Schedule
The p4 Pittsburgh Climate Action Summit will bring together national and local climate experts, decision-makers, students, and business leaders to create a powerful partnership for meaningful change. Join author David Wallace-Wells, scientists Ray Najjar of Penn State and Jonathan Foley of Project Drawdown, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, and inspiring young climate activists in an interactive, movement building event. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made it clear that we have only 10 short years to take rapid action to transform our economy and critical infrastructure in order to avert the worst consequences of climate change. We know that this region is a significant contributor to climate pollution and it is up to all of us to take serious, collective action now. In addition to hearing from our headlining speakers and panelists, we will have the opportunity for attendees to participate in one of five sector-specific workshops featuring leaders in the nonprofit, business, and government sectors who are making change now. Together we can help to solve the 21st Century’s greatest challenge. Be part of the solution!
Day 1
October 30, 2019
Registration & Breakfast
Video "Truth to Power" by One Republic
Opening Remarks
Regional Climate Change Impacts: What Science Tells Us
Navigating with Urgency: Climate Change and its Effects
Break
Workshops
Addressing Your Organization’s Risk: Climate Change Means Business (Business workshop)
Business and other organizations will learn about the bottom-line and stakeholder pressures related to climate risk, how businesses are working to manage and disclose these risks, and steps they can take to reduce the climate footprint of their own organizations. In addition to hearing from representatives from the investment community and corporation working toward carbon neutrality, workshop participants will walk through a climate risk assessment and access resources for addressing climate risk. (Video not available)
Brave and Heartfelt Climate Communications for Nonprofits (Nonprofit Workshop)
Explore approaches that empower people, organizations and communities to address climate solutions from the heart. How do we talk about the climate crisis without increasing despair? How do we connect individual actions to social change in polarized communities? Participants will experience effective engagement strategies and discover the critical role of non-profit networking in climate action. (Video not available)
Climate Impacts from petrochemical and plastics development in the Ohio Valley region (Health workshop)
The session will explore the scale of potential greenhouse gas emissions from planned petrochemical facilities and the extraction, pipeline and processing infrastructure required to support it. Health concerns as well as policy and economic considerations will also be discussed. (Video not available)
Environmental Justice and Student Empowerment in the Classroom (Student/Educator Workshop)
"On July 17, the Woodland Hills School District made history. The district's school board passed a 'Call to Climate Change Action' resolution calling for state and federal lawmakers to address the climate change crisis and committed the district to a new set of eco-conscious policies." - Bill O'Toole, NextPittburgh. And all this came to pass as a result of a group of 8th graders speaking up! In this workshop, you can meet the students responsible for petitioning their school board to pass the resolution and the nonprofit, Communitopia, behind the work. Upbeat presenter Katie Modic, career educator, presents alongside students from Woodland Hills in this interactive workshop to teach you what environmental justice looks like in Allegheny County as well as the tools necessary for empowering student voice and creating district-level solutions that are impactful and equitable. (Video not available)
Partnering across sectors to accelerate governmental response to climate change (Local Government workshop)
In this session, participants will learn from leaders at different levels of government and nonprofits partnering across sectors to accelerate their response to climate change. During this session, attendees will better understand what our challenges are to mobilize a local critical response to climate change, what roles are required to organize an effective response and how citizens and elected officials can work together towards solutions. (Video not available)
Networking Lunch
Across the world, young people are raising their voices and taking to the streets to demand bold action on climate change. They know that their future is in peril and that a worldwide movement to decarbonize our economy is the only way to prevent the worst effects of global climate change, and they are inspiring all of us to take action now. The Heinz Endowments' President Grant Oliphant will talk with three of these youth leaders about what drives them and what we all must do to push for a better future.
Climate change is not just an environmental issue. It is already having impacts on our public health, our economy, our politics, and nearly every aspect of our lives – and those impacts will only accelerate if we don’t take bold action now. These panelists, from a diverse set of backgrounds and perspectives, will share how climate change is affecting them and the communities they represent, and how we can take collective action across different sectors to prevent its worst effects.
Project Drawdown: Tactical Action to Reverse Global Warming
Networking Reception
Join the Movement
Join the p4 movement to create a more livable Pittsburgh for everyone. Sign up for email updates.