EARTHDAY.ORG @ COP26

EARTHDAY.ORG BROUGHT POWERFUL VOICES TO THE HEART OF COP26

EARTHDAY.ORG was an official observer at COP26 and a lead partner in the Nature + Zone pavilion. The pavilion was an events space set in the Blue Zone of COP26 – the “seat of power” negotiation grounds and country delegations location – providing an impactful platform to advocate for critical climate solutions.

 

Schedule of Events *all times GMT

NOVEMBER 3RD

4:45 PM – 6:00 PM

Official Side Event, Strangford Lough Room

Climate Education and Youth Empowerment: The key to meeting our climate and environmental goals 

World leaders and youth voices discuss urgent reasons and benefits for universal access to climate education and outline potential implementation strategies and funding options. 

Panel 1: The Roadmap for Promoting Universal Climate Literacy  

Moderator: Kathleen Rogers – President, EARTHDAY.ORG

Panelists include:  

  • Haldis Holst – Deputy General Secretary, Education International 
  • Aysha Al-Mudakha – Director of Strategic Initiatives & Partnership Development in CEO Office, Qatar Foundation

Panel 2: Innovative Climate Education Solutions and Practices for Youth Empowerment 

Moderator: Donna Goodman – Founding Director, Earth Child Institute

Panelists include:

  • Donna L. Goodman – Founder, Earth Child Institute; Author, ECOMASTERSbooks.com
  • Ismail Farja – Coordinator of the Youth Climate Hub, Foundation Mohammed VI/African Youth Climate Hub 
  • Naomi Nyamweya – Research Officer, Malala Fund 
  • Kazi Zubair Hossain – Bangladeshi Youth Representative, World Organization of the Scout Movement

NOVEMBER 4TH

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

The Green Economy 

Creating systemic change for a more regenerative economy by realizing the “potential of the system.”

Moderator: Emilie McGlone, Director, Peace Boat US

Panelists include:  

  • Michele Bongiovanni – CEO/Founder, HealRWorld and Founder Music4ClimateJustice
  • Peta Milan – CEO, Jet Group
  • Henk Rogers – Founder & Chairman, Blue Planet Alliance
  • Yoshioka Tatsuya – Founder, Peace Boat

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM  

Doha Debates  

Climate Change: Can we rise to the challenge? Doha Debates will livestream a debate on climate change with live interaction from the audience at the pavilion. International journalist and Doha Debates moderator Ghida Fakhry will be joined by award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Naomi Klein, president of Copenhagen Consensus Center Bjorn Lomborg, and former president of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim. Each invited speaker will present a view and opinion on a possible solution for the world’s climate crisis.

7:00 PM – 8:00 PM 

Education in Climate Policies: Are Countries Making the Grade? 

Which countries are prioritizing quality climate education for all? Education International launches ground-breaking research on national commitments to climate change education. Join us for a dialogue between policymakers and union leaders on how countries must step up their climate education ambition. 

Moderator:  Haldis Holst – Deputy General Secretary, Education International

Panelists include:

  • Larry Flanagan – General Secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland and President of ETUCE, the European Region of Education International
  • David Sengeh – Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Sierra Leone 
  • Shirley-Anne Sommerville – Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills for the Scottish Government
  • Shreya KC – Climate Justice Activist, Campaign Coordinator of Mock COP26, Nepal

NOVEMBER 5TH

11:00 AM – 11:15 AM 

Keynote by Dr. Bertrand Piccard, President of the Solar Impulse Foundation

Psychiatrist and explorer Bertrand Piccard made history by accomplishing two aeronautical firsts – flying around the world non-stop in a balloon, and more recently in a solar-powered plane without fuel. He has long pioneered the thinking that ecology should be considered through the lens of profitability and that clean technologies are the market opportunity of the century. As President of the Solar Impulse Foundation, he has since succeeded with his team to identify 1000+ efficient solutions to protect the environment in a profitable way. And education is definitely a key component to ensure a new generation of entrepreneurs tackling climate change. 

11:15 AM – 12:30 PM 

Roundtable: Why Climate Literacy & Civic Skill Building Will Solve the Climate Crisis – Answers from Civil Society, Educators, and Governments 

The discussion highlights EARTHDAY.ORG’s Climate and Environmental Literacy Campaign and its mission to ensure every school worldwide has integrated, assessed climate and environmental education with a strong education component.  

Moderator: Andrew Jack – Global Education Editor, Financial Times

Panelists include:  

  • Kathleen Rogers – President, EARTHDAY.ORG 
  • Stefania Giannini – Assistant Director-General, UNESCO 
  • Haldis Holst – Deputy General Secretary, Education International 
  • A. Alonso Aguirre DVM, PhD, Chair and Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia 

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM 

Teaching for Climate Action: Schools Shaping the Future (OECD, UNESCO, & Education International co-organized event)

The education sector has a unique role to play in building a greener twenty-first century. The OECD, UNESCO, and Education International have launched a joint initiative to gather teaching expertise on what makes a difference in empowering students for climate action. This event seeks to present the initial insights that have emerged and, from this, to highlight the future directions that climate action in education can take.  

