A conversation on climate action leadership
On Sunday, March 10, MIT Alumni for Climate Change (MACA) presented a live webcast conversation on climate action leadership with MIT President Sally Kornbluth.
The event kicked off with a video welcome from MACA founder Shiladitya (Shil) DasSarma. Shil noted that MACA was "very pleased to hear President Kornbluth's inaugural address, highlighting MIT’s past commitments to historic actions that really transformed the world," and that MACA members were looking forward to "hearing more about President Kornbluth’s vision on climate leadership and also her recently announced Climate Project at MIT."
Following Shil's remarks, D-Lab Lecturer and climate activist Susan Murcott spoke to the small in-person audience and those online. "Climate Change is one among nine planetary boundaries which we have crossed or are in danger of crossing in the not distant future," she commented. "Just as human health is measured by vital signs – for example, our body temperature is maintained in a known narrow range – too hot is fever, too cold is hypothermia, so too our climate and our Earth’s vital signs are dependent on functioning within a narrow, life-supporting range."
Murcott went on to introduce President Kornbluth and her commtiment to addressing climate change: "As a PhD biologist, President Kornbluth has a deep appreciation of the conditions that maintain sustain life. This is no doubt one reason she is intensely concerned about the health of our climate and our planet." President Kornbluth then took the lectern to President Kornbluth to talk about an ambitious new effort to focus MIT’s strength on achieving a set of critical missions in the fight against climate change. The two women then sat down together for Susan to pose questions to Sally, submitted in advance of the session.
MACA, founded in 2018, is a non-partisan group of MIT alumni and affiliates concerned about the devastating effects of climate change. They support action at all levels to communicate the urgency of the problem and reduce the risk and damage from climate change. Our members represent many US states and countries worldwide and are working on a wide range of climate action. The MACA Roadmap highlights some of the commitments needed for climate action leadership, including an all-hands-on-dec approach and a willingness to collaborate at all levels.
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Susan Murcott, MIT D-Lab Lecturer and MACA member