by Britton Jones, CEO of The Nest Climate Campus, Chairman of the Board at Food Rescue US, and Member of NYC & Company's Sustainability Committee
I got to hold my first grandson last week. As it is for so many people, it was an amazingly joyful experience. I was truly captivated by his innocence as he playfully seemed to be discovering his fingers. It brought me a fresh perspective on the miracle and sanctity of human life.
Holding him also transformed an intellectual and theoretical issue into a deeply personal one. For as my grandson was just entering this world news broke that the “feels like” temperature in the Middle East was reaching the mid-150 degree mark, a level that threatens human survival. Moreover, high percentages of the entire United States were experiencing unprecedented levels of extreme weather in the form of prolonged periods of excessive and life-threatening heat, flooding, and tornadoes.
All of this brought a new, sharper focus to a subject I grapple with daily. Holding my grandson just days old made me truly wonder about the viability of the world he is entering and how wrong it is that so much of the world’s population seems to be charging full steam ahead on a path to self-destruction.
Sitting in a hospital waiting room it struck me that the severity and frequency of the extreme weather events we are currently enduring seem as clear as a newborn baby’s cries for help.
It seems that exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming is almost a certainty. Alarmingly, even at today’s 1.2-degree mark, significant portions of the world are already becoming uninhabitable, and in the more resilient regions of the planet, the severe consequences of extreme weather are becoming unavoidable. Moreover, there seems to be no end in sight as we are approaching critical, irreversible tipping points in the climate crisis that will dramatically change life as we know it.
Holding my grandson also made me feel that the urgency of engaging in widespread climate action cannot be overstated. With each extreme weather event, our backs are increasingly against the wall. Thankfully, many of the effective climate solutions we need are available and/or are far along in development. All we need to do to make a difference is embrace them and do everything we can to effect positive change. We must work to make every job an opportunity for climate action. With every dollar we spend and every purchase decision we make we can contribute to companies and organizations that are committed to advancing sustainability and are part of the solution. We must support policies that will create a greener future and vote like our life depends on it because at this point our lives and most certainly, those of our children and grandchildren truly do.
With the help of a very talented team, my dedication to help solve the climate crisis has led to the development of The Nest Climate Campus which is 100% focused on increasing the understanding and adoption of climate solutions. Our mission is to inspire, educate and prompt effective climate action. We are uniting leaders committed to advancing sustainability and generating meaningful impact through knowledge sharing, engagement, and collaboration.
To learn more about how we can overcome the existential threat of climate change and how you can make a difference, please join us on The Nest Climate Campus at the Javits Center this September 19th – 21st.
I hope to see you on the Campus soon,
Britton & The Nest Climate Campus Team
