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Pathway to Paris concert event set for San Francisco
Legendary performers Patti Smith and Bob Weir to join a celebration of climate action during the Global Climate Action Summit.
Pathway to Paris, together with 350.org and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have announced a special concert on September 14th at the historic Masonic in San Francisco, California. Set to cap off the Global Climate Action Summit, the concert will focus on the potential for cities to push for, achieve, and go beyond the climate targets highlighted in the Paris Agreement.
Bringing together leading musicians, artists, thinkers, and policymakers, this concert will serve as a call to action, urging the international community to ramp up ambition towards a climate safe future for all.
This marks the fourth collaboration between the partners who previously joined forces for concerts in each of the last three years. The first concerts, in Paris in 2015, coincided with the adoption of the Paris Agreement, while events in 2016 and 2017 served to celebrate climate action by state and non-state actors. Most recently, 2017 saw the partners host a concert at New York City’s historic Carnegie Hall where Pathway to Paris announced the launch of the ‘1000 Cities’ initiative. The initiative invites all cities of the world to transition off fossil fuels and move to 100% renewable energy by 2040 in order to turn the Paris Agreement into reality.
“In the world of music, the best way to improve is through collaboration. This is the same with the critical issue of climate change. We must join together to make this the most ambitious collaboration of our century. We will not be able to implement crucial and challenging solutions to climate change, plastic pollution, and all urgent environmental problems as long as we stand divided. Inseparable from the issue of climate change is the need for world peace, global communication, and an international collaboration unmatched by any event in human history."
Jesse Paris Smith, co-founder of Pathway to Paris
“Cities play a critical role in transforming our world out of the era of fossil fuels and into a renewable world. This is our time to make this shift and transform our cities to become sustainable, resilient cities for us all and future generations. This is our chance as our window of time is narrowing."
Rebecca Foon, co-founder of Pathway to Paris
Along with Patti Smith and Bob Weir, the concert will also feature Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tenzin Choegyal, French pop-soul singer Imany, renowned artist Olafur Eliasson, and Pathway to Paris Founders Jesse Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon. Speakers also include 350.org’s Bill McKibben.
Artist Olafur Eliasson will turn the whole audience into artists by creating an interactive collective artwork. Eliasson leads a choreography that motions its audience to hold up a Little Sun solar lantern. The result is a visually striking solar-powered ‘sunrise’ which raises awareness for climate action and energy equality.
All proceeds from the evening will be donated to 350.org, Pathway to Paris, and the United Nations Development Programme.
UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in 177 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. www.undp.org.
Pathway to Paris was founded in September 2014 by Jesse Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon, with an intimate evening of music and speakers at Le Poisson Rouge immediately following the People’s Climate March in New York City. A series of similar events unfolded in North America over the ensuing years. The events were initially intended to build awareness to help establish a global climate agreement, leading up to the UN Climate Change Conference (Cop21) that took place in December 2015, and culminated with two major concerts in Paris at Le Trianon, the first weekend of the conference. In November 2017, Pathway to Paris launched the 1000 Cities Initiative at Carnegie Hall in the lead up to COP 23.
Pathway to Paris has presented nine events, including five in NYC, but this night will be especially unique as it will serve as the first West Coast event. Pathway to Paris believes that NYC and LA/SF have the chance to step forward as leading cities of USA, setting the example of transitioning off fossil fuels into a 100% renewable future.
Photo Credits to UNDP, Pathway to Paris, and Jesse Paris Smith
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University of Michigan "Act on Climate" MOOC
Are you concerned about climate change? Would you like to learn how to address and respond to this challenge? If so, this Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is for you.
Act on Climate: Steps to Individual, Community, and Political Action is a seven-week course intended to help learners understand, address and respond to climate change as individuals and in partnership with their communities and political leaders. The course focuses on how to translate learning into action on climate change in the areas of food, energy, transportation and the built environment (cities). This course was co-developed and taught by Michaela Zint, Professor of Environmental Education and Communication, and University of Michigan Students. A range of academic climate change experts and professional leaders are featured.
The MOOC starts on June 25, 2018.
As a result of completing this course, you will be able to:
1) Identify individual, community, and political actions you can engage in to effectively address and respond to climate change.
2) Describe how insights from the social sciences can be employed to create change at the individual, community, and political levels.
3) Feel empowered to continue to influence how you, your community, and political leaders address and respond to climate change.
Who is this class for?
This course was designed for individuals who would like to learn more about actions they can take to lessen the impact of climate change and respond to a changing climate. There are no prerequisites for this course, and we do not assume that you have a background in climate science.
Banner and thumbnail photo credits to Jay Mallin
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UNFCCC Global Youth Video Competition on Climate Change 2018
Are you 18-30 and taking part in activities to fight climate change? Send a 3-minute video for a chance to be a youth reporter at the UN Climate Change Conference in Poland in December. The deadline is on August 31, 2018.
If you are the winner, you will have access to round-trip travel to the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) in Katowice, Poland, in December 2018. You will be assigned as a youth reporter, assisting the UN Climate Change team with videos, articles, and social media posts.
