With PJ Wilson, Vanessa Fischer, Bernhard Lorentz, and Dr. Rudra V Kapila. Moderated by Geoff Dembicki.
As we strive to curb carbon emissions to reduce global warming, a profound and uncomfortable truth remains. Even after implementing the most drastic measures, living conditions on our planet are changing, and we are facing a new reality on a rapidly evolving planet. More frequent and extreme weather events in recent years—uncontrollable wildfires in Australia, Portugal, and California; hurricanes and tornados in the Caribbean, Louisiana, Florida; and severe winter storms in Texas and Oklahoma—carry with them a profound warning for future generations across the globe. How do we adapt to and proactively mitigate the pressing effects of climate change? What can we do to become more climate resilient?
PJ Wilson is the founder and President of Puerto Rico Solar and Energy Storage Association, the trade association representing companies dedicated to transforming Puerto Rico’s electric sector into a new solar & storage based paradigm. He relocated to Puerto Rico during the blackout in the aftermath of hurricane Maria, after spending 12 years developing the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors in his home state of Missouri.
Vanessa Fischer is the head of Deutsche Welle's environment department and is responsible for several video and audio magazine shows, online content and innovative new formats centered on climate change, environment and globalization. She is an International Journalists' Programme (IJP) alumni and an award-winning multimedia journalist with roots in Germany and Brazil. Vanessa has many years of experience involving stories that highlight constructive approaches to dealing with climate protection and adaptation in the Global South. DW's multimedia project Global Ideas has been dedicated to covering these topics for more than a decade.
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Lorentz, Vice-Chairman of Climate Neutrality Foundation, serves on numerous boards of public, academic and philanthropic institutions. He is also founder of several social enterprises. As president of one of the largest German private foundations, he showed how much influence strategic philanthropy can have on major political reform processes. During this time, he founded several of today’s leading think tanks in the fields of climate and energy (Agora Energiewende, Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change), digital society (Stiftung Neue Verantwortung), migration/ integration (Expert Council on Integration/ Sachverständigenrat Integration) and international politics (MERICS).
Dr. Rudra V. Kapila is the Senior Policy Advisor for Carbon Management at Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program, which advocates policies to put the United States on the fastest and fairest path to net-zero emissions by 2050. In addition, she is the Co-Chair for the Climate Change Working Group at Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security (WCAPS), a non-profit organization committed to promoting diverse perspectives from WOC leaders working within foreign policy and national security. Dr. Kapila earned her doctorate from the University of Edinburgh, where she focused on Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technology, and its prospects in emerging economies through technology transfer and international climate frameworks.
Geoff Dembicki is a climate journalist based in Brooklyn. He is a regular contributor to VICE and author of 'Are We Screwed?' His newest book, 'The Lost Years', will be published in 2022.