In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, our society has many tough decisions to make. What we do in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will either send us forward or backwards in achieving a just and sustainable society.
Our work in addressing the climate crisis has taught us to think globally and act locally. That’s why we are hosting a series of localized online forums to discuss the intersections between the climate and COVID-19 crises and potential local solutions that protect lives - both by addressing the pandemic and by transitioning to an equitable and just clean energy economy. Together, we can help our elected leaders in Vancouver and Clark County respond effectively to the pandemic, and flatten the curve for disease, inequality, and climate change.
Due to the broad nature of this topic, we are putting on a series of three webinars:
Thursday, May 14th, 6:00 - 7:30 PM: Why?: Why is it still important to talk about climate? How are the crises of climate, health, and inequality related?
Thursday, May 21st, 6:00 - 7:30 PM: Health disparities: We know that both climate change and COVID-19 impact frontline communities disproportionately. How is it impacting people? How are people adapting and surviving?
Thursday, May 28th, 6:00 - 7:30 PM: Transformation: Entire sectors of the global economy have been shut down to mitigate COVID-19. As this crisis plays out, the world will go through a transformation. What possibilities are there coming out of this?
Each webinar will include speakers from the public health sector, the immigrant community, labor movements, environmental movements, and/or indigenous communities to provide a holistic perspective on the current COVID-19 crisis and the pre-existing crises of climate change and inequality. The second half of each webinar will be community discussion, where we will use break-out groups to enable participants to discuss what they heard from the speakers and how they feel about these topics.