One of the primary focuses of Governor Schwarzenegger’s administration and the USC Schwarzenegger Institute is environmental protection and addressing climate change, and that work continued on September 21st at USC. As Governor Schwarzenegger, the USC Schwarzenegger Institute and our partners at the R20 prepare to participate at the UN’s COP 21 in Paris in December we are continuing our collaborations with other regions and leaders throughout the world to advance policy solutions.
The Institute was proud to host Andrae Rupprechter, who heads the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forrestry, Environment and Water Management and his delegation of government and business leaders and facilitate a thoughtful and far reaching roundtable discussion on what needs to happen at COP 21 and beyond, with California leaders from government, ngo’s, business and academia.
Some of the leaders participating in this important conversation included Jack Knott, Dean of the USC Price School of Public Policy; Professor and California Historian Kevin Starr; both Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger; Institute Board of Advisors, Terry Tamminen and Senator Bob Hertzberg; Matt Petersen, head of sustainability for Los Angeles Mayor; Gary Gero, CEO of Climate Action Reserve; Christophe Nuttall, Executive Director of the R20; and former members of the Schwarzenegger cabinet.
As in all Schwarzenegger Institute convenings USC student leaders participated and offered valuable perspective, including the founder and current President of the USC Environmental Student Assembly, and the Editor of the Daily Trojan.
The following is the Daily Trojan story covering the roundtable discussion: http://dailytrojan.com/2015/09/21/photo-courtesy-of-audrey-emerson/