Climate Solutions

Envi­sion­ing a Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solutions

Ded­i­cat­ed to prepar­ing New York City and cities around the world for cli­mate change, the Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solu­tions will cre­ate a sin­gu­lar phys­i­cal hub com­mit­ted to research­ing and demon­strat­ing urban cli­mate solu­tions, and advanc­ing edu­ca­tion, train­ing, and work­force devel­op­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties for New York­ers in cli­mate and envi­ron­men­tal fields. The Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solu­tions on Gov­er­nors Island was announced as a key part of May­or Eric Adams’​“Rebuild, Renew, Rein­vent: A Blue­print for NYC’s Eco­nom­ic Recov­ery,” and is a key ini­tia­tive of the City’s efforts to ensure a just and equi­table response to cli­mate change for all New Yorkers.

The Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solu­tions ini­tia­tive will cre­ate a glob­al­ly rec­og­nized hub ded­i­cat­ed to posi­tion­ing New York City as a leader in research­ing and demon­strat­ing cli­mate solu­tions for cities. Project will achieve this by: 

  • Accel­er­at­ing the devel­op­ment of equi­table solu­tions for cities through research and commercialization
  • Expand­ing edu­ca­tion, job-train­ing, and skills-build­ing that ready New York­ers for green jobs 
  • Pro­vid­ing space for New York­ers to learn about cli­mate change and engage in hope­ful solu­tions to take back to their com­mu­ni­ties through free exhibits, art, activ­i­ties, and conversations 
  • Con­ven­ing glob­al lead­ers at the cen­ter of the world, on NYC’s most icon­ic har­bor location

Fol­low­ing a two-year glob­al com­pe­ti­tion, May­or Eric Adams, the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, and Stony Brook Uni­ver­si­ty Pres­i­dent Mau­rie McIn­nis announced the selec­tion of the New York Cli­mate Exchange — a first-of-its-kind inter­na­tion­al cen­ter for devel­op­ing and deploy­ing dynam­ic solu­tions to our glob­al cli­mate cri­sis led by Stony Brook Uni­ver­si­ty to serve as the anchor edu­ca­tion­al and research insti­tu­tion for the Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solutions. 

At full-scale, the Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solu­tions is envi­sioned to gen­er­ate 7,000+ per­ma­nent jobs and $1B in fis­cal impact for New York City, and include:

The New York Climate Exchange, serving as the anchor academic and research institution

Led by Stony Brook University, the New York Climate Exchange consortium will function as a hub for education and training to grow green jobs for New Yorkers and includes 15 members representing leading universities from around the world, as well as business and nonprofit organizations dedicated to developing and deploying solutions to the global climate crisis. Learn more.

A public living laboratory

That enables entrepreneurs and non-profits to test, iterate, and showcase climate solutions in a real-world urban environment and invites New Yorkers to actively engage in climate advocacy and action through programming and the arts.

Space for environmental justice organizations and non-profits

For research, hosting programs and convenings, and connecting with New Yorkers.

​Commercial innovation

That takes an idea from research to scale, supporting small businesses that will transform how we live in a more sustainable manner.

​Dormitories and faculty housing

To support an academic anchor institution and create a uniquely immersive community for learning and innovation.

​Convening spaces

That offer opportunities for New Yorkers and visitors to engage in conversations about climate change.

Above images are inspi­ra­tional examples.

Why Gov­er­nors Island?

New York City has long attract­ed the best and bright­est minds, insti­tu­tions and com­pa­nies, and Gov­er­nors Island sits at the cen­ter of it all. With a unique water­front cam­pus envi­ron­ment, award-win­ning park engi­neered for cli­mate change, a grow­ing com­mu­ni­ty of edu­ca­tion­al, non-prof­it, and com­mer­cial ten­ants, and a diverse and engaged audi­ence, Gov­er­nors Island is poised to serve as a hub for cli­mate edu­ca­tion, train­ing, and research.

