Climate Action

About the Goal

The United Nations is advocating for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by 2030.

Northwestern is engaged in a broad range of research projects and other initiatives aimed at combatting climate change, including research examining global climate governance, effective climate activism, emerging green technologies and risk management as it relates to climate change. Other initiatives at Northwestern addressing SDG #13 include collaborative and interdisciplinary research addressing the disproportionate impacts of climate change on marginalized communities, and programming dedicated to fostering ethical environmental stewardship.

Northwestern Experts and Initiatives

Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy

Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy aims to advance global sustainability and energy solutions through transformational research, interdisciplinary education, and public engagement. Trienens Institute work spans a wide range of disciplines and schools across Northwestern. Trienens Institute work centers on basic discovery science for next generation solar technologies, catalysis and sustainable materials, and carbon management, and the translational impact of this research for smart cities, climate impact, and the energy-water nexus. Enabled by cross-cutting capabilities at Northwestern in economics and business, public health, law, and communications, the Institute is ideally positioned to build on the University’s global sustainability and energy leadership.

Climate Change Research Group

The Climate Change Research Group (CCRG) at Northwestern University uses numerical models, environmental observations, and statistical analyses to study a diverse array of climate-focused subjects and phenomena. The CCRG is particularly interested in better understanding the intersection of society and infrastructure with anthropogenic climate change. Their foci include extreme weather events, near-term meteorological, societal, and public health impacts, and the co-benefits and tradeoffs of green infrastructure and transportation initiatives. The CCRG is led by Daniel Horton, who is an assistant professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Weinberg.

Hari Osofsky

Hari Osofsky is dean and Myra and James Bradwell Professor of Law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and Professor of Environmental Policy and Culture (courtesy) at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Dean Osofsky’s over 50 publications focus on improving governance and addressing injustice in energy and climate change regulation. Her scholarship includes books with Cambridge University Press on climate change litigation, textbooks on both energy and climate change law, and articles in leading law and geography journals. Dean Osofsky has collaborated extensively with business, government, and nonprofit leaders to make bipartisan progress on these issues through her leadership roles and teaching.

Klaus Weber

Klaus Weber is a Professor of Management & Organizations and formerly served as the deputy director of the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs. He is also affiliated with the Department of Sociology and the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy. His research is grounded in cultural and institutional analysis and employs a range of methodological approaches. His substantive interests are a) the intersection between social movements, organizations and markets; b) environmental sustainability; and c) the globalization of economic policies and business practices. Klaus teaches MBA courses on environmental sustainability and on power in organizations; and doctoral seminars on cultural analysis, organization theory and research methods.