82 views  Sep 12, 2024

 On September 12, WECAN held a virtual launch event for the report, "The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and

82 views  Sep 12, 2024

 On September 12, WECAN held a virtual launch event for the report, "The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and Complicit Financial Institutions (Fourth Edition).” 

 

From rising cancer rates to escalating violence, the report details the numerous disproportionate health and safety risks and impacts women in all their diversity are experiencing due to fossil fuel extraction, which is also perpetuating Indigenous and human rights violations. The report highlights regional case studies from Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities in North America, as well as the corresponding financial institutions that are contributing to these egregious harms. The report outlines recommendations for the banks to move toward accountability and a just transition. 

 

During the online event, we heard from frontline women leaders, health experts, and advocates who are demanding accountability from financial institutions to take action for the health of our communities, ecosystems, and the climate. Speakers included: 

 

✴� Roishetta Sibley Ozane M.S., Founder of Vessel Project of Louisiana and Gulf Fossil Finance Coordinator, Louisiana

✴� Rene Ann Goodrich (Bad River Ojibwe), Native Lives Matter Coalition and Wisconsin Department of Justice Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Task Force Member, Wisconsin

✴� Sharon Lavigne, Founder of RISE St. James, and 2021 Goldman Prize Winner, Louisiana

✴� Patricia Garcia-Nelson (Oraricha Tribes of Mexico and the Chichimeca), Colorado Fossil Fuel Just Transition Advocate for Green Latinos, Northern Colorado

✴� Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Environmental Ambassador for the Ponca Nation, and Board Member and Project Coordinator for WECAN, Oklahoma

✴� Antonia Juhasz, Investigative Journalist, author, lecturer, Washington, DC

✴� Dr. Nneoma Nwachuku Ojiaku, MD, MPH Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Climate Health Now

✴� Osprey Orielle Lake, Report Co-author, and Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

 

Many thanks to the amazing speakers!

...

In this session, we hear from a diverse panel, including academics, business leaders and environmental experts, to gain an insight into the latest industry innovations, policy settings and business

In this session, we hear from a diverse panel, including academics, business leaders and environmental experts, to gain an insight into the latest industry innovations, policy settings and business trends that are advancing China towards a sustainable future. Moderators: Jie Zhou, Sino-UK Centre for Sustainability Innovation, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) Professor William Hurst, Deputy Director at the Centre for Geopolitics, Cambridge University Speakers: David Ferguson, Head of Net Zero Innovation, EDF UK Dr Li Guo, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Lau China Institute, King’s College London Dr Sam Geall, CEO, China Dialogue Suwei Jiang, Partner, PwC Clare Shine, Director and CEO, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) Professor Kerry Brown, Director of the Lau China Institute, King’s College, London As the world’s highest carbon emitter and largest producer of renewable energy technology, China carries a significant responsibility to accelerate the global pathway to a decarbonised economy. Home to more than 60 per cent of the global renewable energy supply chain, China’s EnviroTech sector will be key for transitioning China and the world to a carbon neutral future. While still heavily reliant on fossil fuels for its energy needs, there are many exciting innovations emerging from within China that can increase sustainability across a range of sectors. Recorded live at CISL's Cambridge headquarters, in our world-class sustainably retrofit Entopia building, as part of our China Week 2022 events. ***** About the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership partners with business and governments to develop leadership and solutions for a sustainable economy. We aim to achieve net zero, protect and restore nature, and build inclusive and resilient societies. For over three decades we have built the leadership capacity and capabilities of individuals and organisations, and created industry-leading collaborations, to catalyse change and accelerate the path to a sustainable economy. Our interdisciplinary research engagement builds the evidence base for practical action. Discover more resources and publications from CISL: https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/resources/publications ***** The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not represent an official position of CISL or The University of Cambridge.

...

Thaalavattam is not a band, it’s a project, and an experience. Montry might be at the centre of it, but it’s mainly about collaborative work, not just with musicians, but also with visual artists

