UBC professor to discuss if change is even possible

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A UN Biodiversity Report suggests current global response to climate change is insufficient, and ?transformative changes? are needed to help the planet.

Changes to restore and protect the environment are needed, but are they possible?

A UN Biodiversity Report suggests current global response to climate change is insufficient, and “transformative changes” are needed to help the planet.

But can those changes be achieved?

Dr. Kai Chan, a professor of at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC hopes to answer that question.

Chan will be presenting “Is Transformative Change for a Sustainable Planet Achievable?” Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the lecture theatre of the Vernon campus as part of the Signature Speaker Series.

“Global societies and economies are on a deeply unsustainable trajectory, with up to one million species at risk of extinction and many crucial societal goals in jeopardy. Sustainable trajectories can only be found in transformative changes across social, economic, and political dimensions yielding a global sustainable economy,” said Chan. “This presentation will break down ‘transformative change’ into its key components, including five management and legal interventions, and eight crucial points of leverage. This will illustrate how change can be produced, opposition can be overcome and how a stable and fair world is in our sights.”

Chan is an interdisciplinary, problem-oriented sustainability scientist trained in ecology, policy and ethics from Princeton and Stanford Universities.

Presented by Okanagan College, the Signature Speaker Series is sponsored by the Prestige Vernon Lodge and Uprooted Kitchen and Catering Co.

Admission is $10, or free for Okanagan College students.

Participants can register in advance online, or pay at the door.

www.okanagan.bc.ca/SignatureSpeakers