Today's enormous development challenges are complicated by the reality of climate change—the two are inextricably linked and together demand immediate attention. Climate change threatens all countries, but particularly developing ones. Understanding what climate change means for development policy is the central aim of the World Development Report 2010. It explores how public policy can change to better help people cope with new or worsened risks, how land and water management must adapt to better protect a threatened natural environment while feeding an expanding and more prosperous population, and how energy systems will need to be transformed.
The University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment is the only graduate environmental school in the nation to combine natural science, social science and design into one shared research and educational enterprise. Nine faculty members representing multiple disciplines are hosting five symposia that address distinct and complex facets of sustainability science.