Climate change main talking point of Rutgers' UN World Peace Day event

The Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations hosted the University’s first annual celebration of the United Nations' International Day of Peace on Saturday, with the issue of climate change heavily steering the conversation.

The event, which was formatted as a group discussion, featured Rutgers faculty as well as other speakers weighing in on the current state of the climate and how it affects the broader world.

Michael Merrill, the director of Labor Education Action Research Network (LEARN) at Rutgers, explained how African countries would be the most vulnerable to the immediate effects of climate change. One graphic, which was distributed to the audience, showed a map of Africa and how millions would be forcibly displaced by climate.

“In 25 to 30 years, 40% of the global population that is below 20 will be African,” Merrill said. “The youth of the world lives here. We have to find a way to navigate the demographic and economic transition required to survive.”

Other speakers saw climate change as a threat to peace. 

“I see a very direct correlation between climate change that's resulting in disparities in wealth and disparities in opportunity and peace,” said Kiara Ellozy, a managing partner in Kai Kai Communications, who works internationally. “People are not getting along. These resources are not distributed in a way that allows for peace.”

On the domestic front, the group discussed the global climate strikes from the day before, praising the youth but also demanding more action from those in power.

“The young people's energy and their passion is the wind and our sails,” Merrill said. “But the people with maturity, wisdom, knowledge and experience to understand how the world works in complicated ways really need to bear down on how to make it actually work. We can't rely on 16-year-olds to fix the problem alone.”

Although responses was mixed in the room, some maintained optimism in the fight against climate change. Harry Perryman, a community activist and president of World Cynergies LLC, talked about the recent lawsuit President Donald J. Trump's administration brought upon California because of its environmental regulations. He believed that the states would fight back and would, ultimately, prevail.

“My optimism comes on the heels of people being more aware and more conscious and more participatory on things important to the country and important to the world,” Perryman said. “There is nothing at this point, if we take action right now, we can't undo.”