A new initiative urges academics from all disciplines to engage their students and communities on climate change actions and solutions by coordinating climate change information into their teaching. Global Climate Change Week aims to be a week of activities which raises awareness, changes behavior, and creates political transformation in relation to climate policy.
In advance of the December 2015 Paris climate conference (Cop21), the folks behind Global Climate Change Week have written an open letter (which you may endorse) to the world’s leaders urging them to take the necessary action to prevent catastrophic climate change. They call upon the academic community to join them by adding their names to the over 800 academics who have already signed the letter.
“If we can lead more academics to do a bit more I think Global Climate Change Week will be a success. . . . It is intended to run every year and I’m hoping that we can build on whatever we achieve this year to do more next year and forthcoming years,” said Keith Horton in a recent interview in Nature Climate Change. Horton is a moral and political philosopher at the University of Wollongong, Australia, and founder of Global Climate Change Week.
Momentum seems to be growing. Events are scheduled this week on six continents and 36 countries. Activities range from climate change workshops for elementary and middle school educators to movie screenings, mock climate change negotiations, and tree plantings.
Individuals and organizations can register as participants or add their event to the global map. They can also register as a “university champion.” University champions act as facilitators for a range of events and information at their particular school.
For more information visit globalclimatechangeweek.com.
