Becoming a Climate Reality Leader
Picture this: You walk into a ballroom before the event is supposed to start. You weave your way through the tables until you find the table with the same number as your name badge, all the while looking at the faces of 600+ others there for the same reason. Everyone has come to this 3-day training with the same goal, to take action on climate change, and you can feel the energy radiating from their faces eager to connect with others. This is the energy I walked into to be trained as a Climate Reality Leader.
Two months ago, I had the immense privilege and pleasure to attend the Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training in Berlin, Germany. I attended as a Global Shaper, a worldwide network of young professionals organized by the World Economic Forum to do create impact initiatives in our communities. Among the 600+ attendees were 40 other Global Shapers, and you could feel a palpable positive energy in the ballroom. There’s something pretty exceptional about being in a room with that many people with the same ambition, drive, and values as you.
As Climate Reality Leaders, our mission is to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every level of society. Led by former US Vice President Al Gore and CEO Ken Berlin, they empower everyday people to become activists, equipped with tools, training, and a network to fight for solutions and drive planet-wide change. The result is nearly 15,000 Climate Reality Leaders trained and mobilizing in communities in over 100 countries, adding up to a powerful movement growing each day.
In this action-packed 3-day training, we listened to Al Gore’s presentations, panels, and break-out sessions to voice our questions. Al Gore delivered a 2-hour presentation with the most up-to-date climate science, data, and catastrophes around the world, captivating us all the entire time. We listened to panels on various topics such as ‘The Future of Transport in Europe’ and ‘Transitioning from Coal’, and in-between refueled with networking lunches. We chose which break-out sessions to attend to get the most out of our experience, and were supported the whole way through by Climate Reality Project’s hardworking staff. The Global Shapers group even had the opportunity to meet Ken Berlin and Al Gore — and I may or may not have snapped a selfie with Mr. Al Gore himself.
It seems that almost every day we hear something about climate change — communities devastated by floods in Southeast Asia, hurricanes in the Caribbean, droughts and wildfires in the Southwest US, and ice rapidly melting in Antarctica. Renewable energy continues to grow cheaper as more kilowatt hours are installed, and nations have agreed to the Paris Agreement to combat climate change. This kind of training and commitment isn’t just important to do, but in fact critical. It’s important for normal people like me and you to understand climate change at the core of the science, so we can pressure our governments and corporations to do better. People are the real change makers, and even just one person can be a catalyst for widespread change, with effective strategy and timing.
Being back in Shanghai, where I’m based, I’ve had time to process this incredible experience. China is simultaneously at the center of an environmental disaster and revolution, as the nation consistently stuns the world with negative headlines yet progressive policies. Unlike Western countries, things in China only get done if it comes from the top. Yes, there are small grassroots movements and frustration, but behavior change largely results from policy implementations. This and the large cultural and language divides pose considerable challenges for someone like me: Western, white, an outsider.
In the last two months since the training, I’ve been coming back down to Earth and having important conversations with other Global Shapers and local thought leaders about what we can do to make an impact here. In the meantime, I’ll be completing my Acts of Leadership in my community to promote awareness of climate change and small steps we can all take to green our lives. Stay tuned for more updates about my progress here, as well as what you can do to combat this global challenge that affects us all.
