E-Mail IMAGE: Arthur Lerner-Lam, deputy director of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, speaks to financial professionals about climate science and portfolio risk. view more Credit: Courtesy Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Leading global investment-management firm AllianceBernstein and Columbia University's new Climate School have agreed to bring together investors and scientists to confront the challenges of climate change. As founding member of the school's Corporate Affiliate Program, the firm will facilitate the engagement of commercial enterprise with the university's global climate and sustainability research. As part of the exclusive three-year agreement, AllianceBernstein and Columbia will embark on research focused on the intersection of climate science with investment decisions. AllianceBernstein's investors and Columbia's experts will interact on climate issues as they arise in the investing process. The project will seek to leverage Columbia scientists' skills and insights to help financial professionals manage climate risks and solutions across the industries, sectors and countries that they invest in. Columbia and AllianceBernstein will also collaborate on long term, in-depth research into the top challenges, including the potential approach to net zero over the next 30 years.