Can Women Tip the Balance for Climate Action? An Arctic Case Study

About

Speakers: Fran Ulmer, Chair, U.S. Arctic Research Commission; Senior Fellow, Arctic Initiative; Elizabeth Arnold, Journalist

Moderator: Halla Hrund Logadóttir, Co-founder and Co-Director, Arctic Initiative 

As climate change begins to impact communities globally, it's crucial for women to take a stand as leaders for ethical and equitable climate adaptation. Nowhere is this leadership challenge felt more strongly than in the Arctic. The Arctic is changing. It is warming twice as fast as the rest of the globe, leading to environmental, social, and economic shifts throughout the region. The Arctic is growing in global prominence, due in large part to the melting of sea ice which has attracted global players to new economic opportunities in the region. Managing these new global demands with environmental needs, and the needs of the four million human residents of the land north of the Arctic circle, many of them Indigenous peoples, poses an adaptive leadership challenge. Understanding how to navigate and lead in a time of so much change requires a deep understanding of local needs, knowledge of environmental risks, and a keen sense of global trends. Fran Ulmer, Chair of the Arctic Research Commission, and Elizabeth Arnold, a journalist who has covered the Arctic throughout her career, will discuss how they have navigated these newly ice-free waters. They’ll explore the unique role women leaders can play in a world adapting to a changing climate.

This program is co-hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School's Arctic Initiative and the Women and Public Policy Program.

Lunch provided. Please RSVP to karin_vander_schaaf@hks.harvard.edu by 4 PM, Friday, February 8, 2019. RSVPs recorded on a first-requested, first-reserved basis.

Contact

For more information and to RSVP, email Karin Vander Schaaf at karin_vander_schaaf@hks.harvard.edu.