Our community has experienced the tragic consequences of a changing climate. Wildfires, floods, withering heat indexes. We fully understand that things aren’t as they used to be.
After each devastating event, we have asked ourselves what we can do differently to change course. Those questions are the focus of the Dec. 1-4 Right Here, Right Now Climate Summit at the University of Colorado. Presented in collaboration with United Nations Human Rights, the inaugural gathering features prominent figures, including keynote speakers Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a Canadian Inuk activist; former president of Ireland Mary Robinson; and Kumi Naidoo, former head of Greenpeace International.
The three-day summit takes place on campus and virtually so that anyone can take part. In addition to the keynote lectures, the summit includes panel discussions with leading experts exploring Impacts, Obligations and Solutions with calls to action to help others become involved in the effort to center human rights in the climate crisis conversation. As CU Chancellor Phil DiStefano states, “I believe (climate change) is a problem that the world needs to solve, and this UN summit is an important step in doing this.”
For CU Boulder to host such an important event is a testament to the initiatives that make Boulder a hub for innovation. For DiStefano, it boils down to the solutions: “We are eager to hear from so many esteemed, diverse voices as we discuss and commit to solutions that will address the ravaging effects of climate change on vulnerable populations around the world.”
Colorado.edu/GlobalClimateSummit