Yale University is launching a program to educate hundreds of independent corporate board members about the potential liabilities and strategic business opportunities that global climate change can create for companies.

The collaborative effort draws together institutions with complementary expertise in the area of climate change: Marsh, a risk and insurance services firm; Yale University, and Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental groups working with companies on environmental and social issues.

Initial training of more than 200 independent U.S. board members of Fortune 1000 companies will begin this winter through a newly created curriculum A?AA¢AA¢aAA¬AA¢a?A¬? the Sustainable Governance Forum. The training sessions will be offered across the country through September 2008.

The full program of action from Yale is described in a recently published book by Yale Associate Dean Dan Abbasi, entitled, “Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action (PDF).”