Miami hosts three big climate gatherings. One star-studded, two for future leaders
South Florida will become the epicenter of the climate community this weekend as several events kick off that will highlight the impacts of and solutions to climate change.
The main event will be the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference, which returns to Miami Beach March 6-9 for its second year.
But on Saturday, March 4, there will be an event for a younger group of environmentalists, the student-led Miami Youth Climate Summit, which is expected to bring hundreds of students to Ransom Everglades Middle School to learn about climate change.
“The issue is that a lot of times, especially in government, youth don’t really get their seat at the table in terms of climate change,” said Mia Bouyoucef, a sophomore at Ransom Everglades High School and co-president of the summit. “We were born into this and we’re the ones who are going to be facing this problem, unfortunately, sooner rather than later.”
“Having the Miami Youth Climate Summit to hear from people that work in the climate field can open their eyes to the problem and empower them to be able to do something about it,” said Isabella Perez-Compres, a sophomore at the Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart and the other co-president of the summit.
In Miami Beach, the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference will bring a star-studded list of over 300 speakers to the Miami Beach Convention Center and the New World Center, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Latin music star Gloria Estefan, celebrity scientist Bill Nye, White House “climate czar” Ali Zaidi, former Colombian President Iván Duque, and executives from financial institutions like Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
Tickets are still available, starting at $250 for a single day pass. (Alternatively, you can sign up for the Miami Herald’s Stemming the Tide climate newsletter, where we’ll recap what we’re learning from the conference next week.)
In the days leading up to the conference, Aspen Ideas will also host the Future Leaders Climate Summit, which will bring together 250 researchers, activists and civil servants between the ages of 18 and 30 on March 3-6. These young climate leaders, who hail from South Florida and countries around the globe including Haiti, Hungary, Lebanon, Rwanda, Argentina and India, will meet ahead of the conference to hash out climate solutions they can bring back to their communities.
An even younger crop of future climate leaders will meet at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Miami Youth Climate Summit. A group of students from 15 public and private schools organized the event to teach their peers about the effects of climate change. Speakers include Miami-based eco-artist Xavier Cortada, Miami Waterkeeper policy director Audrey Siu, and David Roper, founder of the Greenhaven Project, which creates community gardens in food deserts around Miami.
This is the event’s fifth year; in 2021, 1,200 people attended or tuned in for a livestream of the summit on Zoom. Interested kids and parents can register to attend this year’s summit in person at Ransom Everglades Middle School for $8 (includes lunch and merch) or stream it for free online.
To end the week, Florida International University will host a forum on environmental issues and the law on March 9-10 at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus. Law professors, economists and environmental researchers will join with executives and industry groups to discuss how public policy impacts the environment.
This climate report is funded by Florida International University, the Knight Foundation and the David and Christina Martin Family Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald retains editorial control of all content.
This story was originally published March 1, 2023 at 3:26 PM.