At the eighth annual Energy Week at Duke, experts across diverse sectors shared insights on the global transition to clean energy. Hundreds of students, faculty, professionals and community members took part in the event series, which included a one-day conference in addition to panel discussions, a field trip, a business case competition and more.

One of eight student-led events during Energy Week at Duke, "Bringing the Transition Home: Energy Justice in NC," explored the origins of energy injustice in North Carolina and the importance of ensuring a clean energy future for all. The session was sponsored by the Nicholas Institute and the Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment (EDGE) at the Fuqua School of Business.

In a virtual Duke Forever Learning Institute session, an expert panel discussed the qualities of foundational to high-impact volunteering and considered how unintended consequences can stand in the way of making a difference. The panel included Kay Jowers, director of Just Environments, a joint project of the Nicholas Institute and the Kenan Institute for Ethics.

During Energy Week at Duke (Nov. 6-10, 2023), members of the university community will explore strategies for swiftly advancing an equitable clean energy transition. Organized by Duke students from diverse undergraduate and graduate degree programs, this year’s Energy Week events feature insights from industry and community leaders along with opportunities to compete, network and share ideas.

A photo exhibit at Duke's Kenan-Keohane Gallery spotlights the ongoing influence in the environmental justice movement of protesters who stopped a toxic waste landfill in Warren County more than four decades ago. “It’s important for the Duke community to understand the story of Warren County and other grassroots movements so that we can incorporate environmental justice into all of our sustainability efforts," Kay Jowers, director of the Just Environments program, told NC Health News.

The new Office of Climate and Sustainability brings together several of Duke University's climate, energy, and environmental assets—including the Nicholas Institute—to help advance the mission of the Duke Climate Commitment.

A peer-reviewed analysis led by Duke University researchers suggest municipal bond markets are mispricing climate and race risk at a large scale. Lead author Erika Smull, a 2022 Ph.D. graduate of the Nicholas School of the Environment, told ImpactAlpha the result is Black communities are less likely to be able to invest in climate resilience upgrades.

Titled “We Birthed a Movement: The Warren County PCB Landfill Protests, 1978-1982," an exhibit in the Keohane-Kenan Gallery in the West Duke Building explores a community’s historical response to the planned construction of a landfill for cancer-causing PCBs. “This exhibit depicts a key moment in environmental justice history. It also underscores the power of community-led advocacy,” said Kay Jowers, director of the Just Environments program.

A growing body of research shows that people of color and people living below poverty levels are stuck in heat islands, much more so than their white and wealthier counterparts, reports Nature. “We have a lot of great research that we need to mobilize into feasible and effective policy solutions,” said Ashley Ward, director of the Nicholas Institute's Heat Policy Innovation Hub.

Duke Divinity School alumnus Ben Chavis coined the term "environmental racism" during 1982 protests in Warren County that gave birth to the environmental justice movement. Duke scholars discussed the movement since with Duke Today.