School Notes: School of the Environment
January/February 2009

United States needs to adapt to climate change

While some influential studies suggest that moderate climate change will not be very damaging to the United States as a whole and will bring some benefits, a new report published by the environment school maintains that organizations, firms, and households in the United States that are at the highest risk of sustaining damage from climate change are not adapting enough to the dangers posed by rising temperatures. Retired professor Robert Repetto, author of "The Climate Crisis and the Adaptation Myth," and a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation, says that private- and public-sector organizations face significant obstacles to adaptation because of uncertainties over the occurrence of climate change at the regional and local levels, over the future frequency of extreme weather events, and over the ecological, economic, and other impacts of climate change. "To say that the United States has the technological, economic, and human capacity to adapt to climate change does not imply that the United States will adapt," said Repetto. "Without national leadership and concerted efforts to remove these barriers and obstacles, adaptation to climate change is likely to continue to lag." The report is available for download at the environment school's website.

Yale conference explores sustainability of biofuels

Biofuels tend to be thought of as eco-friendly alternatives to gasoline and diesel, but there is growing concern that the biofuel industry could be causing adverse impacts on the environment. A December conference cosponsored by the environment school and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute explored the impacts of biofuel production on the environment, and covered such topics as the social implications of biofuel production on indigenous communities; whether biofuels increase greenhouse gas emissions; and the economic implications of the expanding biofuel industry for tropical forests and rural communities in parts of Mexico and Central America. The bilingual conference "Biofuels and Neotropical Forests: Trends, Implications, and Emerging Alternatives" took place in Panama City, Panama.

Carbon finance market may have environmental impact

The emerging carbon finance market is poised to play a critical role in addressing the problem of climate change, according to a report issued by the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale (CBEY). The book, Carbon Finance: Environmental Market Solutions to Climate Change, grew out of a carbon finance speaker series sponsored by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and organized by the CBEY, in which corporate leaders and investors from around the world discussed how financial markets are playing a major, positive role in providing solutions to environmental problems. The publication is available at the environment school's website.