Empowering Climate Action: The Climate Reality Project’s New York City Training
On the weekend of April 12, former Vice President Al Gore headlined a massive Climate Reality Project training in New York City. Experts, politicians, activists and more than 3,000 trainees, primarily from the northeast United States, joined Mr. Gore to discuss the state of the climate crisis and practical steps that we can take to create a better future for ourselves and our planet.
A few key themes emerged from the program and the trainees themselves. One focus was climate finance, with discussions on how to de-risk climate investment, particularly in the Global South. This served as an essential reminder of the critical nature of democracy in our climate future, with many speakers referring to the crucial role of constituencies in overhauling climate-degrading policy and setting precedent for how societies invest their money. The training put a spotlight on grassroots activism, local engagement and coalition building. The event empowered the trainees to confront the severe threat of disinformation, particularly from polluting industries like the fossil fuel industry.
“Political will is a renewable resource,” said Mr. Gore during his presentation in the plenary.
The Center for Earth Ethics was honored to be a partner at this training. On Saturday, CEE offered a skills-building session, “Hearing Nature’s Voice: Embodied Ethics for the Climate Movement,” where we encouraged participants to consider the climate crisis’s ethical and spiritual dimensions. Executive Director Karenna Gore introduced the session, calling the several hundred participants in the room to contemplate their relationship with the natural world.
“Most of what is causing ecological destruction is perfectly legal and even socially encouraged,” she said. “So we must draw from the deeper wells of values and conscience in order to make the changes that are necessary.”
Rev. Kosen Greg Snyder, Union Theological Seminary professor and director of UTS’s Thích Nhất Hạnh Program for Engaged Buddhism, led participants in a meditation. Public health practitioner and activist Michael Roberson then led a “sound-object” exercise where participants reflected on Earth sounds. Through listening deeply to the sounds of a running stream, bird song, hurricanes and activists lifting their voices in protest, participants were encouraged to connect with their inner wisdom and explore how they might use it to bolster their own resilience in the face of climate chaos.
It's important to emphasize the absurd risks that we are imposing on humanity and the other species that rely on the Earth's life-supporting systems, even as we raise awareness around the fact that there is legitimate cause for hope in the viability of solutions.
CEE also co-sponsored a “Faith and Climate Justice” luncheon that brought together members of the faith community working for climate justice through their different faith traditions. Guests included CEE Advisory Board Members Clara Soaring Hawk (who offered an opening blessing), Rev. Dr. Gregory Simpson, Rev. Thia Reggio, and Hildur Palsdottir, as well as CEE scholar-in-residence Dr. Erin Lothes Biviano, Dr. Jeffery Shaman, dean of Columbia Climate School, and Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary.
A focus on climate and environmental justice ran through the training. A Sunday panel, “Intersectionality and Climate Change: A Climate Justice Conversation,” explored the complexities and importance of centering justice and intersectionality in climate work. Moderated by Columbia and Georgetown professor Sheila Foster, this conversation included Heaven Sensky (Center for Coalfield Justice), Eddie Bautista (New York Environmental Justice Alliance) and CEE Strategic Advisor Roberto Múkaro Borrero (Kasike of the Guinía Taíno Tribe).
“You can’t fight these fights by yourself—you have to do it in coalition,” said Bautista.
CEE gratefully acknowledges the Climate Reality Project’s amazing team, who made the weekend a massive success, and looks forward to our next project together. This training inspired the 3,000+ trainees to envision a thriving and intentional future. Participants learned and engaged in critical conversations about climate science, policy and advocacy, with an eye not only on the challenges but also on the genuine possibility of positive change.
As Mr. Gore said, “it’s important to emphasize the absurd risks that we are imposing on humanity and the other species that rely on the Earth’s life-supporting systems, even as we raise awareness around the fact that there is legitimate cause for hope in the viability of solutions.”
