May 2020 Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 11

We ARE meeting June 5! Project Drawdown's Jonathan Foley to speak at UNEP-ESRAG Virtual Forum

Photo: Project Drawdown's Executive Director Dr. Jonathan Foley is one of the four speakers for the UNEP-ESRAG virtual forum June 5.  The 2.5 hour webinar will be broadcast four times in 24 hours. Details below!

 UNEP-ESRAG Virtual Forum June 5

Daniel Cooney, Rotary Peace Fellow and Communication Acting Director for the United Nations Environment Programme, is the first speaker in the virtual forum. Credit:  UNEP

The June 5 World Environment Day forum originally planned for Honolulu will flow like daylight around the world as a virtual conference broadcast four times. You can register here to receive the Zoom link and schedule for your time zone.   Here’s the lineup of 30-minute talks. The starting time for each is the same in each broadcast, in the relevant time zone. You can participate whenever works best for you. For example, people in the eastern United States can join the first broadcast at 8 pm their time on the evening of Thursday, June 4.

10 am - United Nations 50th World Environment Day: Rotary Peace Fellow Daniel Cooney will speak about UNEP's sustainability initiatives and its 2020-21 theme, Biodiversity.   

10:30am - Tackling Hunger and Food Waste: District 7620 Rotarian Joe Richardson,  founder of Lunch out of Landfills, will talk about engaging Interact and Rotaract Clubs in a powerful movement uniting students, schools, and communities to reduce hunger and food waste.   

11:00 am - Rotary's new partnership with Drawdown:  Project Drawdown Executive Director Jonathan Foley will report on the brand-new collaboration between ESRAG and Drawdown to empower communities across the world to reduce carbon emissions.   

11:30 am -  Environmental Restoration: Brendan Foran, CEO of Greening Australia, will report on major habitat restoration initiatives for fire-devastated Australia.   

Noon -   15 minutes of 'Burning' Questions: ESRAG Director Pat Armstrong will facilitate Q&A with presenters and promote World Environment Day projects for districts and clubs. We will close with the Waggle Dance Challenge video. 

The first broadcast starts with live segments at 10am Australian Eastern Time (AEST). The webinar will repeated three more times: 10am East Africa Time (EAT) for South Asia, Africa and Europe time zones; 10am US Eastern (ET) for the eastern US, Central and Mountain time zones; and 10am Hawaii (PST) for West Coast, Alaska, South America and Pacific Islands. A recording of the event will be also be archived at esrag.org.

Using chat during the webinar, you can submit questions to be answered at a follow-up session and posted online.  You can also email your questions in advance to Pat Armstrong. 

Here’s a wealth of online World Environment Day resources  from UNEP, including a calendar of talks, films, and concerts from now through June 5, and a slideshow of information and practical actions tailored for individuals, governments, faith communities, businesses, and civic groups of all ages. Thanks to Jennie Lewis, Chair of ESRAG’s North America Eastern Regional Chapter, for sending these links to the ESRAG newsletter.  

Spanish edition of ESRAG-UNEP 

World Environment Day Handbook coming soon!

ESRAG Breakout Featured at RICON June 22

The Greening Rotary Events panel includes Dakoka Stormer, CEO of Footprint and an internationally-recognized innovator in sustainability, and Clari Nolet, who was instrumental in developing ESRAG's white paper on this topic, and the ESRAG online offset calculator, which  Rotarians can use to donate to offset the impact of their air travel.

GREENING ROTARY EVENTS:  ESRAG has been chosen to give one of the featured breakouts at the the first-ever Rotary International Virtual International Convention.  As of May 29, Rotary hasn't posted registration links yet, but keep checking here to sign up. 

Rotarians around the world have been going through a crash course on meeting without driving or eating together, so it's hard to imagine a better time to equip them to make Rotary meetings plastic-free and empower them to reduce their carbon footprint.  Moderated by ESRAG's Communications Director Karen Kendrick-Hands, the panelists highlight the steps: WHY (Karen) we need to green meetings, how to PLAN (Ludovic Grosjean), DO (Pat Armstrong), CHECK (Dakota Stormer) and ACT (Clari Nolet).  

ESRAG Annual General Meeting June 24 

ESRAG's Annual General Meeting for Members, originally scheduled June 7 at RICON 2020, will now be held as an online webinar at noon, UTC on June 24.   Please use THIS FORM to register.  You'll learn more about new board members and ESRAG Secretary Yasar Atacik will give an overview of ESRAG's work in 2019-20. We'll honor and thank the folks completing their service on the board.

A notice about the board nominees and link to the ballot was emailed May 27 to all ESRAG members in good standing. Votes must be received by June 5. Check your spam folder if you didn't see this email.   If you haven't received it, now's the perfect time to join or renew your membership.  Dues start as low as $30 for individuals and enable vital work including the website and ESRAG presentations to District and RI events around the world. Currently ESRAG is 100% volunteer-led.

Finding Common Ground:

D4500's Environmental Stewardship Awards

Laurie Zuckerman is drawing on shared values to inspire Rotarians in the American West to transcend political divides as they team up to protect and restore their environment.

How do you get cattle ranchers and vegetarians to link arms to protect the planet?  District 5400’s Earth Stewardship leaders have proved it’s not only feasible but delightful.  They’ve created a toolkit for success based on goals and values that can unite Rotarians of any walk of life or political philosophy.

In a district spanning Idaho in America’s Far West, they’ve created the Environmental Stewardship Certification, offering clubs the fun of winning annual District-wide recognition for practical actions that advance Rotary’s worldwide goals – such as peace, health, and education – while healing the environment.              

“It’s important to look at the language,” says project founder Laurie Zuckerman, Chair of D5400’s Environmental Stewardship Advisory Board. “The term ’climate change’ is politically controversial in my district.  But the concept of 'environmental stewardship’ brings us together. An ennobling word is 'entrusted:’ we are entrusted with the care of the land where we live and work.”  Love and care for their land is deeply rooted in the Idaho ranchers whose livelihood depends on this rugged terrain.

Ocean Innovators Video Series Launches June 8

Tell us about your project!

Share your great ideas with ESRAG members around the world!  Email our reporter, Ariel Miller with news of what you are doing.  We're delighted to run your own writing or to schedule an interview if you prefer.

The Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group operates in accordance with Rotary International policy, 

but is not an agency of, or controlled by, Rotary International.