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St. Olaf to host 21st annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum
February 26, 2009
St. Olaf College will host the 21st Annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum, "Striving for Peace: A Climate for Change," March 6-7. Select elements of the event will be streamed live and archived online.
This year the NPPF is honoring the work of people committed to counteracting global climate change. In 2007 the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and former Vice President Al Gore for their role in spreading awareness of human contributions to the current environmental crisis, and their continuing efforts to urge countries, corporations, organizations and individuals to take steps toward counteracting climate change.
IPCC contributing scientist Richard Alley will deliver the opening plenary address Friday, March 6, at 1 p.m. in Skoglund Center. Alley will speak on "Projecting Peace: The IPCC and the Science of Climate Change."
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| Sen. Amy Klobuchar discussed environmental issues with St. Olaf students last year. She currently serves on five Senate committees that specialize in water quality, oceans, the atmosphere and public-sector solutions to global warming. |
Francis, known around the world as the "Planetwalker," will speak Friday, March 6, on "Redefining Environment." After witnessing the effects of a 1971 oil spill in San Francisco Bay, Francis decided to stop using all forms of motorized transportation. For 22 years he trekked and sailed around North and South America; for 17 of these years he also refrained from speaking.
Although Francis' silent pilgrimage began as a protest, his vision of the environment has expanded to include how humans interact and how people can work together to benefit the earth. He believes that our connection to the earth as well as to each other is at the heart of the current environmental crisis.
Sen. Klobuchar has long been a leader on environmental issues, including renewable energy and combating climate change. She currently serves on five Senate committees that specialize in water quality, oceans, the atmosphere and public-sector solutions to global warming. Her talk, "It's Time for Action on Climate Change," will take place Saturday, March 7, at 10:45 a.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel.
Other plenary speakers include Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx, and Oxfam America Vice President James R. Lyons.
The two-day forum also will feature a variety of workshops and discussion sessions with topics ranging from the youth climate movement to science in the Siberian arctic.
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St. Olaf is one of five Midwestern ELCA colleges that collaborate with the Norwegian Nobel Institute to host the annual forum. Each year the conference features presentations by regional, national and international leaders in peacemaking, the green movement, human rights and justice, environmental issues, biological threats, pandemics and other challenges to world peace.
