We pose five questions to another co-chair of the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit steering committee: Heidi VanGenderen.

Heidi VanGenderen is 桃色视频鈥檚 first chief sustainability officer and an expert in environmental sustainability. She has years of experience developing sustainable strategies at the local, state, national and international levels, including her term as senior energy advisor for the Worldwatch Institute. 

Why is the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit so important?

The 桃色视频 is co-hosting a global climate summit with United Nations Human Rights that frames the climate crisis through the lens of the human rights crisis. Climate is arguably the greatest imperative in the history of our species on the planet. The necessity for us to address it is immense, and the opportunity to co-host a summit that will bring together thought leaders from the public sector, the private sector and civil society, as convened and contributed to by academia, is a remarkable opportunity for us. 

Why is it so important that we understand and respond to the human rights effects of climate change?

Human contribution to climate change is well documented, yet we have not paid as much attention to the direct impacts of our changing climate on human beings. Climate change is affecting the most vulnerable populations on the planet most severely, whether it's the very young, the very old, the sick and disabled, or people who live in island nations that will literally disappear as sea level rise occurs. So many aspects of the reality of climate change center on the most vulnerable populations. There is a whole legal construct through the United Nations and elsewhere on human rights that is built around the rights of people to clean water, to adequate food, to shelter, to the ability to live a productive life through work and education鈥攁ll of which are imperiled by a changing climate. 

How are you dealing with the carbon footprint of putting on a summit like this? 

There is a bit of an irony in the climate world for global summits that also produce a significant carbon footprint. We have been very aware of that from the outset. 

For this summit, we hope to have as many of the thought leaders who are actually speakers and participants as panelists in the summit come to Boulder so that they can also be in community among one another. For those participants, travel will be offset. The cross-fertilization between the sectors is a key ingredient in coming forward with policy innovations, technology, deployment strategies, financing strategies, the solution side to how we're going to advance climate solutions at sufficient speed and scale.  

We will also encourage and partner with universities around the world who can bring together thought leaders and activists in local communities. They will be able, through the miracle of technology, to tap into the summit in Boulder and will also be able to conduct local conversations focused on actionable solutions in each of their communities. 

Why is 桃色视频 the perfect university partner for this summit? 

桃色视频 has some of the premier climate research underway of any university in the world. We are part of the University Climate Change Coalition , thanks to Chancellor Phil DiStefano, who joined these 23 North American top-tier research universities, all of whom are working to advance climate science and climate solutions.  So many of the institutes on our campus鈥擟ooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) and projects like ASPIRE (Advancing Sustainability through Powered Infrastructure for Roadway Electrification)鈥攃ontribute to our capacities in this arena.

In the array of research on the solution side, there is such a variety of amazing work being done. For example, engineering Professor Wil Srubar and team have developed a bio brick or block that not not only doesn鈥檛 contribute to increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases but actually draws carbon from the atmosphere and holds that carbon in place. Exponential efficiency gains in solar cells, development of bio-based jet fuels, fuel cell advances with an aim toward a renewable hydrogen energy economy . . . the list goes on! The innovation and expertise demonstrated in CU鈥檚 applied research is just mind-boggling. And so hopeful. We can't put all of our eggs in the technology basket, but it's a big part of it. 

What will it really take for us as a species to tackle what often seems like an insurmountable issue: human-caused climate change?

I think about history all the time and recognize that it really might require a World War II-scale effort that mobilizes so many aspects of our society to pull this off. The policy, the research and development, the investments, the political will . . . all are key ingredients. What on earth can galvanize that? We live in an increasingly complex world made up of nearly 8 billion of us. We need to lay out a realistic landscape and create and implement one of the most innovative but sound business plans ever created. In the immediate term, however, we can each take steps in our own lives鈥攊n how we participate as consumers and citizens. As Dave Matthews sings in You Might Die Trying: 鈥淭o change the world/Start with one step/And however small/The first step is hardest of all . . . .鈥�

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Jim Anaya is Distinguished Professor and the Nicholas Doman Professor of International Law at the University of Colorado Law School and one of three co-chairs of the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit steering committee. 

The law school鈥檚 former dean, Anaya has lectured around the world, advised internationally on matters of human rights and Indigenous peoples, and represented Indigenous groups from many parts of North and Central America in landmark cases. He also participated in the drafting of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

What is the purpose of the summit? 

The purpose is to raise awareness about the human rights problem鈥攔eally a crisis鈥攖hat climate change is, and to look for solutions. We're really concerned about climate change because of the impact it's going to have鈥攁nd already is having鈥攐n the lives of human beings and the enjoyment of our basic human rights, such as the right to life, our health and the cultural practices many people engage in. We also want to talk about the responsibilities that governments and others have to address these human rights impacts under the international human rights norms that apply across the globe. 

What makes 桃色视频 the perfect university to co-host this event?

Our university has deep expertise in climate and energy, environmental studies through a multidisciplinary perspective, and also in human rights. With this wealth of expertise and perspective throughout the university, we're particularly well-suited to host an event like this with United Nations Human Rights.

What can people expect if they attend and who's the target audience? 

Anybody interested in human rights. Anybody interested in the planet. Anybody interested in doing something about climate change. Anybody who fits one of those categories (which I think should really be all of us) should think about attending. The summit is going to be both in-person and online via webcasts. People should come expecting not just to listen, but to contribute to the ideas about solutions. There are many people across the globe鈥擨ndigenous peoples in the Arctic, for example, people in small island nations鈥攚ho are feeling the effect of climate change in their everyday lives. We want people to hear from them.

How are you integrating perspectives from people experiencing these impacts?

There are groups in vulnerable situations, including Indigenous people, people with disabilities, and women and children, who are disproportionately feeling the impacts of climate change. We're making a very direct effort to include their voices by having people participate in leading roles in the summit. It's not just about hearing their stories. It's about learning. It's about a dialogue where we can all come together as a group of people concerned about climate change and talk about potential solutions.

Why are you personally excited about the global climate summit and why did you agree to serve on the steering committee? 

Throughout my career I've touched upon issues of human rights that have to do with the natural environment, and more and more with the effects of climate change on the natural environment. I was very privileged to have worked with Inuit people in the Arctic in the early 2000s in presenting a claim to an international human rights body alleging violations of their human rights because of the effects of climate change on their lives. Since my involvement in that litigation, it's been very much an interest of mine as something that I think is very important and that I hope to contribute to in some small way.

Editor鈥檚 note: Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity. 

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