AmpliFIRE: Raising Voices Against Rising Temperatures

World leaders face mounting pressure to address more effectively the unequal vulnerability of women to the deepening climate crisis. At United Nations negotiations in recent years, women activists have urged broader gender equality and women’s leadership in launching new climate initiatives. Recent Emory graduates Prachi Prasad and Danni Dong interviewed delegates about the role of women and diverse voices at COP27 or the 27th UN Conference of the Parties held in Egypt in November 2022. That activism has set the stage for expanding women’s participation at COP28 that meets in Dubai November 30-December 12, 2023.

Introduction to Gender and Climate Change,” UNFCC, gender and women at COP28, https://unfccc.int/gender

This episode includes several music sound clips recorded at the Indigenous People’s Pavilion at COP27(the 27th UN Conference of the Parties,) Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, November 2022.

The following are some of the female-led advocacy groups participating in the UN negotiations:

Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International, https://www.wecaninternational.org/

Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA), https://womensearthalliance.org/

Women‘s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), https://wedo.org/

Women’s Environmental Action, Global GreenGrants Fund, https://www.greengrants.org/what-we-do/womens-environmental-action/

How is climate change disproportionately impacting global health, and how should these damages be compensated? Join Margaret and Clare, two public health students at Emory University, to explore these questions by interviewing delegates from developing nations at the UNFCCC's 27th Conference of the Parties. The interviews were recorded in November 2022, and this episode is being released one year later to commemorate the life of Dr. Saleemul Huq, who recently passed away and is featured prominently in the episode.

Learn more about Dr. Saleemul Huq https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/climate/saleemul-huq-dead.html

Audio from the protest at the start of the episode: AP Archive. (2021, November 16). Activists from Global South lead protest at COP27.

https://youtu.be/s2he_RjWhv4

Learn more about the International Centre for Climate Change and Development https://www.icccad.net/

Learn more about LaRutadelClima https://larutadelclima.org/

Learn more about the Panafrican Climate Justice Alliance https://pacja.org/

Learn more about IBON International https://iboninternational.org/

Read the full text of the loss and damage funding agreement https://unfccc.int/documents/624440

Read the press release titled "COP27 Reaches Breakthrough Agreement on New “Loss and Damage” Fund for Vulnerable Countries" https://unfccc.int/news/cop27-reaches-breakthrough-agreement-on-new-loss-and-damage-fund-for-vulnerable-countries

Learn more about the Green Climate Fund https://unfccc.int/process/bodies/funds-and-financial-entities/green-climate-fund

Read the Green Climate Fund report https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/status-pledges-irm_1.pdf

Learn more about Next Gen. Global Frontier https://ngglobalfrontier.org/

Read a PBS News article about the conference outcomes https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/cop27-closes-with-deal-struck-for-climate-disaster-fund-but-no-new-emissions-cuts , and a CNN article https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/19/world/cop27-egypt-agreement-climate-intl/index.html

“First, do no harm.”

These words are part of the oath taken by doctors, as they pledge to avoid intentionally harming another person. But as the climate change crisis grows more urgent and the contribution of healthcare systems to the problem becomes clearer, this oath raises questions.

In this episode, Lauren Balotin and Meg Withers discuss the role of healthcare in climate action and sustainability. The episode features interviews with Dr. Shanda Demorest, the Associate Director of Climate Engagement and Education at Health Care Without Harm, and Dr. Adam Klein, Professor in Emory University’s School of Medicine. Dr. Demorest and Dr. Klein discuss how they discovered their passions for sustainability as healthcare providers, what barriers healthcare organizations face in climate action, and how healthcare systems can strengthen climate commitments.

Additional resources:

Health Care Without Harm’s climate programming (https://healthcareclimateaction.org, including the Physician Network (https://noharm-uscanada.org/physiciannetwork) and the Nurses Climate Challenge (https://us.nursesclimatechallenge.org)

Practice Greenhealth (https://practicegreenhealth.org)

Medical Students for a Sustainable Future (https://ms4sf.org)

Sustainability Roadmap for Hospitals (http://www.sustainabilityroadmap.org/strategies/index.shtml#.Y0x2yC2B3UK)

Emory University’s 2019 emissions report (http://sustainability.emory.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2019-GHG-Executive-Summary_finaldraft-1.pdf)

Credits: Music by Coma-Media on Pixabay

You may have heard recent news about a growing list of American universities that are deciding to remove their investments in fossil fuel companies. This was no self-motivated act: students across the US have been charging for divestment for over a decade. In fact, a year ago students from several schools combined efforts to launch legal complaints against their universities for their financial entanglement with the fossil fuel industry. So how did we get here, and what work is left to do within higher education beyond divestment? Join Emory alumni Halle Bradshaw (‘18C, ‘19G) and Tyler Stern (‘16C) as they learn more about student divestment campaigns, their new legal strategy, and a wrinkle in investment practices that leads them back to their alma mater.