Thaalavattam is not a band, it’s a project, and an experience. Montry might be at the centre of it, but it’s mainly about collaborative work, not just with musicians, but also with visual artists and designers from all fields who have the passion to experiment and create. He creates all his instruments with reused material like industrial discarded materials, shock absorbers, paint cans, soda bottle crowns, pet bottles, bicycle parts and discarded PVC pipes etc. We have a lot of inspirations and influences from nature, colours, people, what I see in every day life, conversations, found objects like floating jugs, plastic bags and bottles, graphic design, experiences of my travels around the world, street music and so on. Inspiration is all around. Our motto is Reduce Reuse Retune and the vision is to CLEAN THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH MUSIC. Montry Thaalavattam was 'the first live act from India’, having performed at the O.Z.O.R.A. Music Festival (DRAGON-NEST) in Hungary in 2014, and were honoured to be part of the opening and closing acts. We have played in 2015, and invited to headline again in 2016, making it three years in a row. Also we have been part of TEDx Vienna and various festivals in Europe like Tree of Life Gathering (Austria), Tanz durch den Tag Aufwind Festival (Austria), Griasdi Handpan Festival (Austria), Ancient Festival (Germany), Sisyphos (Berlin), Burning Mountain (Switzerland), Samsara Festival (Hungary), Sun Festival (Hungary), Rostfest (Austria), Garbicz Festival (Poland) Amsterdam dance event 2019 Montry Manuel, an environmentalist and musician born and brought up at Cochin. Currently he is based in Austria. Montry had the love for music since his childhood. He was influenced by his father for all his creative ways of living and the love for music. He was trained by his guru Jerry Peter (Cochin) who instilled in him the love of drums. Also he worked in the field of advertising as a art director for about 10 years while pursuing music as a hobby till he decided to be a musician full-time. He was a founding member of the renowned Indian band “Swarathma” and was with them for seven years. They created 3 albums, many collaborative works and toured the country and the world extensively. Montry always been interested in experimenting and creating new sounds, so he started to ideate in creating music from FOUND OBJECTS in 2010. He separated from Swarathma and created the “idea” of Thaalavattam (local language of Kerala, India, it translates to “A Circle of Rhythm”) in 2011 in Bangalore (India). This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

...

You may have heard of insects who masquerade as poop to keep predatory birds at bay. Well, some frogs do it too. But are they successful? Researchers recently set out to discover how well fecal

You may have heard of insects who masquerade as poop to keep predatory birds at bay. Well, some frogs do it too. But are they successful? Researchers recently set out to discover how well fecal camo works for young Wallace’s flying frogs in South Pacific jungles. The team painted hundreds of wax froglets in different colors schemes: some red, some green, and some — like the real froglets — red with white splotches, much like the droppings of Southeast Asian fruit-eating birds. The splotched fakes got attacked half as often as the pure red ones. According to the study, grossing out birds may be what lets young frogs grow up to be green, web-footed adults, hiding and gliding in the rainforest canopy. Featured in Endangered Earth Online, 1231, Feb. 8, 2024: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/publications/earthonline/endangered-earth-online-no1231.html Based on Scientific American report, “This Flying Frog Spends Its Youth Masquerading as Poop,” by E.A. Brown. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-flying-frog-spends-its-youth-masquerading-as-poop/ Adult frogs by Daniel Zupanc/Vienna Zoo. Juvenile frog by Samanth Cloer/Vienna Zoo. Music: foreverlasting by Justnormal, frumhere via Canva. --------------------------- About the Center: The Center for Biological Diversity is a 501c3 nonprofit headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. At the Center, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive. We want those who come after us to inherit a world where the wild is still alive. Where to find us: WEBSITE: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/CenterForBioDiv FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/CenterforBioDiv/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/centerforbiodiv/ TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@centerforbiodiv TAKE ACTION: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/action/alerts/ For questions or media inquiries, email us at center@biologicaldiversity.org.

...

Amid an outcry over anti-Asian violence and harassment, filmmaker and writer Bee Vang turns the spotlight in Hollywood and its role in promulgating anti-Asian ideas. The son of immigrants,

Amid an outcry over anti-Asian violence and harassment, filmmaker and writer Bee Vang turns the spotlight in Hollywood and its role in promulgating anti-Asian ideas. The son of immigrants, Hmong-American actor and activist Vang starred as Thao Vang Lor in Clint Eastwood's 2008 film Gran Torino and has appeared in "Modern Family" and Comisery. He has performed in independent films and on stage at Brown University, where he received a 2016 liberal arts degree in international politics, media and cultural studies. Vang worked at MSNBC with "The Rachel Maddow Show," at The Economist and at a research institute at Columbia University. After several years working as a print journalist, nonfiction writer and policy researcher, he recently moved to Los Angeles to devote himself to acting, filmmaking and other creative pursuits. NOTES See more "Michelle Meow Show"s at The Commonwealth Club. THU, APR 22 / 12:00 PM PDT SPEAKERS Bee Vang Actor; Journalist, The Economist and "The Rachel Maddow Show"; Policy Researcher Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW/KPIX and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-Host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—Co-Host -www.commonwealthclub.org/covid19support -Subscribe for more Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/commonwealthclub -Upcoming events: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events -Become a Member: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/membership -Donate Now: https://support.commonwealthclub.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=298 -Watch & Listen https://www.commonwealthclub.org/watch-listen -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonwealthclub/ -Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cwclub/ -Twitter https://twitter.com/cwclub

...

