Harvard addresses climate change and divestment

A campus focus on global warming

The University will sponsor a panel discussion on climate change on April 13, President Drew Faust announced in an e-mail to the community yesterday. Given the roster of participants, the event appears to have been assembled over a considerable period of time—but it is scheduled to take place during Harvard Heat Week, April 12-17, an alumni-organized event highlighting demands that the University divest its endowment investments in companies that produce fossil fuels. Faust and the Corporation have repeatedly expressed their opposition to divestment, and instead have focused on academic institutions’ role in supporting research and education—themes the president spelled out in the greatest detail during her recent trip to China. Further amplifying focus on the issues, the University’s center for the environment is sponsoring a series of “Climate Week” events April 6-10.

The April 13 event—to be held in Sanders Theatre, with ticketed admission—involves the following expert panelists (links are provided to past Harvard Magazine coverage of their work):

Oreskes is among the professors who have signed Harvard Faculty for Divestment’s letter advocating that action. Henderson, whose research has focused on carbon pricing and other policy changes, appeared on a Business School panel that touched on divestment, among many other issues, last November, the Harvard Gazette reported.

President Faust will introduce the April 13 event; according to the announcement, the panel is to be moderated by Charlie Rose, who has been a past interlocutor of Faust—her website lists this program, for instance—and other leaders such as HBS dean Nitin Nohria. Rose has also moderated campus events, including a panel at HBS’s 2008 centennial celebration.

Note: At the time this dispatch was published, it could not be determined whether the panelists would receive questions from the audience, and if so, in what form. If further information becomes available (in response to queries about this point), it will be posted in an update here. 

Read more articles by John S. Rosenberg

You might also like

Sustainability on the Menu

Harvard’s sustainable meals program aims to support local farms, protect oceans, and limit waste.

What of the Humble Pencil?

Review: At the Harvard Art Museums’ new exhibit, drawing takes center stage

Harvard Research Funding Will Resume, Government Signals

Notices of grant reinstatements follow a court ruling, but the Trump administration could still appeal. 

Most popular

Two Years of Doxxing at Harvard

What happens when students are publicly named and shamed for their views?

A New Narrative of Civil Rights

Political philosopher Brandon Terry’s vision of racial progress

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

Explore More From Current Issue

Student walking under bright stage lights shaped like smartphones displaying social media apps.

Two Years of Doxxing at Harvard

What happens when students are publicly named and shamed for their views?

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio smiling beside the pink cover of her novel "Catalina" featuring a jeweled star and eye.

Being Undocumented in America

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s writing aims to challenge assumptions. 

Renaissance portrait of young man thought to be Christoper Marlowe with light beard, wearing ornate black coat with gold buttons and red patterns.

Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival

Without Christopher Marlowe, there might not have been a Bard.