MIT announces five-year plan for action on climate change
MIT is launching a multifaceted five-year plan aimed at fighting climate change, representing a new phase in the Institute’s commitment to an issue that, the plan says, “demands society’s urgent attention.” Citing “overwhelming” scientific evidence, “A Plan for Action on Climate Change” underscores the “risk of catastrophic outcomes” due to climate change and emphasizes that “the world needs an aggressive but pragmatic transition plan to achieve a zero-carbon global energy system.” To that end, MIT has developed a five-year plan to enhance its efforts in five areas of climate action, whose elements have consensus support within the MIT community: research to further understand climate change and advance solutions to mitigate and adapt to it; the acceleration of low-carbon energy technology via eight new research centers; the development of enhanced educational programs on climate change; new tools to share climate information globally; and measures to reduce carbon use on the MIT campus. The plan calls for MIT to convene...