Legislators, climate leaders to converge at summit in Palo Alto on Saturday

Poised to address the major climate issues and initiatives of our times, the Peninsula Climate Collaboration Summit is ready to showcase a lineup of presentations, exhibits and breakout sessions at Gunn High School on Saturday, Nov. 12.

Climate leaders from diverse sectors of local, state and national government will share strategies for collective action and solutions for sustainability. “Participants will hear climate leaders from all levels of government share solutions, drive collective action and create together the next sustainable step forward,” according to an online post from the city of Palo Alto.

“The whole theme is collaboration,” Mayor Pat Burt said in an interview. “Nobody is going to be able to do this alone and figure it out alone. So, we need to share our progress and our lessons learned. Good and bad.”

In the spirit of collaboration, the summit will feature presentations from legislators and policymakers. Assistant U.S. Secretary of Energy Ali Nouri will discuss federal funding programs that support local initiatives; State Sen. Josh Becker will address California’s recent $40 billion state climate investments; and Bloomington, Indiana Mayor John Hamilton will discuss interstate partnerships as part of a sister-city alliance with Palo Alto.

City leaders from Palo Alto and Menlo Park also will present during the summit, providing updates about their municipalities’ electrification and climate goals while Michael Wara, policy director of sustainability at Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability, will give an overview about the state of climate change.

Following the presentations and a moderated panel, the summit will feature 10 different breakout sessions that cover a range of climate topics. Katie Rueff, a Gunn High School student and co-founder of the Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition, described the sessions as an opportunity for attendees to expand their climate toolkits. “It’s a chance for any person, whether or not they’ve been involved in climate advocacy for ages or if they’re just stepping into it for the first time that day, to take the next step in their climate action journey,” she said.

Some of the workshops will have an introductory feel, focusing on how to get involved in climate advocacy and processing emotions while others will be more technical and policy-oriented, addressing topics of electrification and renewable energy sources. “We want to make climate change as approachable and as interwoven into people’s lives and into our communities as possible,” Rueff said.

Breakout sessions also will focus on issues of equity and accessibility. One workshop entitled, “Climate Resilient Communities,” will address the importance of involving frontline communities in the adoption of climate plans. Other workshops will discuss how to include children and youth in climate conversations and plans of action, something that was at the forefront of the summit already, as the Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition helped plan the event. “Our student climate leaders are not just going to be there. They are leaders of this whole conference,” Burt said.

Returning to the theme of collaboration, Burt highlighted the importance of involving all sectors of the community in climate discussions, something that has been increasingly occurring, as more people are becoming aware of climate change, not as an existential threat but as existing very much in the here and now.

“And we’re just seeing this growing commitment toward the necessity to really act on climate change, including the necessity to adapt because, like it or not, that’s a big part of our future, from sea level rise to megafire threats to other flooding compounded by major storm events,” Burt said.

“We’re going to have big impacts,” he added.

Co-sponsored by the city of Palo Alto and Acterra, the Peninsula Climate Collaboration Summit will take place at Gunn High School’s Titan Gym, 780 Arastradero Road, from 12:30-4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12. The event will have an online option as well, with speaker presentations available on Zoom from 1-2:45 p.m. To register, visit eventbrite.com.