"Building Systemic Change: Frontline Women-Led Solutions for Climate Justice" During this event Indigenous, Black, Brown, and frontline women leaders and global advocates addressed multiple

"Building Systemic Change: Frontline Women-Led Solutions for Climate Justice" During this event Indigenous, Black, Brown, and frontline women leaders and global advocates addressed multiple interlocking crises, and presented a diverse array of visions, projects, policy frameworks and strategies based in a climate justice framework, including forest and biodiversity protection, Indigenous rights, food sovereignty, protection of women land defenders, and community-led solutions. This was formal side event hosted as part of the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66). Links and resources shared during the event are available here: https://bit.ly/36FYyyS Speakers included: — Neema Namadamu, Founder, Synergy of Congolese Women’s Associations (SAFECO), and WECAN Democratic Republic of Congo Coordinator, Democratic Republic of the Congo – Monique Verdin (Houma Nation), Director, The Land Memory Bank & Seed Exchange, and WECAN Indigenous Food Sovereignty Program Coordinator, USA – Jacqui Patterson, Founder and Executive Director, The Chisholm Legacy Project, USA – Melina Laboucan-Massimo (Lubicon Cree), Co-founder and Senior Director, Indigenous Climate Action, and Founder, Sacred Earth Solar, Canada – Helena Gualinga (Kichwa), Environmental and Indigenous Rights Defender, WECAN Young Women Project Lead, Ecuador –Moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director, USA The voices, analysis and leadership of global women, feminist and gender diverse leaders are critical to the years ahead, as we work collectively and urgently to build the resilient and just future we know is possible.

...

...

Over the course of its 150-year history, California has successfully protected its scenic wilderness areas, restricted coastal oil drilling, regulated automobile emissions, preserved coastal access

Over the course of its 150-year history, California has successfully protected its scenic wilderness areas, restricted coastal oil drilling, regulated automobile emissions, preserved coastal access and improved energy efficiency. Back in 1963 when the Clean Air Act was written, legislators acknowledged that California was ahead of the curve and wrote a waiver into the law allowing the Golden State to set its own stricter standards. In 2018, that exception is being used in fighting—and so far winning—the loosening of national CAFE standards Join us for a conversation about the past, present and future of California’s leadership in environmental policy. We will look at the lessons—as laid out by David Vogel—offered by California to the nation and the world. What has worked and where has the state fallen short? And later in the show. . . Just ten years ago, an entire state running on 100 percent renewable electricity was considered fanciful. But this dreamy vision became reality when, with the backing of big utilities, California committed to 100 percent use of zero-carbon electricity by 2045. The stakes were raised even higher with a statewide pledge to go carbon neutral by 2045. What will it take for California to achieve such a feat? What are the impacts on the fuel and transportation industries? Will Governor Gavin Newsom embrace climate initiatives started by former Governor Jerry Brown? A discussion on California’s surprise gambit to take the world’s fifth largest economy to net zero with John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil, Bob Holycross, Global Director of Sustainability & Vehicle Environmental Matters at Ford Motor Company, and Mary Nichols, Chair of the California Air Resources Board This program is generously underwritten by ClimateWorks Foundation. #letstalkclimate https://climateone.org/ Protect what has already been saved 5:29 Revoking National Monuments? 5:50 California Cars 8:38 Is California anti-business? 10:43 California Going Carbon Neutral 12:45 Oil companies and zero emissions 14:54 Electrification of everything 17:32 Lightening Round 20:20 Artificial Intelligence and Smart Cars 24:50

...

Ari Matusiak is CEO of Rewiring America, a growing nonprofit working to launch a movement that electrifies everything, starting with our 121 million households. We are motivated by the fact that 90

Ari Matusiak is CEO of Rewiring America, a growing nonprofit working to launch a movement that electrifies everything, starting with our 121 million households. We are motivated by the fact that 90 percent of all emissions in the U.S. are energy-related, and 42 percent of those energy emissions come from the decisions we make in our homes: how we heat our air and water, cook our food, and dry our clothes, and what kind of cars we drive. Ari is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Purpose Venture Group, a social impact advisory firm, and incubator that builds community-centered ventures to address climate and economic inequality. He has almost a decade of executive leadership and operational experience in renewable energy and household electrification. Ari served in the Obama White House as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Private Sector Engagement. He focused on economic policy related to jobs and competitiveness and oversaw the relationship between the Administration and the private sector. He is Co-Founder and Chairman of Young Invincibles; a national nonprofit focused on delivering economic opportunity to young adults. Earlier in his career, he was the senior executive responsible for strategy and impact investing at the Rhode Island Foundation, one of the country’s oldest and largest community foundations. His efforts resulted in over $1 billion of affordable housing and thousands of new, local jobs. In addition, Ari was a fellow at the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University. He graduated cum laude and as a Public Interest Law Scholar from Georgetown University Law Center, and is a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University. He lives with his wife, two daughters, and puppy in Southern California. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

...

