This guide is intended to provide you with a roadmap of who is who within the Climate Change community, and to lead you to US and international climate organizations studying it's impact.
By visiting their websites you will discover what is being studied, who is funding research, who the scientists are, when international organizations meet, and cutting edge climate news organizations.
While you are here, please look at the many books, documentaries and age appropriate environmental teaching books. You can find these in the Books & Databases tab in the top menu bar.
We also have live streaming video available, through the library's subscription to Kanopy. Click on the Documentaries tab to view and read reviews of the top Environmental Documentaries from that service. Remember, all you need is your library card to set up an account.
Center For Climate and Energy Solutions
C2ES is the successor to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, which was founded in 1998, and is widely recognized as an influential and pragmatic voice on climate issues. They are:
C2ES’s strong contributions are recognized worldwide. They consistently rank among the world’s leading environmental policy think tanks
US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is a Federal program mandated by Congress to coordinate Federal research and investments in understanding the forces shaping the global environment, both human and natural, and their impacts on society. USGCRP facilitates collaboration and cooperation across its 13 Federal member agencies to advance understanding of the changing Earth system and maximize efficiencies in Federal global change research.
Together, USGCRP and its member agencies provide a gateway to authoritative science, tools, and resources to help people and organizations across the country manage risks and respond to changing environmental conditions.
New York State Climate Smart Communities
State Support for Local Climate Action
Climate Smart Communities (CSC) is a New York State program that helps local governments take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate. The program offers free technical assistance, grants, and rebates for electric vehicles.
Orange County Government Climate Change Adaption Strategy
Read the Orange County Planning Departments "Climate Change in Orange County NY: Natural Resource Inventory Vulnerability Assessment & Adaption Strategies" produced in conjunction with the Benjamin Center at State University of New York New Paltz.
The Pew Charitable Trusts’ conservation efforts—both in the U.S. and abroad—help to preserve wild places and rivers, restore biodiversity, and increase the understanding of ocean ecology. On land, we focus on conserving wildlife corridors, shorelines, and pristine landscapes, as well as advancing policies that prioritize investments in flood-ready infrastructure and national park maintenance. Pew also works to minimize the consequences of overfishing, pollution, warming waters, and loss of habitat. Our conservation goals are based on facts from science and data research.
The World’s Leading Resource for Climate Solutions
Founded in 2014, Project Drawdown® is a nonprofit organization that seeks to help the world reach “Drawdown”— the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline.
Since the 2017 publication of the New York Times bestseller, Drawdown, the organization has emerged as a leading resource for information and insight about climate solutions. They continue to develop that resource by conducting rigorous review and assessment of climate solutions, creating compelling and human communication across mediums, and partnering with efforts to accelerate climate solutions globally.
Cities, universities, corporations, philanthropies, policymakers, communities, and more turn to Project Drawdown, as they look to advance effective climate action. They aim to support the growing constellation of efforts to move climate solutions forward and move the world toward Drawdown—as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Project Drawdown is funded by individual and institutional donations.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the objective of the IPCC is to provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.
Through the IPCC, thousands of experts from around the world synthesize the most recent developments in climate science, adaptation, vulnerability, and mitigation every five to seven years. Governments request these reports through the intergovernmental process and the content is deliberately policy-relevant, but steers clear of any policy-prescriptive statements. Government representatives work with experts to produce the "summary for policymakers" (SPM) that highlights the most critical developments in language accessible to the world's political leaders.
UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
The United Nations have, of course, much to do with climate change due to its international nature. UN’s efforts with respect to climate change happen mainly through the above mentioned agencies, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Based out of Nairobi, Kenya, UNEP is the leading international environmental authority. UNEP’s work focus on the environmental dimension of sustainable development, working in seven different thematic areas: climate change, disasters and conflicts, ecosystem management, environmental governance, chemicals and waste, resource efficiency, and environment under review. Many times working as the bridge between different players through conferences, secretariats, and multilateral programs, UNEP is known for assessing global, regional and national environmental conditions and trends, helping in the developing international and national environmental instruments, and strengthening institutions for the wise management of the environment. UNEP is responsible for the creation of programs that lead the climate change actions, as some examples, we can name the REDD+ program, the cross-sector Climate & Clean Air Coalition, as well as the Climate Technology Centre & Network.
World Meteorological Organization
Weather, Climate and Water. Those are the cornerstones of work held by the WMO. Following the idea that these three environmental pillars follow no national boundaries, WMO’s efforts are dedicated to international cooperation on the state Earth’s atmosphere. WMO’s actions follow seven strategic priorities that range from disaster risk reduction to polar and high mountain regions and are divided between the coordination and organization of international research programmers, meteorological observations, and the application of meteorological, climatological, hydrological and oceanographic information in different activities. WMO is one of the leading organizations responsible collection of meteorological data used in reports such as the ones published by the IPCC.
C40 is a network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change. C40 supports cities to collaborate effectively, share knowledge and drive meaningful, measurable and sustainable action on climate change.
Around the world, C40 Cities connects 96 of the world’s greatest cities to take bold climate action, leading the way towards a healthier and more sustainable future. Representing 700+ million citizens and one quarter of the global economy, mayors of the C40 cities are committed to delivering on the most ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement at the local level, as well as to cleaning the air we breathe.
