Later this week, people from all over the world will be meeting in San Francisco to “take ambition to the next level” and meet to discuss actions that can and have been taken to combat climate change. In person attendance at some of the high level functions is by invitation only, but panels will be available for livestreaming on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. The summit is taking place this year, since it is the midpoint between the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris and the 2020 meeting that is scheduled to take place in November of that year. The hope is that the Global Climate Action summit will spur climate ambitions and actions sooner.
The summit is being chaired by California Governor Jerry Brown, Executive Secretary of the U.N. Convention on Climate Change Patricia Espinosa, Chair of the Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra, U.N. Special Envoy for Climate Change and Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs of China Xie Zhenhua, and UN Envoy on Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake. The event will “showcase the actions states and regions, cities, companies, investors and civil society have taken already to reduce their emissions; secure bold commitments to do even more, show that decarbonization; job generation and resilient economic growth go hand-in-hand and galvanize a global movement for climate action that leaves no one behind.” Five areas of commitment will be looked at. These include healthy energy systems, inclusive economic growth, sustainable communities, land and ocean stewardship, and transformative climate investments.
The full program is available online. The event includes presentations from the Governor of Puerto Rico, Mayor of San Francisco, Prime Minister of Barbados, Mayor of Paris, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, president of the AFL-CIO, CEO of Kaiser Permanente, CEO & President of the Port of Rotterdam, European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Former Vice President Al Gore, Mayor of Los Angeles, Vice Chairman of Hyundai, President of Hungary, Jane Goodall, Mayor of New York City, Prime Minister of Fiji, and more. There will also be various panel presentations on topics such as green and healthy streets, what we eat and how it is grown, trash, carbon sequestration, zero carbon emissions, and ocean-climate challenges. In addition to the program taking place at the summit, there are also affiliated events that will be taking place all week both in San Francisco and throughout the world. These affiliate events include panel discussions, workshops, art installations, and exhibits.