Join us on November 19 at 6 pm for the Commonwealth Club’s Virtual Gala. Raise your glass to Good Health, as we celebrate the leadership of women in science and medicine. Visit

Join us on November 19 at 6 pm for the Commonwealth Club’s Virtual Gala. Raise your glass to Good Health, as we celebrate the leadership of women in science and medicine. Visit commonwealthclub.org/2021gala to learn more or Text Club2021 to 41444 to register and donate today! Welcome to Hearts and Minds—A QTAPI Community Conversation Series, Session Two: Asians and Pacific Islanders: Our Future Determines Our Past. "Our future determines our past" is a play on words and ideas of how people are taught that the past can determine who we are. Though people can understand the past, will they necessarily learn from it to make decisions that make the future stronger and more just and equitable? When we are ashamed of some aspects of our history, do we not speak of it or acknowledge it? In the present, our relationship to the past—how we appreciate it, amplify it, and even shine light on the darkest aspects, can determine our relationship to that past and what we do with it and how we grow and evolve as a community. How can people, in the diversity of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, honor and embrace all of these histories? This legacy can help people know their histories about resilience and strength as they stand on the shoulders of ancestors. The future may be undetermined, but we hope this conversation inspires folks to envision what sort of future they would like for their communities to be centered in and how they might participate in achieving that vision. Funded by the CA Humanities, whose mission is “to connect Californians to ideas and one another in order to understand our shared heritage and diverse cultures, inspire civic participation, and shape our future.” That is the shared vision for Hearts and Minds: A QTAPI Community Conversation Series,” and it is to that end that GAPA Theatre’s “Hearts and Minds” program continues its work in ensuring our QTAPI stories continue to be told. About the Speakers Peter Tuiolosega Silva is the executive director of Kumukahi Health + Wellness, located on the island of Hawai'i. Peter has been an HIV advocate in the Pacific Island community for more than two decades, serving as the HIV trainer for the Pacific Islands, coordinator for the Pacific Island Jurisdictions AIDS Action Group, founder of UTOPIA Hawai'i, and prevention director of Life Foundation. Silva was most recently a public servant in the Hawai'i Department of Health’s Harm Reduction Services Branch. He currently lives in Hilo with his partner of 25 years. Amy Sueyoshi is dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University. Sueyoshi holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Los Angeles and a B.A. from Barnard College and has published two books: Queer Compulsions: Race, Nation, and Sexuality in the Affairs of Yone Noguchi and Discriminating Sex: White Leisure and the Making of the American “Oriental.” Sueyoshi also authored “Breathing Fire,” a brief survey of queer APIDA history, for the National Parks Service’s historic LGBT Theme Study, which won the Paul E. Buchanan Award from the Vernacular Architecture Forum. Sueyoshi is also a founding co-curator of the GLBT History Museum, the first queer history museum in the United States, and seeded the intergenerational Dragon Fruit Oral History Project at API Equality Northern California. Helen Zia is the author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People, a finalist for the prestigious Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize and referred to by President Bill Clinton in two separate speeches in the Rose Garden. She coauthored, with Wen Ho Lee, My Country Versus Me, which reveals what happened to the Los Alamos scientist who was falsely accused of being a spy for China in the “worst case since the Rosenbergs.” She was executive editor of Ms. Magazine and is a founding board co-chair of the Women's Media Center. The daughter of immigrants from China, Helen has been outspoken on issues ranging from human rights and peace to women's rights and countering hate violence and homophobia. She is a Fulbright Scholar and a graduate of Princeton University’s first coeducational class. She attended medical school but quit after completing two years, then went to work as a construction laborer, an autoworker, and a community organizer, after which she discovered her life’s work as a writer. NOTES Zia photo by Bob Hsiang_BHP San Francisco RH. OCTOBER 27, 2021 Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club of California Board of Governors—Host 💯SUBSCRIBE for more VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/user/commonwealthclub The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum 📣, bringing together its 20,000 members for more than 400 annual events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy.

...