Despite federal reversals, San Diego’s Climate Week exuded hope

With the never ending string of bad news emanating from Washington, D.C., on the withdrawal of the U.S. from climate agreements and regulations designed to reduce greenhouse gasses, it would have seemed that this was the worst time possible to launch the inaugural San Diego Climate Week.

However, against all odds, we and a team of energized volunteers organized, sponsored and hosted an extraordinary and robust series of climate-focused programming. With 120 events, 200 volunteers, 105 organizations, and over 5,500 participants, Climate Week was held throughout the county, from El Cajon to Imperial Beach to Oceanside.

The focus of the entire week was around the myriad ways that everyday people, organizations, businesses, scientists and local government agencies are collaboratively addressing the climate crisis focusing on local practical solutions that bring people together. That means everything from promoting bicycling, carrying out natural climate solutions, investing in clean energy, and deploying green infrastructure that saves energy and reduces emissions. 

The  event kickoff at the Mingei Museum on Oct. 1 was inaugurated by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and City Council President Joe LaCava, both of whom emphasized the need to fulfill the city’s ambitious climate plan. A lively panel discussion with participants from the city of San Diego, SANDAG, the Port of San Diego and NRDC discussed their pragmatic programs that reduce greenhouse gasses and lessen the impact of air pollution on the residents of communities such as National City and Barrio Logan.

Whether it is the port deploying the nation’s first ever electric tugboat, or the city of San Diego’s first ever electric firetruck, climate solutions at their best can improve operating efficiency, cut long term maintenance costs, and even help reduce asthma rates for local school children. 

In East County, indigenous leaders gathered at the Water Conservation Garden to discuss and demonstrate integration of traditional land and resource management.  Over a dozen tribes were represented, highlighting through dance, song, and talking circles the innate human-nature connection. 

In Imperial Beach, community-based organizations and county Supervisor Paloma Aguirre discussed solutions to the worst ocean pollution crisis in North America. In North County, Climate Week hosted a screening of a film created about local sustainable businesses, engaging the audience in dialogue about responsible consumption.

On the last day of Climate Week, more than 175 citizens, scientists, conservationists, government agency staffers and businesses from the U.S. and Latin America assembled at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography for the Blue Carbon Collaborative Symposium organized by WILDCOAST and Coastal Quest. Participants discussed the different ways they are advancing natural climate solutions designed to protect, expand and restore blue carbon ecosystems such as seagrass meadows, salt marshes, mangroves and kelp forests that store carbon, help protect against coastal flooding and enhance biodiversity. 

A panelist from Guatemala gave an overview of how indigenous communities are restoring mangrove forests that serve as fish nurseries. In Mexico, women are organized around the Pacific Coast to grow mangroves that store carbon and nurture shellfish they harvest to support their families.

The port provided an overview of how the seagrass meadows at the southern end of San Diego Bay store carbon and provide food for the Eastern Pacific green sea turtles that find their way into our backyard habitat from the mangrove fringed waters of Mexico. The symposium illustrated San Diego’s potential to be a global leader in natural solutions to rising sea levels in ways that both adapt to and mitigate climate change. 

At every Climate Week event a common denominator among participants and panelists alike was a fervent belief in the power rolling up our sleeves and focusing on the real and necessary task of seeking local solutions that address the climate crisis and bring communities together. We were also inspired by the participation of a new generation of young activists, many of whom are still in college or just graduated, who are seeking meaning in the hard work of protecting people and the planet. 

With our federal government racing backwards on climate, we and the thousands of San Diego Climate Week participants left armed with the feeling that at least for now no one else is coming to the rescue except ourselves. That is why it is up to each and every one of us to work together to save the only planet we have. 

Cover photo: Port of San Diego