So, with a background in political science and Berkeley SDS and riots, I’m overwhelmed with the humongous amount of info., characters, YouTubes, videos, webinars and opportunities for interaction with the Global Climate Action Summit and reversing global warming in general. 4000+ delegates! Major corporations pledging to use clean energy. Mayors of C40 cities parading their progress toward resilience – wow! Read 1/3rd of the world’s people would somehow be involved with these days and then the rest of our livesto work on these crises…and we have to have that or watch the world crumble further without making any repairs. REVERSING GLOBAL WARMING URGENTLY NEEDED.
Sad to say, most friends never mention global warming – it’s as if it doesn’t exist except for the FIRE SEASON we now have in California and the HURRICANE SEASON on the East Coast and the MELTING ICE CAPS and new DESERTS and on and on…you probably know all this but would rather watch something fun or listen to music? I do that, too – but the nagging voice in my gut (or head) says: DON’T JUST STAND THERE, DO SOMETHING! (Or even the Buddhist response, DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING, STAND THERE!) Takes contemplation AND action!
So HOW to engage right now in this largest gathering of global good guys and gals ever assembled in SF or anywhere? You can watch most sessions streamed by writing Global Climate Action Summit in your Google search. I’ve seen 10 hours thus far – sometimes no sound! Funny when they were translating from German and you couldn’t decipher content from Goethe Institute. Got better though.
From the GCAS site:
How do I attend the Global Climate Action Summit?
People everywhere are encouraged to participate in the 456(?) affiliate events taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout the world during the week of September 10-14th, including climate action panels, workshops, tours, exhibits and other special events. The full affiliate event schedule is posted somewhere on the overly busy GLobal Climate Action site but can’t find it right now. TOO MUCH INFORMATION – that’s why I’m writing! Want to translate into useable materials for Sonoma County!
GLobal Climate Action Summit – Day 1 – English is a bit better. A screen shows the background and pans the audience waiting for speakers.
Linda Douglas, communications, Bloomberg, told us leaders from every business, government, inventors, scientists and students are united to protect the people of the planet from the exitential climate challenge. This summer climate change means temperatures are higher than in history, people are starving, billions of dollars of damage. Hurricane Florence is evacuating 1 million people – “We cannot and we will not turn away from this fight.”
London Breed, newly elected Mayor of San Francisco, told us GCAS is uniting people to take action on the defining issue of our time: an issue bigger than one country, one city, what we do now will determine our future. “Since 1990 we reduced landfill by half while growing our economy. We are proof you can have a strong and growing economy while we have the strongest styofoam ban and 40 tons of prescription medication were kept out of our Bay and Landfill. Cleanpower reduced GHG as if there were 70,000 less cars – cutting landfill in half – achieving 100% renewable energy (future), join us. The impacts of climate change are not constrained by borders. Protect our land and people for generations to come. Enjoy your time in San Francisco.”
From September 12-14, you can virtually attend the Summit by streaming it live on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. In person, Summit attendance for the plenary and other high-level sessions is by invitation and will require accreditation. If you represent an organization ready to make a major climate commitment at the Summit, please send details about that proposed announcement by clicking here. https://www.globalclimateactionsummit.org/faq/
So glad Jerry Brown invented this summit (with others), invited representatives, sometimes quite famous dedicated environmentalists from a multitude of countries, to come protect and implement the Paris Agreement and go beyond what’s been done so far so we have a breath of a chance of avoiding climate catastrope. “Take Ambition to the Next Level,” is the goal.
Here’ a great statement from our gov: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ny8NY7Lp5Y
“See you there,” he says and so we look for ways to participate!