Stony Brook University Selected to Operate Center for Climate Solutions on New York’s Governors Island

A conceptual rendering of the New York Climate Exchange on New York’s Governors Island. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Governors Island in New York Harbor will soon be home to a world-class hub for generating innovative solutions for combating climate change.

Today, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Trust for Governors Island announced that Stony Brook University will serve as the anchor institution for developing and founding a world-leading climate solutions center on the island. Dubbed the New York Climate Exchange, the location will be a first-of-its-kind international center for developing and deploying dynamic solutions to the global climate crisis while also acting as a hub for New Yorkers to benefit from the rapidly evolving green economy.

“We are honored, excited, and proud to partner with the City of New York to build this historic center that will cement New York City as the world leader on climate change, the most pressing issue of our time,” says Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis.

As partner organizations of the new center (nicknamed “The Exchange”), the Simons Foundation and Simons Foundation International will together provide $100 million of the project’s $700 million cost.

“The Simons Foundation has long been a strong supporter of Stony Brook University and is proud to help enable their leadership role in building The Exchange,” says Simons Foundation President David Spergel. “Bringing together an exceptional group of partners, the Climate Exchange is poised to be the place that starts the conversations, creates the companies and trains the individuals that will help address humanity’s greatest challenge, climate change.”

In addition to convening the world’s leaders and climate experts, the new center will host green job training and skills-building programs for local residents to help them launch successful careers; as well as partner with local institutions like the Pratt Institute, Pace University, New York University, the City University of New York, SUNY Maritime College, Brookhaven National Laboratory and IBM to address the social and practical challenges created by climate change — including research that becomes commercially viable and ideas that lead to immediate action on the local and global levels.

The Exchange will host a research and technology accelerator to source and nurture ideas, projects and new ventures dedicated to solving the climate crisis. In addition, The Exchange will partner with local organizations to center environmental and economic social justice as part of the center’s mission.

The design and operations of The Exchange will also serve as a model for sustainability with a net zero campus that complements the natural landscape of Governors Island and the urban landscape of New York City. In addition, the campus will be powered entirely by electricity, including on-site solar-power generation and battery storage, generating more energy than it uses. The Exchange also aims to be the first New York City project to meet the rigorous certification requirements of the Living Building Challenge.

For more information, please visit Stony Brook University’s web page for the project.