Interviews with Jade Woods, Alex Mardquat, and Peter Scott

Learn more about Climate Defense Project at https://climatedefenseproject.org

In this week’s student-produced episode, Leah Hartung, Jackson Pentz, and Ellie Sulser discuss the state of the green energy transition in the United States. They explore the move from coal to solar power and interview a variety of experts making an impact in the field of renewable energy.

At universities, we have the opportunity to live and learn alongside students from other communities, countries, and cultures. We have the opportunity to hear how students from different backgrounds view climate change and climate activism.

In this episode, we hear from international students at Emory. They discuss how topics such as climate change impacted them before coming to Emory, what their classes taught (or did not teach) about climate change, and how their perspectives on climate activism have changed over time.

From Glasgow to Georgia: Climate Action and Sustainable Land Use by Emory Climate Talks

For our final episode of Season 3, we sit down with Kumi Naidoo, Colin Spurway, and Mae Bowen for a roundtable discussion about COP26. We recap the events from Glasgow, the importance of equitable representation at international negotiations and the role that institutions of higher education can play in addressing the climate crisis.

Featured Guests:

Kumi Naidoo - Kumi has served as International Executive Director of Greenpeace International (from 2009 to 2016) and Secretary General of Amnesty International (from 2018 to 2020). Kumi is currently a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy, on the Global Leadership Council for Sanitation and Water for All, and Honorary Professor of Practice at Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. Currently, Kumi serves as Global Ambassador to Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity.

Colin Spurway - Colin is the North Africa Country Director of the BBC’s international development charity - BBC Media Action. His Tunis-based team implements a portfolio of media-development and media-for-development projects across North Africa in the spheres of governance, health, and resilience. Their El Kul social media platform for young Libyans, for example, aims to contribute to social cohesion and currently has over a million followers on Facebook. Colin has an M.A. in International Relations from St. Andrews University and was a Bobby Jones Scholar at Emory 1996-97.

Mae Bowen - Mae is an attorney practicing environmental law in Washington, DC. She was part of Emory’s first COP delegation, attending the Paris talks in 2015, serving as a student teacher for the accompanying course Paris is an Explanation, and co-founding the Emory Climate Organization. In 2016, she traveled to the talks in Marrakech as an alumni delegate, developed a fundraising campaign for the delegation, and founded the Emory Alumni Environmental Network, which she continues to lead today. Mae holds a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science and Political Science from Emory University, and a JD from New York University School of Law. All views expressed in the episode are her own and not reflective of her employer.

Recorded from Glasgow, Scotland (and Atlanta, Georgia), Tyler Stern and Emaline Laney capture a glimpse of youth voices leading climate action from around the globe during the first week of COP26. Hear what gives them hope and the perseverance to realize their vision of a decarbonized world.

Interviews featuring: Damilola Balogun, Natasha Sood, Alyssa Kemp, Amanda Gomes Lôbo

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa's Speech - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcCla9thMgM

Sir David Attenborough's Speech - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6SO0xkr_uI

Prime Minister Mia Mottley's Speech - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN6THYZ4ngM

"The Green New Dream" from Inherited podcast - https://www.inheritedpod.com/listen

COP26 begins next week, and on the agenda is the finalization of the Paris Rulebook, which describes how to implement the Paris Agreement. The carbon trading mechanisms in Article 6 will be one of the key points in this discussion. While Article 6 offers several opportunities, it also has several risks -- especially for Indigenous communities. 

In this episode, we speak with two Indigenous activists: Ghazali Ohorella, who will be in Glasgow advocating for Indigenous rights in Article 6, and Gunarti, who is an environmental activist  with the Sedulur Sikep indigenous community in Indonesia. Ohorella and Gunarti share the importance of representation at international climate negotiations and why these decisions matter to local Indigenous communities. 

Listen to Ghazali Ohorella’s podcast, “The Gomaluku Podcast”: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/the-gomaluku-podcast/id1482388286?uo=4

Follow Ghazali Ohorella’s Twitter handle: @GOMaluku

Follow Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim’s (Ghazali’s “practically royal” colleague) Twitter handle: @hindououmar

Learn more about Gunarti and her work with JMPPK: ​​https://th.boell.org/en/2021/06/16/gunarti-letter-kendeng-mountains