Climate data provides valuable insights into how our society can make both small and drastic changes toward decarbonization. Making sure this data is actually used to take the necessary steps to achieve these changes is perhaps the biggest challenge.
On October 22, Columbia alum Betty Cremmins (’09SIPA, Environmental Science and Policy) spoke to an audience of students, alums, faculty, and representatives from a range of organizations such as Colgate-Palmolive, PepsiCo, World Resources Institute, New York City Environmental Equity Alliance, and Watershed as part of the M.S. in Information & Knowledge Strategy (IKNS) program’s fall 2024 seminar titled: What gets measured gets managed … but who manages what gets measured in climate?
Using her experience working for the CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project), World Economic Forum and the White House Federal Chief Sustainability Officer Team, Cremmins shared insights into how we can leverage climate data to take effective action to decarbonize our planet.
Climate Science Over the Years
Fifteen years after her graduation from SIPA’s Columbia Environmental Science and Policy program, Cremmins discussed how the management of carbon emissions and the condition of the climate have changed. She opened with a shocking example: When Cremmins studied at Columbia, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 385 ppm. Today, it is over 422 ppm.
Cremmins described the state of environmental science studies while she was a student at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) as “the dark ages of a lot of the policy work.” There were no classes focused on greenhouse gasses and her first exposure to carbon accounting was in her capstone project, highlighting the vast amount of growth in this field in the last 15 years.
Columbia alum Betty Cremmins (’09SIPA, Environmental Science and Policy) spoke to an audience of students, alums, faculty, and representatives at the Italian Academy on October 22.
Climate Data in Global Economic Systems
Climate data monitoring involves keeping track of annual greenhouse gas emissions, measuring targets and emissions reduction, verifying that data, and planning for decarbonization. Noting how companies provide risk planning solutions for more frequent extreme weather events, including the financial effect those situations will have on a company’s operations, are valuable data points as well.
“These are all messy and complicated concepts to deal with in the data space. […] It’s not just cut and dry,” Cremmins said. It is not as simple as just collecting data points for the emissions being released into the atmosphere, she suggested. The emissions released by both natural and engineered solutions, as well as what the carbon that remains in our atmosphere is doing and how it affects businesses and policies, must also be tracked.
Cremmins explained that we have been moderately successful with using climate data to push for change in the last few years. Investors have been able to interpret the data to push their companies to act. Purchasing power has been used to drive action through supply chains. Governments have used the data to implement changes within their jurisdictions. Legal implications based on climate data have held some emitters accountable. Policy makers have introduced incentives and tax credit, and pushed for regulatory requirements about carbon capture and data reporting.
Businesses are a primary driver of greenhouse gas emissions, so managing the measurements of their emissions is essential. Cremmins discussed the need for incentivizing changes in both business models and production flows.
The Future of Climate Data
Those working in climate data management are working toward a future in which greenhouse gas emissions carry the same weight as financial data. Cremmins compared analyzing the data to filing taxes, but explained that even when it becomes standard practice, we can’t lose sight of why we are doing this: to save the planet.
Cremmins emphasized the value of finding balance between crunching numbers and remembering the reason for studying climate data in order to see the efforts reflected in the numbers. “If we focus too heavily on the data, we get too obsessed with numbers and lose sight of the bigger picture. If we focus too heavily on the bigger picture, we might be chasing things that will only have minor impacts,” she said.
Data can help us figure out where we can make the most impact. This data can be used to incentivize others to also take action, forming a “ripple effect,” Cremmnis explained. More data also means more job opportunities as more jobs require people to understand climate data. “More data is always better,” she said.
Managing this data definitely has not yet been perfected. “We’ve had 100 years of financial accounting and we’re still trying to get that right. We’ve only had two decades of greenhouse gas accounting,” said Cremmins. “It has a long way to go.”
About the Program
The Columbia University M.S. in Information & Knowledge Strategy (IKNS) program provides students with foundations in information science, organizational psychology, and change management as well as practical skills in project management and executive leadership. The program is available part-time, full-time, on campus, and online.
