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Climate Finance xiii Foreword NYU Abu Dhabi and the Sustainable Environment Mariët Westermann Provost, NYU Abu Dhabi Philip Kennedy Faculty Director, NYU Abu Dhabi Institute This book is the first volume of policy papers issuing from the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute. It demonstrates NYU Abu Dhabi’s commitment to scholarship on matters that have critical significance in the world today. And we consider it fitting, with the selection of Abu Dhabi as home for the International Renewable Energy Agency and the ground-breaking work of Masdar, that this volume tackles one of the most pressing global issues: climate change. Climate change mitigation and adaptation requires complex thinking across a wide range of fields: science, economics, finance, public policy, and law. Effective action demands the collaboration of institutions on all continents. Resulting from a conference on novel mechanisms and frameworks for financing climate change abatement—organized jointly by NYU’s School of Law and the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute—the papers in this book exemplify this cross-disciplinary and inter-continental approach . Abu Dhabi is an apt location for such a meeting of minds and call to action. As a flat, low-lying, desert country with an extensive Gulf coastline, at a latitude of 24° N, Abu Dhabi has a particularly direct understanding of the risks attached to even a small rise in global temperatures and sea levels. The Emirate’s long-term strategy to diversify its economy beyond hydrocarbon resources includes a major commitment to xiv Foreword renewable energy research and the policy work required to translate such new knowledge into economically viable applications. Just as Abu Dhabi is taking a leadership role in fostering research and meaningful dialogue toward a sustainable environment, NYU Abu Dhabi is developing its new campus on Saadiyat, a natural island of great beauty, in a manner that will minimize its environmental impact. In the same spirit, NYU Abu Dhabi’s undergraduate curriculum offers a multidisciplinary concentration on the environment. Students will study and research environmental science to understand the scientific foundations of climate change, responsible use of natural resources, and sustainable development. They will learn about a wide range of strategies that can inhibit damaging and irreversible environmental change, while making connections between abstract scientific concepts, the physical world around us, and local and global policy. As a full partnership between Abu Dhabi and NYU’s global community of scholars and students, NYU Abu Dhabi fosters the development of well-founded and practical solutions to the most challenging problems of our century. We hope that this book is but a first step. Abu Dhabi, September 2009 ...

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