‘Every single job is a climate job’: Symposium focuses on resilient climate solutions
The Center for Climate Research hosted the University of Wisconsin Climate Change Symposium Oct. 7. The 11th annual symposium was held with a focus on climate solutions for resilient communities at the intersection of science and society.
The first part of the symposium included panelists discussing how different corporations in the insurance and public health field are recognizing and working towards climate change solutions. Panelists began by discussing the current climate change related problems that society faces.
Sustainable business framework senior manager at American Family Insurance Emmy Swift provided insight into current climate change issues that face both the U.S. and the rest of the world.
“We are starting to feel the physical impact of climate change across the globe,” Swift said.
After sharing concerns, the panelists discussed good things happening now with respect to climate change as well as future changes.
Climate change impacts public health and therefore human health specifically, director of applied research initiatives at the Natural Resources Defense Council Vijay Limaye said. Society is approaching a tipping point of stabilizing climate change and improving human health, Limaye said.
“We ultimately can end up stabilizing [the] global climate system to help humanity,” Limaye said. “Climate change is intensifying every single health concern.”
The panelists concluded by discussing what industry and individuals can do about climate change.
It takes big companies — such as Coca-Cola — to begin noticing issues in their supply chain to fix problems such as water quality, Swift said.
“[Climate change] becomes a supply chain issue, a logistic issue, and then they aren’t able to give back to the consumer,” Swift said.
Discussion about corporations and their ability to create change, prompted a student to ask about what individuals and specifically students can do about climate change in their current and future work.
Swift said the panel’s advice on how to address climate change was simple at the core.
“Play to your strengths and do what you are good at,” Swift said. “Every single job is a climate job.”
This year’s keynote speaker, founding director at the Carnegie Climate and Resilience Hub at Stanford University Anna Michalak focused on her experiences of bringing industry, academia and government together to combat climate change.
Different groups focusing on climate change need to acknowledge what they are good at and enlist the help of others when working on different skills and techniques outside of their realm of expertise, Michalak said.
“For everyone, it’s really tempting to say, ‘I’m really good at science. How hard can this [other] stuff be able to figure out’,” Michalak said. “If you don’t do this it can really get out of track quickly.”
The Center for Climate Research aims to train students to be the next generation of change through providing students experiences in the field and hosting events, according to their website. Students can find out more about UW’s climate tracking tools and events held throughout campus on the Center for Climate Research website.