Panel 1: Saving Our Global System

The challenges facing our planet are massive, complex, and interconnected. After decades of fossil fuel consumption, the heat-trapping gases that humans have relentlessly poured into the atmosphere have pushed humanity to a point of no return. The evidence for this conclusion is all around us – from melting glaciers and thawing permafrost to shrinking global forest cover and retreating sea ice.

In our introductory module, we will examine the big issues driving the climate crisis and explore the big solutions that can galvanize global action. Coming five months after the UN Climate Conference (COP26), this panel will be an update the latest national commitments, examine the climate-mitigating potential of bold ideas (like America’s massive infrastructure spending program or Europe’s Green New Deal), and discuss what lessons from the pandemic can be applied to mitigating global warming.

Speakers

Carl Pope, Former Director, Sierra Club

Elizabeth Wathuti, Founder, Green Generation Initiative

Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research, BRAC University, Bangladesh

Diana Liverman, Professor of Geography and Development, University of Arizona

Vibha Dhawan, Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)