How can adaptation and resilience innovations move from university research into investment and real-world deployment? This invitation-only executive workshop will bring universities into direct conversation with the investors, strategic partners, utilities, and corporate actors who can help advance promising solutions. Invitation only, but interested professionals can apply for the opportunity to register.

Small and mid-sized cities face escalating climate shocks—flooding, extreme heat, wildfire smoke—while federal resilience funding grows less predictable. Grounded in the recently released Built to Endure: A Smart Guide for US Cities to Build Resilient Infrastructure That Lasts, this panel explores practical pathways to system-level infrastructure resilience for smaller jurisdictions. Open to all; advance registration required.

Investment in resilience and adaptation in the U.S. is fragmented and insufficient. This dialogue will explore whether nationally supported state financing platforms—or a broader national model—could streamline investment flows, accelerate project development, and ensure resources reach the communities and sectors most in need. Invitation only, but interested professionals may apply to register.

The Duke Society of American Foresters’ 2026 Spring Symposium, Building Resilience in Uncertain Times, brings together forestry leaders to explore market volatility, tariff shifts, and ecological pressures shaping the sector’s future.

Would you like to know what the recent soybean trade deal with China and the administration's proposed farmer financial assistance means for the structure of agriculture and food system resilience? If so, please join us for a talk by Scott Marlow, former Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs of the USDA Farm Services Agency.

Join Duke University and The New York Climate Exchange for an engaging public panel discussion (2-3 p.m.) and networking session (3-3:30 p.m.) during Climate Week NYC that will explore how marine debt-for-nature swaps can deliver strong outcomes for ocean conservation, climate resilience, and coastal communities.

https://climate.duke.edu/what-were-doing/climate-week-nyc-2025/

Blue carbon habitats—such as tidal marshes, seagrasses, and mangroves—play a critical role in sequestering carbon, buffering storm impacts, supporting wildlife, and improving water quality. Reliable financing is essential to protecting these habitats; without such investment, there can be major barriers between idea generation and project implementation. 

Decarbonizing the global economy and increasing climate resilience worldwide will require trillions of dollars, largely from private sector investors. What novel mechanisms, collaborative efforts, and policies can accelerate the mobilization of private capital? International and domestic thought leaders will exchange ideas at the second annual “From Billions to Trillions” summit at Duke University.

The destruction wrought by the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires is estimated to cost at least $250 billion, with the lives of hundreds of thousands of people affected. Two months on, what lessons can be taken? How can this natural disaster be put into context where climate change will make these events more regular and likely? Please join us for a discussion featuring a panel of experts on wildfires, insurance, and natural disasters.

Lydia Olander, program director, will be a plenary closing speaker at the 2024 ACES: A Community on Ecosystem Services conference. She and other experts from Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability will present some of their latest work on nature-based solutions.

Join us for coffee and a light breakfast followed by a one-hour panel discussion, moderated by executive in residence Elizabeth Losos, examining opportunities and obstacles involved in maximizing the future potential of debt-for-nature swaps. Afterward, connect with speakers and attendees at a networking reception.

As climate change intensifies, many low- and middle-income countries face a precarious balancing act between addressing urgent climate adaptation and development needs and pursuing clean energy transitions. While these two objectives can be complementary, they also create challenging choices around meeting human development imperatives and decommissioning or avoiding fossil development. This panel will unpack these choices, and present energy transition strategies that put human flourishing at the center. This event is organized by Duke University and will be presented on the Main Stage of the Nest Climate Campus during Climate Week NYC.

This breakfast event—part of the Every Week is Climate Week briefing series—will feature the findings of a recent 100+ person summit that brought together insurers, academics, regulators and others to forge a common climate research agenda. Leading researchers from Duke University and the University of Georgia will outline the consensus priority topics identified and seek audience input on how to refine them further.

Floods, droughts, storms, sea-level rise, changing rainfall and rising temperatures intensify the fragility and vulnerability of communities, particularly in the developing world. Some will adapt by migrating. Others may become trapped, lacking the resources to move.

Are you a Duke University alum with plans (or potential plans) to attend Climate Week NYC (September 22-29) or the UNFCCC’s Conference of Parties (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan (November 11-22)? Duke University experts will again take part in these important convenings alongside climate thought leaders and decision-makers from across the world—and we are eager to connect with other Duke community members who will be there.

Join this virtual town hall to hear about the Duke community’s plans for these events. Hosted by the Office of Climate and Sustainability and the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability.

All Duke students (including those seeking undergraduate, masters, professional, and doctoral degrees) are invited to attend an information session about a unique Duke practicum course that examines the negotiation of international climate change agreements under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Announced in fall 2023, the National Climate Resilience Framework focuses on community-driven resilience and adaptation solutions implemented through local experts and cross-sector partnerships. During this webinar, find out about promising practices and lessons learned from two relevant national programs—the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Climate Adaptation Fund and NOAA's Climate Smart Communities Initiative.

Hosted by the Nicholas Institute, Climate Adaptation Fund, and Climate Resilience Fund as part of the National Climate Resilience Framework: Ideas to Action webinar series presented by the Resilience Roadmap project.

At the National Adaptation Forum, Lydia Olander, program director, and Liz Losos, executive in residence, will co-host a panel on Wednesday, May 15 as organizers of the Resilience Roadmap on the National Climate Resilience Framework.