Our Year in Action


Over the past year, the Fashion, Energy, and Climate Network has convened thought leaders, scholars, and practitioners through a series of five dynamic events. From deep dives into the circular economy and fashion policy to cultural dialogues at the intersection of fashion, energy and climate change, these gatherings were hosted in collaboration with partners including SIPA, Yale, and other leading sustainability focused initiatives. In addition to hosting panels and exchanges, our team continues to expand its capacity through launching new research findings and representing the network at events both home and abroad.

Upcoming Events

Connecting Sustainable Fashion Initiatives Across Universities

Join us this Earth Month to explore how NYC-area universities are driving sustainable fashion through education, collaboration, and action. Connecting Sustainable Fashion Initiatives Across Universities brings together faculty, staff, students, and university-based programs from across the NYC region to explore how higher education is furthering the field of sustainable fashion. Co-hosted by Columbia’s Fashion, Energy, and Climate Network and Yale’s Center for Business and the Environment, the event aims to map the current landscape of sustainable fashion initiatives and efforts across universities: where momentum is building, where gaps remain, and where there may be opportunities to learn from and collaborate with one another.

Following a keynote from Dean Alexis Abramson of the Columbia Climate School, the program will feature two panels. The first will focus on institutional initiatives and curriculum, exploring how universities are approaching sustainable fashion through their own strengths and perspectives, including climate, design, education, policy, and career development. The second will focus on student and institutional collaborations, highlighting student work, campus activities, and how stronger partnerships can help build a sustainable fashion economy. The event will conclude with a themed networking session connecting students and professionals with shared interests to continue the conversation. Click here to learn more

Agenda

4:40-4:45 PM Welcome

4:45–4:55 PM Keynote by Alexis Abramson, Dean, Columbia Climate School

4:55–5:45 PM Panel 1: How are institutions addressing issues in sustainable fashion?

5:45–6:20 PM Panel 2: What are students doing to help schools make progress on sustainable fashion issues?

6:20–7:00 PM Themed Networking

Confirmed Speakers
  • Alexis Abramson, Dean, Columbia Climate School
  • Samantha Cousino, President and Student, Impact Style, Columbia School of Professional Studies
  • Katherine Escalante, Moving the Needle Coordinator at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment and Student, Yale School of the Environment
  • Heather Fitzgerald, Managing Director, Yale Center for Business and the Environment
  • Michelle Gabriel, Lecturer, Columbia School of Professional Studies; Advisor, Fashion, Energy, and Climate Network, Columbia Climate School & Lecturer at Yale School of the Environment
  • Sandra Goldmark, Associate Dean for Engagement and Impact, Columbia Climate School
  • Anna Osokina, Event Chair and Student, Ethical Fashion Working Group, School of International and Public Affairs
  • Karen Pearson, Chair, FIT Sustainability Council
  • Sally Qiu, Co-Director, Fashion, Energy, and Climate Network, Columbia Climate School; Senior Research Associate, Center on Global Energy Policy

Past events

  • March 2026

    Fashion in the Energy Transition : Session 2| Trade and Fast Fashion

    In this session, network founder Sally Qiu spoke with Trevor Sutton, Director of the Program on Trade and the Clean Energy Transition at CGEP, to explore why trade and trade policy are increasingly central to fashion’s decarbonization.


  • February 2026

    Fashion in the Energy Transition : Session 1| Phasing Out Fossil Fuels and China’s Role

    The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia SIPA and the Fashion, Energy, and Climate Network hosted their first session of the new talk series: Fashion in the Energy Transition, designed to connect the fashion and apparel value chain to the broader energy transition and climate change agenda. 

    The first session, “Phasing Out Fossil Fuels and China’s Role,” featured Dr. Erica Downs and Sally Qiu in a moderated, interactive discussion on what a global fossil fuel transition could mean for fashion and apparel supply chains, and the importance of China’s role. .

  • December 2025

    Digital Innovation in Reducing Fashion Waste

    This panel discussion, cohosted by Impact Fashion and the Fashion, Energy and Climate Network, explored how digital innovation is transforming the fashion industry’s approach to waste reduction and circularity. Featuring industry experts and sustainability leaders, the event highlighted emerging technologies that help minimize material waste and extend product lifecycles.

    The session included a moderated panel conversation, followed by an interactive Q&A with the audience.

