Columbia University To Host Full-Day Climate Change Panel

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — A climate change forum featuring more than 25 experts and five different panel discussions will be held Wednesday, Nov. 20 at Columbia University, organizers of the event announced Friday.

The event, called the Climate Change: Response and Resilience Leadership Forum, is being organized by the insurance company RenaissanceRe as part of a series of events to develop "risk mitigation techniques to safeguard communities and supporting efforts that reduce economic turmoil following disasters." A spokesman for the company said that panelists will likely discuss the City Council's recent vote to pass a $1.45 billion resiliency plan to that will erect flood walls around Manhattan and entirely rebuild East River Park.

The forum will open with a keynote speech from Jared Snyder, deputy commissioner for air resources at the state Department of Environmental Conservation and continue with five back-to-back panels on "the risks, socioeconomic impacts, and responses to natural disasters," according to organizers.

Panelists and moderators include Columbia University professors, government officials from administrations such as FEMA and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Resiliency, directors of environmental nonprofits and climate scientists.

The event will be held at the Columbia University Faculty House from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., organizers said.