GEOGRAPHY 2050:

COOPERATION & CONFLICT

IN A CHANGING CLIMATE

in partnership with

November 21 & 22, 2024 | Columbia University, New York City

The fate of the planet may rest on whether increased cooperation or conflict dominates in the next few decades as we respond to pressures brought by a changing climate. Will we see cooperative measures aimed at mitigation and adaptation or violent conflict magnifying environmental disruptions and degrading global governance and markets? By 2050, will the nations of the world be working together collaboratively to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations, share innovations in climate adaptation, and address inequities and humanitarian emergencies? Or will they be vying for control over highly stressed natural resources, hardening their borders and restricting trade and mobility, withdrawing from global agreements, and spending more on militaries than on climate solutions? What will the future geography of cooperation and conflict look like around the globe? What are the implications of these contrasting scenarios, and are there key inflection points or hotspots that may be critical in determining future directions and outcomes?

For the tenth anniversary of the American Geographical Society’s (AGS) annual Fall Symposium, AGS and the Columbia Climate School (CCS) will bring together leading practitioners and thinkers from government, industry, academia, and the non-profit world to discuss how cooperation and conflict will impact a changing climate. Understanding geography and using geospatial technology will be essential to map out the divergent paths forward.

Symposium Themes

Climate Migration, Refugees, and Interstate Tension

Managing the Global Commons

Observing Conflict and Cooperation Globally, Regionally, and Locally

Can GeoAI Foster Collaboration or Enhance Conflict?

Environmental Security and Sustaining Peace

The Geo-Ethics of Geo-Engineering

Environmental Treaties and Agreements

The Future Geography of Climate (In)Justice

2024 Symposium Committee

Mr. Keith Masback

Dr. Wesley Reisser

2024 Committee Co-Chairs

Dr. John Konarski

Dr. Alec Murphy

Dr. Marie Price

Ms. Carrie Stokes

Dr. Christopher Tucker

Mr. Juha Ilari Uitto

Dr. Robert Chen

Dr. Joshua Campbell

Past Symposia

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014