Event: Climate Emergency Week at UBC highlights collective action

Feb 6, 2023

This week through Feb. 16 is Climate Emergency Week at UBC, building on the university’s declaration of a climate emergency in 2019 and a climate action report in 2021 that focuses on climate justice.

Events, workshops and other activities will discuss the impacts of climate change and convene the community around actions that can foster a more just and sustainable future.

Date/time: Feb. 1-16, 2023

Location: See here for all Climate Emergency Week events and locations.

Events that are open to media include:

Feb. 6: Climate Slamposium – Student researchers, activists, artists and others engaged in climate justice share their work through slam poetry and other creative forms. Link
Feb. 7: Can TikTok help solve the climate crisis? This “Ask Me Anything” explores TikTok as a platform for climate influencers and how activists can use TikTok to spur climate action. Link
Feb. 9: Happy climate action workshop – Find out how to create a climate action plan that promotes personal and planetary wellbeing. Link
Feb. 9: Sue Big Oil: A Made-In-BC Climate Campaign – Panel discusses a campaign to launch a class action lawsuit against the world’s largest oil and gas producers. Link
Feb. 16: Imagining climate futures through verbatim theatre – Interactive session aims to advance conversation about the climate emergency and spark ideas for action towards a more hopeful climate future. Link

UBC experts on climate change and climate action

The following experts are also available to comment on different aspects of climate change and collective action:

Dr. Juan José Alava (he/him)
Honorary Research Associate, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Principal Investigator, Ocean Pollution Research Unit
Email: j.alava@oceans.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English, Spanish

Ocean pollution, persistent organic pollutants, mercury, microplastic and plastic marine pollution, pollutants’ bioaccumulation in the marine food web, marine mammal ecotoxicology; climate change-pollutant interactions; multiple anthropogenic stressors; marine biodiversity

* available starting Feb. 9

Lea Anderson (she/her)
Master’s student, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Climate wellbeing lead, UBC Climate Hub
Email: leamand@student.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English

Climate anxiety, grief and distress; wellbeing impacts of the climate emergency; connections between system, community and individual wellbeing and action for social and environmental justice; role of youth movements in supporting human-ecological wellbeing

* unavailable on the mornings of Feb. 7 and 15, and afternoons of Feb. 8 and 9

Dr. Vanessa Andreotti
Professor and Interim Director, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies
Email: vanessa.andreotti@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English

Neocolonialism in climate change mitigation strategies, importance of Indigenous rights and voices in the climate agenda

Rudri Bhatt (she/her)
PhD student, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Email: rudribhatt@gmail.com
Interview language(s): English, Hindi

Decarbonization, electrification of vehicles, emissions and air pollution, climate justice

* available starting Feb.6

Dr. Kai Chan (he/him)
Professor, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Email: kaichan@ires.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English

Social or ecological side of climate change, social change, ecological impacts

Prof. Kathryn Harrison (she/her)
Professor, Department of Political Science
Email: kathryn.harrison@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English

Climate and energy, climate change, environmental politics, environmental policy, climate politics and policy in Canada

* unavailable Feb. 6 and morning of Feb. 7

Dr. George Hoberg
Professor, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Email: george.hoberg@ubc.ca
Tel: 604-822-3728
Interview language(s): English

Energy policy (oil sands, transition to clean energy), climate policy, environmental policy, governance, global warming

Tara Ivanochko
Professor of Teaching, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Academic Director, UBC Sustainability Hub
Email: tivanoch@eoas.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English

Climate studies including climate action labs, sustainability education

Dr. Milind Kandlikar
Professor, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability and School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Tel: 604-822-6722
Email: mkandlikar@ires.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English, Hindi

Climate change, air pollution, sustainable development, global warming, greenhouse gases, electric vehicles

* unavailable Feb. 9 and 16

Dr. Carol Liao
Associate Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law
Director, Centre for Business Law
Co-lead, Canada Climate Law Initiative
Email: liao@allard.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English

Sustainability, climate governance, socially responsible investment, sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, ESG, EDI

* unavailable Mondays 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and Wednesdays 1-4 p.m.

Temitope Onifade (he/him)
PhD candidate, Peter A. Allard School of Law
Email: temitope@onifade.org
Interview language(s): English, Yoruba, English-based pidgin

Climate policy and justice under the Paris Agreement, Canada’s climate governance framework

* unavailable Feb. 6-7

Dr. Stephen Sheppard
Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Forestry
Director, Collaborative for Advanced Landscape Planning
Tel: 778-997-7292
Email: stephen.sheppard@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English

Future climate change scenarios, visualizing climate change, planning for local climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation, community engagement on climate action, urban forestry
Co-instructor, Micro-certificate on climate action and community engagement

* unavailable Feb. 6, morning of Feb. 7 and afternoon of Feb. 15

Dr. Pasang Yangjee Sherpa (she/her)
Assistant Professor, Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and Department of Asian Studies
Email: pasang.sherpa@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English

Importance of including Indigenous knowledge in climate change discussions and policy decisions, climate change and Indigeneity among Himalayan communities

* weekdays 1-5 p.m. preferred; unavailable Wednesdays

Dr. U. Rashid Sumaila (he/him)
University Killam Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Tel: 604-351-7406
Email: r.sumaila@oceans.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English, Hausa, Norwegian

Blue economy, sustainable and just ocean systems, fisheries economics, marine biodiversity, ocean conservation, biological diversity

Prof. Hannah Wittman
Professor, Faculty of Land and Food Systems and Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Tel: 778-999-1840
Email: hannah.wittman@ubc.ca
Interview language(s): Portuguese, Spanish, English

Food security, sustainable agriculture, community development

Dr. Jiaying Zhao (she/her)
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
Tel: 609-865-4765
Email: jiayingz@psych.ubc.ca
Interview language(s): English, Mandarin