US Dept. of Energy Taps Ironman to Recruit Clean Energy Workers! World’s Nations Get First Guidelines on Valuing Nature, July 28 Duke U. Climate Change Webinar

WORLD’S NATIONS GET FIRST GUIDELINES ON VALUING NATURE

Countries have approved the first comprehensive guidelines for judging the value of nature following four years of intense debate, officials announced last week. The report was endorsed by 139 countries, including the U.S., Russia, China, France, the U.K. and Germany, that are members of the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, or IPBES.

Its authors hope the guide they’ve drawn up with the help of experts from a wide range of disciplines will make it easier for governments to consider more than just the economic benefits of a project when deciding whether and how to go ahead with it. This includes figuring out how local communities will gain or lose from a project such as a hydroelectric dam — a situation that has regularly led to friction between businesses, citizens and authorities in the past.

Rather than prescribe a set way for governments to estimate these non-economic benefits, the report provides them with tools for working through the often complex assessment process. Said co-author Patricia Balvanera of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, “We provide a roadmap to decision-makers for how to deal with this very complex situation they face every single day.”

The report was drafted with the help of dozens of experts from both social and natural sciences in an attempt to bridge the often considerable differences between disciplines and find a common approach they could all support. Why does this report matter to us? Representatives of Indigenous groups welcomed the new guidelines and an IPBES report published last week which highlighted the need for sustainable use of nature.

Said José Gregório Díaz MIrabal of COICA, a coordinating body for the indigenous organizations of the countries of the Amazon Basin, “There’s a growing body of evidence showing that when the rights of Indigenous peoples are guaranteed, we outperform all other forest managers in reducing deforestation and preventing wildfires.”

DEEPER DIVE: USNews, IPBES

US DEPT. OF ENERGY TAPS IRON MAN TO RECRUIT CLEAN ENERGY WORKERS

The Energy Department is teaming with actor Robert Downey Jr. to recruit up to 1,000 new workers focused on climate change and clean energy. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm released a video with the “Iron Man” actor encouraging applicants from diverse backgrounds to join the department’s “clean energy corps” and take on jobs aimed at accelerating deployment of clean energy such as wind and solar power.

Participants will help build thousands of miles of electric transmission lines to carry wind and solar power and take on other jobs to research, develop and deploy ways to produce energy while cutting planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, Granholm said. The new job corps is part of $62 billion awarded to the Energy Department under the bipartisan infrastructure law signed last year by President Joe Biden.

In the animated video, Downey says viewers may know him from one of his “many day jobs” as a billionaire superhero in “Iron Man” or “world’s greatest detective,” Sherlock Holmes. Added Downey, “But now I’ve got this sweet new office over the Department of Energy, and I’ve already been putting in some crazy hours helping out the Clean Energy Corps. I’ve been working with some amazing people on fantastic new solutions” to climate change.”

Why does the collaboration between DOE and Ironman recruiting the best and brightest? Because the Energy Department is looking for folks to help us with pretty much everything, from scientists to IT specialists, civil engineers, electrical engineers and more to help create a more sustainable future.

The video will be played on the Energy Department’s YouTube channel and featured on social media.

DEEPER DIVE: Press Herald, YouTube

JULY 28TH  DUKE UNIVERSITY CLIMATE CHANGE WEBINAR

Hey, Everybody– Our dukey friends hipped us to this gem. Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, The Resilience Road Map and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute present “U.S. Climate Resilience Strategy: Prospects for Congressional Action.” It’s a free webinar, happening Jul 28, 2022 01:30 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada). Did I mention it’s free and open to the public?

Here’s the pitch:

As extreme weather takes an increasing toll across the country, congressional interest in making communities more resilient is on the rise. Resilience funding was a prominent area of bipartisan climate cooperation in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). And bipartisan congressional proposals to improve U.S. climate resilience are being put forward in the House and Senate.

This virtual event brings together two members of Congress who are working across party lines to advance a national climate resilience strategy. Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA) and John Curtis (R-UT) will discuss the prospects for further action on resilience in Congress, and in cooperation with the Administration. The event will be moderated by Jainey Bavishi, senior advisor, Office of the First Deputy Mayor, City of New York. Bavishi is a founding member of Resilience Roadmap, and former associate director for climate preparedness on the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Participants will also get a preview of Resilience Roadmap’s 2022 updated recommendations for strengthening America’s federal resilience policies and programs. This event is free and open to the public. It is hosted by Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Resilience Roadmap, and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Click on the link in the Deeper Dive section of this episode at theclimate.org/episodes to register 

DEEPER DIVE: Webinar Registration