Governors Island is set to get a sprawling, $700 million “living laboratory” to help fight climate change, city officials announced Monday.

The 172-acre island off Lower Manhattan will be home to what Mayor Eric Adams and other officials dubbed the “New York Climate Exchange,” describing it as a first-in-the-nation research, education and jobs hub to develop solutions to the climate crisis.

“All New Yorkers will benefit from this major investment that we are making,” Adams said at a press conference. “Whether it is the third-grader from the Bronx who comes here and learns about solutions that they can share with their family members back in their community, or it is the union metal worker who comes to the exchange … to learn advanced construction techniques for offshore wind. 

“This is where we will protect our city’s air and water. And this is where we will train thousands of students for the next wave of green jobs.”

The project will create 7,000 permanent jobs and have an “economic impact” on the city worth $1 billion, Adams’ office said in a press release.

A consortium of universities including Stony Brook and private firms will lead the project. Construction on the planned 400,000-square-foot “green” campus is slated to begin in 2025, with the facility opening in 2028.

Artist renderings provided by the city showed sloping ribbons of glass cutting through green fields and stands of trees, with the Lower Manhattan skyline looming in the distance.

The staggering $700 million price tag will be covered by $150 million in already allocated city capital funding, $100 million from the Simons Foundation and $50 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies courtesy of former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, with the rest being raised, Adams’ office said.

When the facility is up and running, it will serve 600 postsecondary students, 4,500 K-12 students, 6,000 workforce trainees and 250 faculty and researchers each year, the release said.

School administrators lauded the plan.

“The New York Climate Exchange will be the global hub for climate solutions,” said Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis. “It will be the place where leading academic institutions share research and ideas to expedite results, where our corporate partners will help to develop a culture of innovation that encourages researchers to create practical solutions that can be brought to market.”

But not everyone has been a fan of the project.

In December, a judge dismissed a legal challenge from a coalition concerned that the development would ruin the car-free island’s serenity, the New York Times reported. Although it’s possible the group could appeal the decision, city officials said they thought they’d win the case.

It’s been two decades since the federal government returned control of the island to New York City under the condition that it wouldn’t build housing developments there.

Visitors can only reach its shores by ferry, whose services will expand because of the project.

The island’s rich history stretches back centuries.

Native Americans who used the ice cream-cone-shaped island as a seasonal fishing camp referred to it as Paggank, or Nut Island, because of the plentiful oak, hickory and chestnut trees that once dotted its landscape.

During the Revolutionary War, it was home to earthworks and later forts to ward off the British – and later likely saved the Big Apple from the fiery hell that Washington, DC, endured during the War of 1812.

It was also home to imprisoned Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.