Future of Sustainability 2020: Has the disruption from COVID-19 accelerated the transition to a sustainable future, or made it more challenging?

This Forum for the Future

Future of Sustainability 2020: Has the disruption from COVID-19 accelerated the transition to a sustainable future, or made it more challenging?

This Forum for the Future webinar took place on 22 July 2020. We are in the midst of a historic moment that will shape society for decades to come. The COVID-19 crisis is having a devastating impact – both in terms of lives lost and economic disruption. The region’s informal, cash-based economies are particularly vulnerable. At Forum for the Future we believe this may also be a moment to re-imagine how we rebuild our economies.

We are therefore calling for business, governments, civil society and communities to seize this moment in helping to deliver a more just, sustainable and resilient world. Drawing on research and insights we gather annually to understand what is next for the fields of sustainability, impact investing and philanthropy, we will share a suite of futures trajectories we have been developing which help us understand possible ways forward as change-makers. We believe only one of these trajectories, which we are calling 'Transform', has the potential to create the just, resilient and sustainable systems we need. It is based on a mindset that recognizes the interdependent nature of the challenges we face today. The session included reflections from inspiring change-makers who are already driving towards this 'Transform' trajectory – aiming to shift our political, economic and social systems so that they work together in service of human and planetary health, justice and economic resilience. If there is ever a time to drive this transformative change, it is now.

The American economy will face significant and widespread disruptions from climate change. Our health, safety and prosperity are threatened unless policymakers and businesses take immediate action

The American economy will face significant and widespread disruptions from climate change. Our health, safety and prosperity are threatened unless policymakers and businesses take immediate action to respond to and reduce climate risk. This panel will highlight innovative public-private solutions and discuss how businesses, governments and communities can work together to become more resilient.

Panelists
- Joel Beauvais, Associate Administrator for the Office of Policy, U.S. EPA
- Pam O’Connor, Councilmember, City of Santa Monica, CA
- Harriet Tregoning, Director of the Office of Economic Resilience, U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development
- Kate Dineen, Director, NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program, New York Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery

Financing the Energy Frontier for Anchorage | PGS Capstone Showcase Fall 2019

From the December 2019 Capstone Showcase, this team of Presidians assessed a green investment bank model as a

Financing the Energy Frontier for Anchorage | PGS Capstone Showcase Fall 2019

From the December 2019 Capstone Showcase, this team of Presidians assessed a green investment bank model as a means to address the Municipality of Anchorage’s climate goals and analyzed several possible legal structures, leveraging multi-sector partnerships. Presented by Melanie Lucas-Conwell (MBA), Sarah Nelson (MBA), and Monica Pandele (MBA, MPA). About Presidio Graduate School: PGS is an accredited, nonprofit graduate school founded in 2003, offering several unique degree programs — three MBAs, the only sustainable MPA, and one of the only Dual MBA/MPAs — as well as several certificates, all taught with our systems-thinking methodology at the core. The premise we adhere to is that real change happens at the intersection between private enterprise and the public sector, and across commerce, and the common good. Learn more about PGS, our mission, and our programs at presidio.edu or call us at 415-561-6555.

"The world has not done an analysis to decide whether oil is more valuable than what is lost by destroying the Amazon. We have so much. In order to debate on an economic level, we would have to

"The world has not done an analysis to decide whether oil is more valuable than what is lost by destroying the Amazon. We have so much. In order to debate on an economic level, we would have to conduct a thorough study to find out how much the Amazon could give to the world. What they want here is easy money to pay the external debt to China and they will destroy the Amazon under this pretext." -Patricia Gualinga, Kichwa Community of Sarayaku, Ecuador.
Oil Round in southeastern Ecuador offers national and transnational companies 
about 3 million hectors of tropical forest which is home to seven indigenous nacionalides. The signing of contracts with oil companies is privista for October this year. Published on Mar 9, 2013

Produced by Pacha Producciones, Quito, Ecuador, 2013

I am from Costa Rica. Here I outline my idea to rebuild trust by redesigning cities. After Copenhagen, we need to rethink our cooperation and create new alliances. I propose to bring together

I am from Costa Rica. Here I outline my idea to rebuild trust by redesigning cities. After Copenhagen, we need to rethink our cooperation and create new alliances. I propose to bring together countries of 4 million people (Costa Rica, Norway, Singapore, New Zealand, and Lebanon).

Soy de Costa Rica y soy especialista ambiental aquí expongo mi idea para repensar, rediseñar y reconstruir la confianza para el beneficio de las personas y el planeta. Propongo un proyecto entre paises de 4 millones como Costa Rica, Noruega, Nueva Zelanda, Singapur y Líbano.

Van Jones lays out a case against plastic pollution from the perspective of social justice. Because plastic trash, he shows us, hits poor people and poor countries "first and worst," with

Van Jones lays out a case against plastic pollution from the perspective of social justice. Because plastic trash, he shows us, hits poor people and poor countries "first and worst," with consequences we all share no matter where we live and what we earn. In this powerful talk, he offers a few powerful ideas to help us reclaim our throwaway planet. Filmed at TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch [TEDxGP2], produced by the Plastic Pollution Coalition in 2010, at the Annenburg Community Beach House in Santa Monica, California.

Learn learn more at www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org