Yale’s first-ever climate summit, held in New York Sept. 24 to 27, 2024, highlighted the breadth and depth of the university community’s work to address the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Under the banner of Yale Planetary Solutions (YPS), Yale scholars and other thought leaders in a wide range of fields converged at the Yale Club of New York City to explore and advance solutions to climate threat.
The four-day Yale @ Climate Week NYC summit opened with a lineup that included a live-interview with former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ’66, who served as the inaugural U.S. special envoy for climate, and a panel discussion about the leadership required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the kinds of policies that can result in meaningful change, hosted by Daniel Esty, the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale, and featuring U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ’78 of Rhode Island; Rob Bonta ’93, ’98 J.D., California’s attorney general; and Fred Krupp ’75, president of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and a current Yale trustee.
Among 20-some other events involving a wide variety of Yale and guest experts was a discussion with Tom Steyer ’79, the investor, business leader, and champion for climate action, on strategies for building a clean energy economy.
Choices made by today’s leaders — including those at Yale — will affect generations to come, said Yale President Maurie McInnis who, along with Provost Scott Strobel, welcomed guests on the summit’s opening day.
“That’s why I’m so proud of the work that Yale Planetary Solutions is doing — bringing together research, scholarship, operations, and experimentation to usher in a new era of collaboration and innovation in the ways we do our work at Yale, but also demonstrating that work to the rest of the world,” McInnis said.
The summit’s broad cross-disciplinary scope — including experts in law, engineering, public health, architecture, chemistry, entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as artists and musicians — reflected the ambitious mission of YPS, a university-wide initiative that since 2020 has fostered collaborations across the Yale community.
On this page, read more about the summit and find selected coverage of related people, research, and sustainability at Yale.
Climate Week
- Tackling multilateralism and environmental governance at Climate Week
- Yale Blue Green on the scene at Climate Week NYC
- Cities, children, and health: YCCCH at Climate Week NYC
- New incentives boost corporate climate justice ventures
- Yale at Climate Week NYC: Four-day summit kicks off Tuesday
- As global climate leaders converge in New York, Yale to host major summit
- At Climate Week, Yale startups will pitch innovative climate solutions
- Synergies, solutions, communication to be Climate Week focal points
- Yale School of Public Health urges bold action at Climate Week NYC
- On message: Linking climate change and extreme weather
- Voluntary carbon market 2.0, let’s talk
People and research
- New vice provost helps focus Yale’s commitment to planetary solutions
- Examining the scientific underpinnings of hurricane season
- Sounding the alarm about disposable plastic in the health care industry
- Study: Oil sands pollutants greatly exceed previous reports
- Finding new ways to make computing greener
- Uncovering the health impacts of climate change — and finding solutions
- Greater access to clean water, thanks to a better membrane
- The economic consequences of climate change: A Q&A with William Nordhaus
- At Yale, an effort to split water with record efficiency
