the tools and understanding of the skills necessary to develop a solar project
beginning with site selection encompassing the entire process to commissioning and operations.
- Topics on: Energy, Finance, Solar, Technology
- Course
This survey course examines a range of sustainable and impact investing fixed income and equity products
before transitioning to the asset owner perspective on sustainable and impact investing. Each class session
includes elements of financial analysis, financial structure, social or environmental impact, and policy and
regulatory context. Brief guest lectures, podcasts, and three experiential exercises bring these topics to life.
At the end of the course, each student will be able to (i) construct a diversified portfolio of impact
investments based on the range of products tackled in class, (ii) integrate ESG into debt and equity valuation,
(iii) develop an impact investing product that an asset manager or investment bank could launch, (iv) develop
an impact investing strategy for an asset owner, and (v) lead either side of the investor-corporate dialogue on
sustainability. The lectures are designed to prepare students for both the impact investing product
development exercise and the impact investing asset owner strategy exercise, and these two exercises are
designed to prepare students for impact investing leadership over the course of their careers.
As an early innovator in social finance, dating back 24 years, the instructor provides students with a practical
toolkit, honed by making mainstream financial institutions and products more beneficial to a broader range
of stakeholders and making specialist impact investment firms more relevant to and integrated with
mainstream markets.
The course has no prerequisites; however, an understanding of finance and completing the SUMA Foundations
Module will be useful background. Homework assignment 0 is a mandatory review of introductory finance.
This course satisfies the M.S. in Sustainability Management program’s Area 5: General and Financial
Management requirement.
- Topics on: Finance, Investing