Meltdown – A Climate Change Summit
Tuesday, September 24, 2019 | 7 p.m.
Maanjiwe nendamowinan Building (Formerly New North) | 1210
University of Toronto Mississauga
Free admission | Free parking in Lots 4, 8, 9
How does a hotter planet affect your health today? What about tomorrow? How can you combat climate change?
To coincide with the week-long Global Climate Strike, this summit brings together leading environmental voices to share information, perspectives, and action plans to combat climate change. The evening will combine a keynote presentation and a panel discussion to highlight how climate change threatens individual health, the economy, ecology, and our society, and what needs to be done to address the growing challenges of life on a hotter planet.
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Diane Saxe
Dr. Saxe was the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. During her tenure, she improved government compliance with the Environmental Bill of Rights, and served as a watchdog on energy, environment, and climate. She submitted non-partisan, evidence-based reports to the Ontario Legislature. Dr. Saxe’s keynote address will look at how the climate crisis is affecting our lives, what we can do as individuals, and why our most important job is to demand government action.
Panelists
Drs. Jeremy Theal and Joyce Lee
Drs. Theal and Lee are husband and wife, and they’re concerned about the effects of climate change, and the kind of world their five-year-old daughter will inherit. In 2018, they trained under Nobel Laureate Al Gore, and now give educational presentations on climate change with a goal of sharing the scientific certainty, the immediacy, and the impacts of the climate crisis, while inspiring people to act on the issue.
Dr. Ben Brisbois
Dr. Brisbois is an Adjunct Professor at University of Northern British Columbia. His research has focused on the impact of climate change on infectious disease, and how these are understood by different scientific disciplinary communities.
Pegeen Walsh
Ms. Walsh is the Executive Director for the Ontario Public Health Association, where she will be launching a health and climate change communications campaign called ‘Make it Better’ to raise awareness about the health risks to children and families resulting from climate change, and the actions that can be taken to reduce these risks.
Moderator
Dr. Elaine MacDonald
Dr. MacDonald is the Program Director, Healthy Communities for Ecojustice, where she’s challenging all levels of government to protect every Canadian — especially our most vulnerable, children — from illnesses related to harmful chemicals.
Event Schedule
6:30 p.m. | Arrivals, light refreshments
7:00 p.m. | Event begins, introductions
7:05 – 7:45 p.m. | Keynote presentation
7:50 – 8:00 p.m. | Break
8:00 – 8:40 p.m. | Panel discussion
8:40 – 9:15 p.m. | Questions from the audience
9:30 p.m. | Concluding remarks