  • Prox­im­i­ty. Just min­utes by fer­ry from Man­hat­tan and Brook­lyn, Gov­er­nors Island offers imme­di­ate access to New York City’s diverse tal­ent pool, lead­ing insti­tu­tions, busi­ness com­mu­ni­ty, and glob­al networks.
  • The feel­ing of being a world apart. Despite its phys­i­cal prox­im­i­ty, the Island feels like a world away from the noise and sen­so­ry over­load of the city, mak­ing it an ide­al venue for edu­ca­tion, research, col­lab­o­ra­tion, and convening.
  • A Liv­ing Lab­o­ra­to­ry. Gov­er­nors Island is itself an exper­i­ment in cre­at­ing resilient coastal land­scapes with a new 43-acre park designed to address pro­ject­ed sea-lev­el rise and dozens of edu­ca­tion­al and cul­tur­al part­ners engag­ing in these issues, includ­ing the Bil­lion Oys­ter Project, the Cli­mate Muse­um, GrowNYC and more.
  • Flex­i­bil­i­ty. Gov­er­nors Island is home to 1M+ square feet of his­toric build­ings ready for adap­tive reuse and 33 acres of devel­op­ment area that can accom­mo­date new aca­d­e­m­ic, com­mer­cial, con­ven­ing, and cul­tur­al facilities
  • A Built-In Tal­ent Pipeline. Already home to the Urban Assem­bly New York Har­bor School, a pub­lic high school deliv­er­ing career tech­ni­cal edu­ca­tion in mar­itime and envi­ron­men­tal sci­ences, Gov­er­nors Island has part­ner­ships with local pub­lic schools, non-prof­its, insti­tu­tions, and work­force devel­op­ment orga­ni­za­tions ded­i­cat­ed to build­ing the next gen­er­a­tion of tal­ent for grow­ing cli­mate relat­ed fields.
  • A Tru­ly Pub­lic Plat­form. With near­ly 1M vis­i­tors dur­ing a typ­i­cal year and a robust cal­en­dar of free pro­grams span­ning arts, cul­ture, and sci­ence, Gov­er­nors Island is one of New York City’s great pub­lic places with a diverse and engaged audience.

Cli­mate Cen­ter Advi­so­ry Committee

This group of experts from cli­mate sci­ence, pol­i­cy, envi­ron­men­tal jus­tice, phil­an­thropy, and busi­ness will advise on the city’s efforts to cre­ate a Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solu­tions on Gov­er­nors Island and will pro­vide input on prospec­tive aca­d­e­m­ic and research part­ners’ pro­pos­als to a selec­tion com­mit­tee made up of City and Trust offi­cials. Mem­bers include:

  • Eddie Bautista, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor, NYC-EJA
  • Dana Bour­land, Senior Vice Pres­i­dent, Envi­ron­ment and Strate­gic Ini­tia­tives, The JPB Foundation
  • Chris­t­ian Bra­ne­on, Cli­mate Sci­en­tist, NASA God­dard Insti­tute for Space Studies
  • Mar­co Car­rión, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor, El Puente
  • Mark Cham­bers, Senior Direc­tor for Build­ing Emis­sions and Com­mu­ni­ty Resilience, White House Coun­cil on Envi­ron­men­tal Qual­i­ty, Exec­u­tive Office of Pres­i­dent Joseph R. Biden, For­mer Direc­tor of Sus­tain­abil­i­ty, City of New York
  • Dr. Luz Clau­dio, Pro­fes­sor of Envi­ron­men­tal Med­i­cine and Chief of the Divi­sion of Inter­na­tion­al Health, Icahn School of Med­i­cine at Mount Sinai
  • Cheryl Cohen Effron, Senior Advi­sor, Tish­man Speyer
  • Adam Freed, Prin­ci­pal, Sus­tain­abil­i­ty, Bloomberg Asso­ciates
  • Arturo Gar­cia Costas, Pro­gram Offi­cer, The New York Com­mu­ni­ty Trust
  • Chante Har­ris, Direc­tor, Cli­mate Invest­ment and Part­ner­ships, Ven­ture for Cli­mateTech, Sec­ond Muse
  • Kyle Kim­ball, Vice Pres­i­dent, Gov­ern­ment Rela­tions, ConEdi­son
  • Michael Northrop, Pro­gram Direc­tor, Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment, Rock­e­feller Broth­ers Fund
  • Michael Oppen­heimer, Albert G. Mil­bank Pro­fes­sor of Geo­sciences and Inter­na­tion­al Affairs, Prince­ton University
  • Henk Ovink, Spe­cial Envoy for Inter­na­tion­al Water Affairs, King­dom of the Netherlands
  • Julie Tighe, Pres­i­dent, New York League of Con­ser­va­tion Voters
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