MIT Climate Grand Challenge Initiative

The climate crisis, and the efforts to respond to it, touch the lives of almost everyone in a direct and tangible way – some more so than others. And in many parts of the world, those who are least equipped to handle their changing environment will be disproportionately impacted by it. Much can and must be achieved with existing technologies and policy approaches, but without game-changing advances in forefront innovations and multiple fields of science, engineering, and the social sciences, our collective efforts to tackle the climate challenge will not succeed.

Launched in 2020, Climate Grand Challenges mobilized the MIT research community around some of the most difficult unsolved problems in adaptation, carbon removal, climate science, climate policy, human impacts, and reducing emissions.

These are problems whose solutions could move the needle in the world’s climate response, and where progress depends on applications of frontier knowledge and the advancement and application of cutting-edge technologies.

With this initial effort, we aimed to accelerate projects that offered bold, interdisciplinary solutions including plans for rapid and large-scale implementation. Integral to this process was working with partners to create social or environmental impact as well as financial return – companies, impact investors, and social technological entrepreneurs, as well as governments, non-profits, and philanthropists. 

Climate Grand Challenges is designed to complement and enhance the work of existing MIT units, including the MIT Energy Initiative, MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, the departments of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and Civil and Environmental Engineering, and many others.