UN Holds Climate Week Event at Baruch College

People’s Climate Vote panel brought high-powered speakers to campus, drew global online audience

September 29, 2022

As part of Climate Week NYC, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) brought a panel of renowned climate changemakers to Baruch College for a critical discussion on how policymakers and advocates can engage and empower young people in discussions — and political action — around climate change.

The panelists gathered to reflect on the results of the People’s Climate Vote, which is the largest survey of public opinion on climate change ever conducted. With 1.2 million respondents across 50 countries, the project is a pillar of UNDP’s efforts to educate people about climate change solutions.

At the event, which was held in-person and livestreamed to a global audience, internationally recognized expert and Head of the UNDP’s Climate Promise program Cassie Flynn spoke with two high-profile climate activists:

• Ana Sophia Misfud from the nonprofit sustainability consultancy firm Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), where she works with cities and states to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in buildings.
• Kevin Patel, the founder of OneUpAction International, an organization that supports and empowers marginalized youth by providing them with the resources they need to be advocates for their own communities on a range of environmental justice issues.

President Wu: Baruch’s Groundbreaking Climate Research

In his welcome remarks at the event, Baruch College President S. David Wu reiterated Baruch’s “ever-expanding commitment” to furthering research on climate change.

“We will do this through our students—by launching them into climate-related leadership positions through our Climate Scholars Program, and through our faculty—by their groundbreaking research from the natural sciences to social sciences to the arts cross-discipline exhibitions. Their work helps us to understand what we stand to lose if we stay complacent, and what we stand to gain if we work together,” he said.

WATCH: A recording of the livestream on UNDP’s Twitter page.

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