Minneapolis 2015: A Convenient Opportunity to Act on Climate

A few weeks ago, former Minnesota Governor Al Quie said to a small room that the climate issue requires the same approach he believes should drive all public service, and he expressed that approach in three simple ideas: Radical integrity, creative collaboration, and no excuses. It struck some of us as the most clear-headed, forthright, and appropriate way to talk about how to solve big problems and be of service in the world. With the Governor’s permission, it was adapted to serve as the theme of the Minneapolis 2015 Climate Action Conference, billed as a “last stop on the way to Paris”.

Business & Policy Leaders Push for Smarter Climate Action in “Last Stop Before Paris”

On October 26th, the second day of the Minneapolis conference, climate experts and business leaders joined a high-level dialogue — convened by Partnership for Change and Citizens’ Climate Education — to focus on how to accelerate development and deployment of low-carbon technologies and climate-smart business practices.

The dialogue was co-chaired by Marilyn Carlson Nelson and former United States Vice President Walter Mondale.

The October 26 discussion produced an outcome document entitled “A Convenient Opportunity”, which will serve as the foundation for an ongoing multilevel, multilateral dialogue process. Accelerating Progress, Advancing Innovation — also known as the Acceleration Dialogues — will focus on connecting policy leaders to leaders in business and civil society, to ensure the global climate response is real, ambitious, everywhere-active, and conducive to better outcomes for people around the world.

From “A Convenient Opportunity”:

For those committed to a world with zero change, climate disruption is “an inconvenient truth”; for those committed to building a prosperous future, the global need to reverse climate disruption is a landscape of opportunity that can generate improved outcomes on all fronts.

Download the 4-page document here.

The series will focus on diverse stakeholder and practitioner input, pioneering best practices, over-the-horizon innovations, and concrete strategies for accelerating inclusive climate action. By examining the climate challenge from different angles, the series will also explore connections to other issues of major global significance, like peacebuilding, food security, human trafficking, and the ability to develop and maintain resilient civic institutions.

Individual Supporters

Ingrid Stange: Founder and Chair, Partnership for Change
Mark Ritchie: Chair, Expo2023—The Minnesota World’s Fair
Ellen Anderson: Executive Director, Energy Transition Lab
Richard Eidlin: Co-Founder, VP, American Sustainable Business Council
Mark Reynolds: Executive Director, Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Joe Robertson: Global Strategy Director, Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Tom Hanson: Diplomat in Residence, Univ. of Minnesota—Duluth
Nicole Rom: Executive Director, Climate Generation
David Thoreson: Arctic Explorer
Hari M. Osofsky: Professor, Univ. of Minnesota Law School; Faculty Director, Energy Transition Lab
Jessica Hellmann: Director, Institute on the Environment, Univ. of Minnesota
Juan Chebly: Lead Adviser, UNEP
Alex Bozmoski: Director of Strategy and Operations, Energy and Enterprise Initiative

Organizational Supporters

Co-coordinated & Hosted by:

In collaboration with
The Norwegian Nobel Institute

The Acceleration Dialogues

October 2015, Minneapolis — The Climate Action Opportunity
December 2015, Paris — Business Model Change and the Carbon Delta
April 2016, Washington — Assessing the Carbon Pricing Value Chain
May 2016, Oslo — Evolving a Climate-Smart Financial Sector
June 2016, Minneapolis — Macro-critical Climate Resilience
September 2016, New York — Climate, Peace and Security in the SDGs
October 2016, Washington — Carbon Pricing as the Foundation for Future Business and Community Value
November 2016, Marrakech — Accelerating NDC Action
April 2017, Washington — Building Fiscal Resilience
December 2017, Paris — Working Dialogue on Resilience Intel
April 2018, Washington — Toward Economy-wide Resilience Intelligence