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Energy Explained
Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
Six Key Issues That Defined Climate Week 2025
CGEP scholars reflect on some of the standout issues of the day during this year's Climate Week
Podcasts
Hear in-depth conversations with the world’s top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society.
Building a New Energy Industrial Strategy
Industrial policy, supply chain security, and economic competitiveness are central to how we think about clean energy deployment. As the Trump administration pulls back federal support for the...
Events
Find out more about our upcoming and past events.
October 16, 2025
• 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
edt
Careers at the United Nations
Join us for a virtual information session focused on career pathways at the United Nations.
Event
Initiatives
Energy Opportunity Lab
Developing sustainable, accessible energy solutions
The Energy Opportunity Lab identifies specific ideas that respond to environmental and market needs to empower people and communities with sustainable and accessible energy solutions.
Mission
To work with communities to improve opportunities for sustainable energy inclusion, innovation, and growth. The Lab also supports progress toward the overall goal of a just energy transition to low-carbon energy.
Goals
- Find solutions: Create a multidisciplinary, multifunctional platform to advance energy access and opportunity worldwide.
- Further research: Create an environment and framework to connect world-class research with operators to develop more effective, scalable energy applications.
- Identify and create specific, tangible ideas: Respond to environmental and market needs to empower people and communities with sustainable and accessible energy solutions.
International approach
Energy use in developing countries is rising fast, but historically, they have contributed just a small fraction of the existing carbon in the atmosphere. They also bear the brunt of the effects of a warming planet. Internationally, EOL will address barriers that low and middle income countries face that hinder access to clean energy solutions while supporting rapid economic growth. EOL will help developing economies navigate a fair and just path in their energy transitions.
Domestic approach
In the US, poorer households and households of color consume less energy than the average household. At the same time they spend a greater share of their income—roughly three times more than non–low-income households—on energy. They also have less access to the benefits of the transition to low-carbon energy systems. EOL will develop solutions and partner with communities across the US to address the energy disparities and burdens facing disadvantaged communities that block their opportunities for growth and prosperity in the energy transition.
Partnerships
The initiative will work closely with a broad range of partners and stakeholders, both in the US and abroad. It will build off of and support work by others in this area, from across Columbia University as well as in industry, government, civil society, and academia, in order to advance sound and constructive energy and climate solutions in the real world. The Energy Opportunity Lab will form multidisciplinary partnerships that create solutions and foster cooperation.
Relevant Articles
30 years after Chicago’s deadly heatwave, cooling should be recognized as a right
30 years ago last month, a brutal heatwave struck Chicago, killing more than 700 residents. As the city and much of the United States recently experienced another period of extreme heat, this anniversary serves as a reminder that heat remains one of the deadliest climate-related hazards — killing more people each year than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined — particularly for communities burdened by decades of disinvestment and structural barriers to health and safety.
Op-eds & Essays
with Qëndresa Krasniqi, Diana Hernández & Vivek Shastry •
Utility Dive
• August 21, 2025
Community Insights on Weather-Induced Energy Insecurity: A Case Study of Extreme Heat and Power Outages in North Lawndale, Chicago
This report explores how residents of North Lawndale, a predominantly Black and historically under-resourced neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side, experience the compounded effects of heat waves and power outages.
Reports
by Qëndresa Krasniqi, Helen Yibrah, Rachel Scheu + 2 more • July 10, 2025
July 7, 2025 - July 8, 2025
• 6:00 pm
edt
Third Annual Energy Opportunity Forum
This year, the Third Annual Energy Opportunity Lab (EOL) Forum will take place July 7th and 8th in Washington, DC, offering a chance for the Washington policymaking community...
Event
