What can we really do as individuals to fight climate change? What’s the role of business in driving and solving the issues we face, and what are the costs and benefits of doing so?
EXCELLENT QUESTIONS! Asking those questions, talking about them with a real person, is an important first step in understanding, then tacking action large or small. Then, hopefully, another and another — we’re all in this together, and we need everyone doing things imperfectly versus a few people doing things perfectly.
Climate change: A global conversation
So over the weekend of October 10-11, I felt privileged to deliver two virtual presentations on these topics as part of “24 Hours of Reality: Countdown to the Future.” For 24 hours, thousands of members of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps (like me!), along with the TED Countdown Campaign, held online conversations with communities all over the world.
I had a fantastic time during my two talks!
“Inspirational Solutions for People & Planet”
On Sunday Oct. 11 at 11am (not the best time for a webinar, but we only had 24 hours to get them done!), I hosted an amazing group of people from 3 countries and at least 10 states. After a quick look at what Mother Nature is telling us, we talked about how climate change affects our health, structural racism and much more.
Even better, we focused on climate solutions that we can all choose right now — not next year, but now. We looked at how we can actually measure and compare the impact of one choice over another … and how our big levers vary from person to person, from family to family.
Professional MBA students at the University of Georgia
I also teamed up with fellow Climate Reality member Shannon Caldwell, Career Management Director for Executive and Professional MBA Programs at the University of Georgia Terry College of Business. Shannon kicked off our 90-minute session with the students by focusing on the climate situation, some science, and how to use our voices and choices to make a difference.
Yet as business leaders, these students can potentially drive change on a far greater scale. So for the second half, I addressed the role of business: How business drives the problem, how innovative companies are addressing it, and why doing so can lower their risks, improve their margins and ultimately their market capitalization.
THANK YOU to all of you who participated!
If you’d like to set up a virtual event like these for your company, business group, alum club, or other group, please contact me now!