  • September 2025

    Transforming Fashion’s Footprint: Innovation and Business

    Transforming Fashion’s Footprint: Innovation and Business dug deeper into key challenges and opportunities for climate and energy transition actions in the fashion sector. Although various efforts had been made to estimate fashion’s environmental footprint, major gaps still remained in how to decarbonize material production and reshape business practices. The first session explored cutting-edge materials innovations where the biggest contributions could be made in reducing the largest share of the fashion value chain’s carbon emissions. The second session turned to business models, examining how fashion could bridge the gap between academic research and real-world enterprise and what strategies had proven effective in scaling sustainability while maintaining commercial viability.

    Speakers

    Inka Apter, Senior Director of Materials and Circularity, Eileen Fisher | Christina Castle, Senior Manager, Impact & Product Sustainability, DÔEN | Michelle Gabriel, Lecturer, Columbia Climate School | Kelley Kizzier, Director of Corporate Action and Markets, Bezos Earth Fund | Sandra Goldmark, Associate Dean for Engagement and Impact, Columbia Climate School | Amy Jaffe, Director, Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab, NYU | Kevin Karl, Co-Director, Fashion, Energy, and Climate Network, Columbia Climate School | Sarah Kent, Chief Sustainability Correspondent, Business of Fashion | Lewis Perkins, President and CEO, Apparel Impact Institute | Miguel Modestino, Director, Sustainable Engineering Initiative, NYU Tandon | Stwart Peña Feliz, Co-Founder & CEO, MacroCycle Technologies | Sally Qiu, Co-Director, Fashion, Energy, and Climate Network, Columbia Climate School | Indré Rockefeller, Founder, The Circularity Project | Jon Veldhouse, CEO, Qore

  • April 2025

    Culture for Climate: Bridging Art, Fashion, and Education

    Co-hosted by Four Earth Networks at Columbia Climate School, the event explored the intersection of creativity and climate action through two dynamic panel discussions on how climate issues are embedded in creative industries and careers, and on building purpose-driven paths in fashion, sports, and education. It also featured a student showcase presenting innovative low-waste fashion design, a guide to secondhand shopping in NYC, and digital art critiquing the fashion industry.

  • February 2025

    Sustainable Fashion Exchange

    Over 100 students, alumni, researchers, and industry professionals gathered for an evening of inspiring dialogue and networking around sustainable fashion. Co-hosted by Four Earth Networks at Columbia Climate School and Yale’s Moving the Needle, the event opened with remarks from Sandra Goldmark, who emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary and institutional collaboration. A panel discussion featuring Michelle Gabriel, Kevin Karl, Dr. Meital Mizrachi, and Sally Qiu provided insights into sustainability and creative industries. The evening concluded with post-panel networking, including icebreaker activities and community-building discussions.

  • November 2024

    Role of policy in circular fashion

    We were thrilled to host an insightful discussion on the “Role of Policy in Supporting Circular Fashion” with the Ethical Fashion Working Group at SIPA and Earth Networks’ Fashion, Energy, and Climate at Columbia Climate School. Amy Myers Jaffe, a distinguished leader in energy, climate policy, and sustainability, shared her expertise on the policy drivers shaping the future of sustainable fashion. As Co-Chair of CGEP’s Women in Energy Steering Committee and Director of the Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab at NYU, Jaffe brought invaluable insights from her extensive experience in academia and policy advisory roles.

  • September 2024

    Renewing Fashion: Clean Energy and Circular Economy

    This event brought together leading voices driving fashion’s clean and circular transition to address these pressing issues. The panel explored how to phase out fossil fuels, curb oversupply, scale textile-to-textile recycling, align global goals with local policies, and finance the industry’s transformation. Speakers also shared best practices and strategies for creating a sustainable, net-positive future for fashion. The discussion tackled key questions such as the role of clean energy in circularity, the most effective strategies to scale fabric recycling, approaches to reduce oversupply through design and behavior change, and the financing mechanisms needed to support this transition.

    Speakers included:
    Maxine Bédat (The New Standard Institute), Tricia Carey (Transformers Foundation, Accelerating Circularity), Sandra Goldmark (Columbia Climate School), Amy Jaffe (Columbia University & NYU), Sarah Kent (The Business of Fashion), Dennis Nobelius (Syre), and Nicolaj Reffstrup (GANNI). The session was moderated by Sally Qiu, Co-Director of the Fashion, Energy, and Climate Network.