Before participate, please take a look at the following requirements:
Video up to 3 minutes long Aged between 18 and 30 Spoken or subtitled English Enter from any country Submit by August 31, 2018One winner in each of the two categories
Category One: Responsible production & consumption
How we make and use the products and goods we use in everyday life plays an important role in tackling climate change. Taking raw materials from the ground, manufacturing products and then throwing away our used products and waste materials can all add to greenhouse gas emissions. But there are low-carbon ways to design, produce, supply and recycle products.We can live more climate friendly lifestyles if we manage our natural resources sustainably, and be more energy and resource efficient during the entire life-cycle of the goods we consume.
Submit videos that showcase your activities that contribute to responsible production and consumption. Examples of submissions:
Carrying out climate friendly solutions/ideas on how to promote sustainable production or consumption Campaigns to promote behavioural change Initiatives to reduce emissions during the lifecycle of goods, in areas such as:
unnecessary consumption sustainable fashion sharing economy reusing goods and materials transporting goods locally focused economy reducing wasteCategory Two: Green and climate friendly jobs
New job opportunities are opening up in a range of environmentally-friendly sectors such as renewable energy, sustainable design, recycling, energy efficiency, electric vehicles or sustainable agriculture. Green jobs can improve energy efficiency, limit greenhouse gas emissions, and help people adapt to the effects of climate change.New business ideas, green industrialization, and education can all add to the creation of safe and meaningful work in a low-carbon economy.
Submit videos that showcase your activities that contribute to creation of climate friendly jobs. Examples of submissions:
Work or new businesses that improve the economy and addresses climate change Green jobs and careers related to: Renewable energy Food waste Construction and infrastructure Transportation Green design Technical and job-based training for green jobs Educational campaigns promoting sustainable employment Research to develop a low-carbon economy|
Join the #PLASTICRESISTANCE this Coral Triangle Day - Instagram Contest & Campaign
June 9th marks Coral Triangle Day, when ocean lovers from across the Asia Pacific and the rest of the world celebrate the Coral Triangle bioregion - home to more marine species than anywhere else on the planet.
This year, WWF, The Coral Triangle and The Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI-CFF) are running a high profile Instagram contest in a bid to reduce single use plastics which are a huge source of pollution throughout the Coral Triangle.
The 2018 Coral Triangle Day Instagram Campaign focuses on ACTION and PLEDGES. We’re inviting people to join the #PLASTICRESISTANCE this Coral Triangle Day and to encourage their family and friends to do the same!
Globally, the plastic pollution problem is coming sharply into focus thanks to sustained campaigns and media coverage. People are increasingly aware of the impacts of plastic on the marine environment and the destructive wastefulness of single use plastics such as straws, coffee cup lids, cotton buds and product packaging. It's time to translate that momentum into real world action and a pledge to change behaviour moving forward!
Using the hashtag #PLASTICRESISTANCE and #CORALTRIANGLE, we're asking Instagram users to post images, gifs or videos that demonstrates how they are saying NO to pointless plastics, like bags, straws, coffee cup lids, cotton buds and packaging. We want to know what people are doing personally - as the saying goes, "be the change you want to see."
We're asking contestants to include a simple message explaining in 50 words or fewer how they are breaking up with single use plastics. We also want them to nominate someone to make their own plastic pledge. The three entries judged to most powerfully communicate this message will win prizes including a 7 day dive holiday in Raja Ampat, Indonesia and a 3 day dive holiday in Borneo and a Mares snorkel, mask and fin set.
The Coral Triangle is the global epicentre of marine biodiversity - a bioregion that encompasses the territorial waters of seven countries (Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, PNG, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste and Fiji). It is a Mecca for divers and sustains much of the world’s appetite for seafood. Yet two Coral Triangle countries – Indonesia and the Philippines – rank second and third only to China when it comes to coastal plastic pollution. Globally, we humans dump around eigh million tonnes of ocean into the ocean each year. And it isn't just coastal communities, as plastic also makes its way out to sea via inland waterways. It is high time we turned the tide on ocean plastics. Last year, the UN launched its Clean Seas campaign as the world unites to end once and for all our toxic relationship with single-use plastics.
Three acclaimed photographers and environmental advocates will judge the contest, based on impact, relevance to the theme and originality. There will be three top prizes as voted by the judges and three additional prizes (Coral Triangle coffee table books) for the three images that receive the most number of likes, (excluding the top 3 prize winners).
The Coral Triangle Day #PLASTICRESISTANCE contest is working with high profile partners and sponsors including WWF, Conservation International, Mission Blue, Oceana, Matador Network, Papua Diving, Scuba Junkie and Bye- Bye Plastic Bags.
The Coral Triangle is fast emerging as one of the most exciting destinations in the world for nature-based tourism which benefits local communities, ecosystems and tourists alike. Confronting the issue of waste plastic entering the ocean is one way in which all of us as consumers can make a difference, while encouraging companies to rethink how they produce and package products.
More information about the contest: The Coral Triangle Day
