In April 2013 the CGJ organized a two-day campus-wide forum on energy and climate justice, in collaboration with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and five divisions across the campus. This event was designed to support a campus-wide “Advanced Energy Initiative”, and to catalyze partnerships, research projects, and funding streams that have made climate justice a core research cluster for the Center on Global Justice.

On Day 1, we curated a high-profile televised conversation between SIO’s Ram Ramanathan (and his Project Surya research on short-lived climate pollutants) and Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, and beloved global advocate for climate justice. Day 1 ended with a lecture on Climate Justice by Mary Robinson (video to right).

Day 2 was a public forum that showcased the UC San Diego’s research and innovation on energy solutions, with four panels that discussed: short-lived pollutants like soot and black carbon; electricity generation and transmission; fuel and transport challenges, and the need for a bioregional approach to analyzing and adapting to climate change. Participants included: Steve Mayfield, George Tynan, David Victor, Fonna Forman, Byron Washom, Wael Al-Delaimy, Keith Pezzoli, Teddy Cruz, Ram Ramanathan, Carlos Coimbra, Mark Jacobsen, Steve Parish, Shirley Meng, Lynn Russell, Jen Burney, others.