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.

Released in September 2023, the US government's first-ever National Climate Resilience Framework establishes a vision for a climate-resilient nation and guidance for resilience-related activities and investments by the federal government and its partners. In the second webinar in the National Climate Resilience Framework: From Ideas to Action series, hear from experts about implementation of the Framework’s Objective 5: to sustainably manage lands and waters to enhance resilience while providing other benefits.

Nicholas Institute experts Sara Mason, Lydia Olander, and Katie Warnell are participating in the National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration (NCER) this year. NCER is a premier gathering of ecosystem restoration professionals from across the country, featuring four days of presentations dedicated to both small and large scale ecosystem restoration. 

The US government's first-ever National Climate Resilience Framework establishes a vision for a climate-resilient nation and guidance for resilience-related activities and investments by the federal government and its partners. In this webinar, hear a variety of perspectives including from authors of the framework, state officials, and other critical implementation partners.

This is the first webinar in the National Climate Resilience Framework: From Ideas to Action series, presented by the Resilience Roadmap project.

This two-day symposium will bring together the Duke community and experts from the public and private sectors to explore the essential roles that the insurance and finance sectors can play in addressing future climate risks. The symposium will kick off on Feb. 15 with a keynote address, panel discussion, and reception open to the Duke community and the public.

Ashley Ward, director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub at the Nicholas Institute, will be moderating this hybrid event, Building Heat Resiliency: Actions and Opportunities for Healthier Cities and Communities, at COP28 in Dubai at 2:15-3:30 a.m. EST (11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. GST) in the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Pavilion in the Blue Zone. Not attending COP28?

Register for the latest webinar in this coastal resilience series presented by Restore America's Estuaries and co-hosed by the Nicholas Institute. Experts will discuss permitting processes that present formidable "green tape" barriers to recent legislative and executive actions unlocking historic funding for improving coastal resilience. Among featured experts will be Rachel Karasik from the Nicholas Institute.

The idea of the “blue economy” is compelling—and contested. On one hand, there is growing enthusiasm for using the oceans’ resources to grow economies and improve livelihoods while maintaining healthy marine ecosystems. On the other hand, the acceleration of ocean-based economic activity threatens to overwhelm increasingly vulnerable environments and communities. This is particularly important for small-scale fishing communities, which is likely the oceans’ largest source of livelihoods.

Conservation organizations and land trusts in North Carolina are increasingly focused on how their work can 1) contribute to humans’ and ecosystems’ resilience and adaptation to climate change and 2) directly mitigate climate change through carbon storage and sequestration.

In response, the Conservation Trust for North Carolina and the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University have developed two online tools to help organizations to consider a broad suite of conservation benefits in their work in North Carolina.