On April 8th, NOAA will support and participate in a dialogue between Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) climate justice experts and U.S. government officials to discuss national climate goals and priorities in advance of the Biden-Harris Leader’s Climate Summit. The BIPOC Climate Justice Dialogue is collaboratively hosted by managers of the BIPOC Scholars Project, the Land Peace Foundation, the HBCU Green Fund, and the Coordinating Team for the U.S. Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) National Strategic Planning Framework. CPO’s Communication, Education, and Engagement (CEE) Division has been partnering with the ACE community on the development of the first ACE National Strategy for the United States.
The day-long Dialogue is an opportunity for BIPOC climate justice scholars, organizers, and funders to come together to explore how to inclusively engage, inform, and empower the public to participate in just solutions to the climate crisis—an essential undertaking if humanity is to meet the urgency and scale of the challenge. Topics to be discussed include BIPOC priorities for the just transition, culturally responsive climate action, White House climate priorities, and integration across federal agencies. The dialogue will also introduce the NOAA co-led community-driven U.S. ACE Framework, as recommended in Article 12 of the Paris Agreement.
Key panelist include:
- Opening Address Climate Justice: Energy & Equity: Shalonda Baker, Deputy Director for Energy Justice & Secretary’s Advisor on Equity, U.S. Department of Energy
- Investing in Regenerative Economies, Equity, and Justice Panel: Sherri Mitchell, Land Peace Foundation; Elizabeth Yeampierre, UPROSE; and Rhianna Gunn-Wright, Roosevelt Institute
- Culturally Responsive Climate Action Panel: Jacqueline Patterson, NAACP; Tara Houska, Giniw Collective; and Fatemeh Shafiei, Spelman College
- White House Climate Overview: Hon. John Kerry, United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (Invited) or Hon. Gina McCarthy, White House National Climate Advisor (Invited)
- Federal Agency Thematic Dialogues: Rosemary Enobakhare, Environmental Protection Agency (confirmed); Brandon Jones, National Science Foundation (invited); Sherice Perry, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (invited); John Balbus, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (confirmed); Ko Barrett, NOAA (confirmed); Shalanda Baker, Department of Energy (invited)
- Congressional Panel & Q&A: Opening Address: Senator Edward Markey (confirmed)
