Climate Action: Who Will Lead?

Who can lead the way on climate change? Many years ago, I thought the solutions might come from the top, and that politicians or diplomats had the answers. Now, I believe progress can come locally and that we all have a role to play. I take heart from the multitude of local and regional initiatives that have blossomed in recent years. Regional and local governments, individual cities and states, as well as neighborhoods, communities, and schools, are all leading bottom-up movements for change. There are also many nonprofit organizations, think tanks, companies, and entrepreneurs who are genuinely and seriously engaged. We can feel inspired by such energy, and should be finding ways to support and scale up such activities.

The Institute at the Golden Gate is supporting this movement with a program of our own. Our initiative is focused on using parks to engage the public on climate change. In our latest report published in May 2013, we identified examples of innovative, effective, and powerful educational programs in 13 parks around the world. During the course of our research, we identified many more parks where the public were being informed about climate change in a compelling, empowering way.

Parks are on the front line of climate change. Park rangers and other staff members are a trusted and respected source of information. What better place could there be for the public to be informed and inspired on this critical issue? While some visitors are already learning from our parks, an even larger number could benefit. With 283 million visitors to U.S. national parks alone, we believe there’s an opportunity to scale up and increase the impact.

To read my full article published recently in the Global Institute of Sustainability's Thought Leader series, please visit: http://sustainability.asu.edu/news/archive/climate-action-who-will-lead.