Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on December 11, 2017 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): October 23, 2017 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2017-1247.pr001
Preface The ACS Climate Change Public Policy Statement recommends that “The U.S. Government should promote climate science literacy and education for citizens and policymakers about climate change impacts to help empower citizens and local and regional governments to make informed decisions and preparations to help protect homes, businesses, and communities against adverse impacts.” To that end, this book series seeks to promote climate science literacy and education among college and university students, young adults, educators, policymakers, and the general public. The chapters in this volume address the foundation and purpose of the ACS Climate Change Literacy and Education project, climate science, and international perspectives. Individual chapters are authored by students who have represented the ACS as UN-accredited “Observers” at the annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conferences of Parties (COPs) from 2010 through 2015. Each of these student authors has presented outcomes of their COP project in climate change literacy symposia at ACS National Meetings. At the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992, nations from around the globe agreed to The Framework Convention with the ultimate aim of preventing dangerous human interference in the climate system. The ACS received UN accreditation to participate in the UNFCCC as an NGO Observer for the first time at the 2007 COP 13 in Bali, Indonesia. Subsequently, the ACS Committee on Environmental Improvement (CEI) officially launched the Climate Change Literacy and Education project, which serves as the foundation of this book, by sponsoring two students to participate as accredited UN delegates at COP16 in Cancun, Mexico, held in December 2010. This project was designated as an official kickoff event for the then-upcoming 2011 International Year of Chemistry (IYC 2011). In the years since, the project has expanded in scope and outreach with student ambassadors representing the ACS at COP17 in Durban, South Africa (2011), COP18 in Doha, Qatar (2012), COP19 in Warsaw, Poland (2013), COP20 in Lima, Peru (2014), COP21 in Paris, France (2015), and COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco (2016). ACS Students on Climate Change remains the only ongoing International Year of Chemistry project within ACS. This Climate Science Literacy and Education book series offers insight from students who have engaged the global community at the epicenter of international climate change negotiations. The annual COPs are a vital resource that facilitates deeper understanding of the science of climate change within a broad context of sustainability, economic equity, social justice, and the complexities of developing multilateral policy. ix Peterman et al.; Climate Change Literacy and Education The Science and Perspectives from the Global Stage Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.
Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on December 11, 2017 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): October 23, 2017 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2017-1247.pr001
The student authors have interacted directly with national leaders and international negotiators in the real-world United Nations. They have interviewed community leaders, business and NGO representatives, everyday citizens, and youth from around the globe. They have used the UN as an international platform—and social media as a tool—to engage their peers, young adults, and educators in the climate change discourse. The guiding principle of this ACS-sponsored climate literacy project is to enable students to communicate directly with their peers and educators, as opposed to a top-down approach for involving students in a dialogue about climate science. We wish to acknowledge and thank Tony Noce (ACS CEI Chair) for championing this project, Ray Garant (ACS Assistant Director for Public Policy) for his advice and tireless organization of functions and activities, Carl Maxwell (ACS Manager of Energy and Environment Policy) for UN accreditation logistics and arranging informative, off-the-record meetings with federal agencies and staffers on Capitol Hill, Joan Coyle (ACS Lead Communications Officer) for media outreach coaching, and Diane Husic (Dean of the School of Natural and Health Sciences at Moravian College) for serving as a faculty mentor for the ACS students during week one of the annual COP. We also offer special thanks to Laura Pence (former CEI Chair), under whose leadership this project was launched, and to Rachael Bishop (former Manager of ACS Public Policy Communications) for initiating media training sessions for the ACS COP students at ACS National Headquarters in Washington, DC. This project would not have been possible without the financial support and faculty mentoring by the numerous colleges and universities that have sponsored their students’ participation in this project, as well as the support of parents and family.
Keith E. Peterman, Professor of Chemistry York College of Pennsylvania, York, Pennsylvania 17403, United States 717-815-1334 (office); 717-825-1716 (cell)
[email protected] (e-mail)
Gregory P. Foy, Associate Professor of Chemistry York College of Pennsylvania, York, Pennsylvania 17403, United States 717-815-1523 (office); 717-968-0870 (cell)
[email protected] (e-mail)
Matthew R. Cordes, Principal Writer Writing Works, Ltd., Lehighton, Pennsylvania 18235, United States 570-556-8832 (cell)
[email protected] (e-mail) x Peterman et al.; Climate Change Literacy and Education The Science and Perspectives from the Global Stage Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.