Moderator: Rodolfo Lacy, Director of the Environment Directorate at the OECD

Panelists:

  • Haldis Holst – Deputy General Secretary, Education International
  • Stefania Giannini – Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO
  • Andreas Schleicher – Director for Education and Skills at the OECD (remote)
  • Larry Flanagan – General Secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland and President of ETUCE, the European Region of Education International

2:15 PM – 3:00 PM 

EARTHDAY.ORG and African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC)
Intergenerational dialogue

Moderator: Jabri Ibrahim, from the office of the UN High Level Climate Action Champions Kenya

Panelists:

  • EARTHDAY.ORG President Kathleen Rogers
  • Hon. Lawrence Songa Bayika Ministry of Water and Environment Uganda
  • Mr. Keriako Tobiko, Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Kenya
  • Hon Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu Ministry of Environment Climate Tourism and Hospitality Industry Zimbabwe
  • H.E Sharon Ikeazor Minister of State for the Environment Nigeria
  • Youth speaker Brenda Mwale Earthday Malawi
  • Youth speaker Kasim Gawusu AYICC Ghana

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM 

Young Climate Activists:  Why Climate Education and Civic Skill Building are the Keys to Climate Justice and Equity 

Youth leaders outline their demands to governments. The discussion focuses on why governments have failed to prioritize climate literacy and civic skills, and how youth can pressure them to act. 

Moderator: Derrick Mugisha – Regional Director Africa, EARTHDAY.ORG 

Panelists include:

  • Giulia Pinna, Secretary General of The Hague, International Model United Nations, Qatar 2022
  • Alexandria Villasenor – Founder, Earth Uprising 
  • Johnny Dabrowski – Co-Founder of the Climate Education Team, Fridays for Future
  • Ayisha Siddiqa – Co-Founder of Polluters Out, and a Pakistani-American Environmentalist
  • Helena Gualinga – 19-Year-Old Environmental and Human Rights Advocate

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM 

The Crucial Role Climate Literacy Plays in Building a Just Green Global Economy – The Economic Value of Climate Literacy

Workforce leaders and government agency officials emphasize the nexus between climate literacy, green jobs, and a sustainable economy.  

Moderator: Vicky Allan – Senior Features Writer, The Herald (Glasgow)
Panelists include:

  • Sharan Burrow – General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation 
  • Moustapha Kamal Gueye – Global Coordinator of the Green Jobs Programme, International Labour Organization 
  • Joy Zheng – Founder & Executive Director, Youth Leader Fund 
  • Lucía Muñoz Moro – Climate Action and Analysis- Iberdrola

7:00 PM – 8:00 PM 

The role of youth towards a sustainable future: A cross-cultural session with youth from Qatar and Scotland

“Nothing About Us Without Us!” is a slogan used to communicate the idea that no policy should be decided by any representative without the full and direct participation of members of the group affected.

To take care of our planet, there is no substitute for action. Qatar Foundation believes that education, and youth empowerment are catalysts for this action, and for energizing and mobilizing the youth of every country to lead the charge for change.

Qatar Foundation will host a session with youth from Qatar and Scotland to discuss the impact of climate change on our future and the role of youth as global citizens guarding our planet.

Speakers:

  • Abdalla Al Darwish – Qatar Academy Student
  • Sama Ayoub – Qatar Academy Student
  • Giulia Pinna – Secretary General, THIMUNQatar

NOVEMBER 8TH

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM 

Panel 1

Climate Restoration – The Only Future to Save the Planet  

Reducing carbon emissions won’t restore the conditions that historically enabled humans to thrive. How can we make climate restoration possible? Which climate restoration technologies are most promising? And what are the likely costs, the possible risks, and the potential benefits? 

Speakers include:  

  • Interviewer: Nick Nuttall – International Strategic Communications Director, EARTHDAY.ORG
  • Peter Fiekowsky – Author, Entrepreneur, & Founder of global initiatives for climate restoration

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM 

Panel 2

Scaling Carbon Removal Worldwide to Achieve the Paris Agreement and Beyond:

The Power of Global Partnerships and the Oceans

This session will highlight two bold and ambitious efforts intended to massively scale safe, durable and financeable carbon removal (CDR) through both natural and technological solutions.  There will be breaking news from a cross-sectoral multi-stakeholder Task Force on Carbon Removal that has met over the last 16 months, and a deep dive into pathbreaking work to accelerate absolutely critical Ocean-Based CDR approaches.

Moderators:

Brad Ack – Executive Director, Ocean Visions 

Dr. Sanjeev Khagram – Dean of Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University

Panelists include:

  • Ukur Yatani Kanacho – Minister of Finance for Kenya
  • Ambassador Ertharin Cousin – Senior Advisor to the City of LA
  • Kumi Naidoo – Former Global Head of Greenpeace and Amnesty International
  • Margaret Leinen – Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography
  • Kilparti Ramakrishna – WHOI Senior Advisor on Ocean and Climate Policy 
  • Anne-Marie Laurie – Director of Climate Policy, Ocean Conservancy

NOVEMBER 9TH

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM 

We Can’t Solve the Climate Crisis (or Anything Else) without Citizen Scientists 

The discussion explores the relationship between citizen science and activism and how citizen science is the next frontier for building a movement and creating science-based solutions. Including a discussion on one such platform, Global Earth Challenge. 

Moderator: Matt Lefler – Director of Citizen Science, EARTHDAY.ORG

Panelists include:

  • Kathleen Rogers – President, EARTHDAY.ORG
  • Anne Bowser – Chief of Staff, NatureServe
  • Landon Van Dyke – Senior Advisor for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, U.S. Department of State
  • Michelle Wyman – Executive Director, Global Council for Science and the Environment

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