Creativity and Calls to Action at Penn Climate Week
By: Alex Schoeny
Penn Climate Week was the most vibrant display of the University of Pennsylvania’s ability to mitigate the causes and effects of global climate change to date. Dozens of virtual webinars, panels, and workshops held between September 21-25 highlighted important and groundbreaking research, conveyed powerful stories, and encouraged action on a local and global scale. The organizers of Penn Climate Week, which included several individuals and groups both within and outside of the University, also produced recorded sessions, a valuable resource for those who could not attend the events (accessible through the Provost’s website), and have set the stage for even more impactful Climate Weeks in the future.
Although Penn Climate Week covered a broad range of topics and disciplines, the events were deeply thematically connected. To start, the sessions clearly demonstrated that the climate crisis needs to be addressed from all perspectives since it affects all aspects of life. Namely, Penn Climate Week showcased the work of the humanities. On the Wednesday of Climate Week, Deia Schlosberg discussed her film The Story of Plastic as well as the role of documentary filmmaking in climate communications. The next day, the Kelly Writers House brought the Indonesian poet Adin for a reading and conversation about his work portraying life in one of the most at-risk places on Earth for flooding. The climate crisis was also tied in with other critical issues, most notably in Anne Berg’s presentation on white nationalism in the age of climate change.
The Climate Week talks also addressed climate issues at every scale, from the local and individual to the global. On a local level, Bill Braham from the Penn School of Design led a panel discussion on minimizing personal energy use, and the Netter Center led teach-ins discussing environmental health and justice in West Philadelphia. Climate Week also included several discussions with a continental and global focus, though attention deserves to be drawn to Dr. Anthony Nyong’s talk on Climate Change in Africa as it highlighted the disproportional challenges and opportunities of global warming in Africa.
Finally, many of the speakers painted an urgent and often grim picture of the next few years of climate work. Susan Biniaz discussed her role in negotiating the Paris Agreement and, given the United States’ recent withdrawal under the Trump administration, the importance of the American presidential election for the future of humanity. Dr. Francis Diebold presented his econometric research on Arctic ice extent, which concluded that the polar ice may be melting far quicker than predicted by global climate models. On the other hand, these and other events presented avenues for students to prevent these potentially dire scenarios. The diverse backgrounds represented in the Getting Started in an Environmental Career panel illuminated the countless ways we can use our talents towards the public good. Similarly, the 1.5 Minute Student Lecture series shined the spotlight on the incredible work Penn students are already doing as undergraduates. Altogether, the events of Penn Climate Week encapsulated the goal of ThinkOcean: for students to bring about much-needed, positive, local and global impact in creative ways.