Click Here to Register for the Conference

The theme of CUPID’s 2008 annual conference is Beyond Polar Bears: Looking Past the Environmental Impacts of Climate Change.  The purpose of the conference is to evaluate the consequences of climate change on diverse fields such as  migration, health, market forces and energy, while also considering what steps can be taken to minimize or mitigate these impacts. Given the increasing visibility of climate change in the public psyche, we believe a comprehensive and multidisciplinary review of those effects of climate change outside the environmental realm is timely and should make for an exciting conference.

The conference features a keynote speech from Professor Geoffrey Heal of Columbia Business School; a debate between Manik Roy of the Pew Institute and Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute; and two panel discussions featuring speakers from McKinsey, USAID, the Earth Institute, Ecosecurities, and many more! More details to follow soon!

Click Here to View Conference Speaker Bios.

The conference will take place on February 15, 2008. The conference schedule is as follows:

12:20 - 1:20 Keynote Address by Professor Geoffrey Heal, Columbia Business School

1:40 - 2:50 Panel 1: Impact of Climate Change on business and markets

3:10 - 4:20 Panel 2: Impact on health and human security

4:40 - 5:50 Debate: Where do we go from here?

6:00 - 8:00 Wine and cheese reception to follow. 

This conference is free and open to the public. Please register by clicking on the link above. If you have any questions, please contact Priya Cariappa at pmc2113@columbia.edu

The conference will be held at Jerome Greene Hall in Columbia Law School.
Click Here for Directions.  

On February 16, 2007, over 150 people attended CUPID’s third annual conference on “Philanthropy, Profits and Progress: The Role of Private Actors in International Development.”  Distinguished speakers on three thematically organized panels discussed how private organizations are delivering services and creating economic opportunities in developing countries.  In her opening remarks, Ms. Rosalind Copisarow, Senior Vice President of ACCION International, discussed the role of microfinance in poverty alleviation and new challenges for microfinance to become a tool for wider community transformation.  In the conference keynote address, Mr. Paul Tierney, Chairman of TechnoServe, discussed that organization’s work in innovating business solutions to rural poverty. 

For a full list of the 2007 conference speaker bios, please click here.  For more detailed notes on the conference proceedings, please click here.