Includes Private Sector, Public Sector, Non-Profits, and Community Initiatives
A new report from the Commission on Accelerating Climate Action at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences calls for a coordinated, cross-sector effort to combat climate change with five strategies and 21 recommendations rooted in justice, pragmatism, and accountability.
The report, Forging Climate Solutions: How to Accelerate Action Across America, was developed over a two-year period by a diverse commission of leaders sharing their expertise and priorities. The Commission’s report recommends how corporations, frontline communities, government, and environmental groups can work together to mobilize investments, build infrastructure, reduce emissions, and prepare for the impacts of climate change.
Led by Mustafa Santiago Ali (National Wildlife Federation), Christopher Field (Stanford), David G. Victor (University of California, San Diego, and the Brookings Institution), and Patricia Vincent-Collawn (PNM Resources), the commission’s expertise spans the arts, faith communities, environmental justice, youth activism, the natural and social sciences, Indigenous people and Indigenous Knowledge, public health, and urban design.
“Climate change is an existential challenge and addressing it will require us to build and sustain new kinds of coalitions,” said David Oxtoby, President of the American Academy. “The work is challenging but our Commission modeled how to connect across sectors and divides to take action. Our hope is that their work provides a roadmap for transcending ideological divisions to achieve tangible climate progress.”
Businesses, advocacy organizations, and other stakeholders are already pursuing innovative and meaningful climate action but are often doing so in isolation. The Academy’s Commission on Accelerating Climate Action, one of the most ideological diverse groups to address climate issues, calls for a coordinated strategy that can withstand shifting political priorities. The final recommendations build on earlier reports from the Commission on effective communication, climate change-induced risks to human and national security, and barriers to private sector action, as well as case studies highlighting promising efforts underway.
The Commission on Accelerating Climate Action is made possible through the generous support of Roger Sant and Doris Matsui, William and Helen Pounds, Hansjörg Wyss, Bob Higgins, the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, the David and Ellen Lee Family Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and an endowment provided by John E. Bryson and Louise Henry Bryson.
Contact: Alex Parker-Guerrero | aparkerguerrero@amacad.org
A video of the event at which the report was launched - featuring a discussion with the cochairs moderated by Laura Helmuth (Scientific American) - is now available on online.