Insect numbers are in decline across the planet. Should we worry? Entomologist Marcus Byrne believes we should. Insects perform countless ecosystem services. These are little jobs in the background

Insect numbers are in decline across the planet. Should we worry? Entomologist Marcus Byrne believes we should. Insects perform countless ecosystem services. These are little jobs in the background that are massively important for our survival and that of the rest of the planet. So, what is the cause of this loss of insects? Marcus suggests that we don’t know for sure. The reasons could be anything from our widespread use of pesticides to habitat loss due to human-driven development. His research points strongly to the global increase of CO2 in the atmosphere as the most probable reason for this decline. In other words, rising CO2 levels could well be causing an insect apocalypse. We must see these findings as another strong motivation to reduce our CO2 output and safeguard the tiny creatures that run our planet. Marcus Byrne is a professor of entomology at Wits University, South Africa, where he teaches zoology and entomology. He grew up in the UK and despite being terrified of its limited fauna he avidly watched Jacques Cousteau and David Attenborough on the TV. Moving to South Africa, he got a job as a technician at the Dung Beetle Research Unit in Pretoria. At the time the unit was exporting African dung beetles to control dung-breeding flies in Australia. This experience opened his eyes to two wonderful aspects of insects; firstly biological control where one organism is used to control the population of another, and secondly dung beetles, which are enigmatic little insects that continue to entertain him to this day, 30 years after first encountering them. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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From his first day at West Point to his years of deployment in Afghanistan, retired four-star U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal is no stranger to the deadly risks of combat. Throughout his

From his first day at West Point to his years of deployment in Afghanistan, retired four-star U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal is no stranger to the deadly risks of combat. Throughout his illustrious career and efforts helping business leaders navigate a global pandemic, General McChrystal has seen how individuals and organizations have failed to mitigate risk by focusing solely on the probability of something happening as opposed to the interface by which it can be managed. In his new book, Risk: A User’s Guide, McChrystal and co-author Anna Butrico offer a battle-tested system for detecting and responding to risk. This book offers an alternative way of maintaining a healthy "risk immune system" that involves monitoring 10 different dimensions of control the authors say can be adjusted at any time to effectively anticipate, identify, analyze and act upon the ever-present possibility that things will not go as planned. Join us as General McChrystal reveals an entirely new way to understand risk and master the unknown. NOTES Photo by Leading Authorities, Inc. OCTOBER 18, 2021 SPEAKERS General Stanley McChrystal Retired Army General; Author, Risk: A User’s Guide; Twitter @StanMcChrystal In Conversation with Dan Ashley Co-Anchor, ABC 7 News; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @DanAshleyABC7 💯SUBSCRIBE for more VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/user/commonwealthclub 📆 UPCOMING EVENTS: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events 🎉 BECOME a MEMBER: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/membership 💰 DONATE NOW: https://support.commonwealthclub.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=298 📺➕📻 Watch & Listen https://www.commonwealthclub.org/watch-listen CWC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonwealthclub/ CWC Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cwclub/ CWC Twitter https://twitter.com/cwclub The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum 📣, bringing together its 20,000 members for more than 400 annual events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy. Founded in 1903 in San Francisco California 🌉, The Commonwealth Club has played host to a diverse and distinctive array of speakers, from Teddy Roosevelt in 1911 to Hillary Clinton in 2010. Along the way, Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton have all given landmark speeches at the Club.

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Summit 21 was live-streamed in June 2021 - these are the highlights of the second of three sessions focusing on what would growth look like in a circular economy. This session featured discussions

Summit 21 was live-streamed in June 2021 - these are the highlights of the second of three sessions focusing on what would growth look like in a circular economy. This session featured discussions with Dame Ellen MacArthur, Wolfgang Blau, former Global COO at Condé Nast and now Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford University, Chile’s Minister of the Environment Carolina Schmidt, Financial Times Consumer Industries Correspondent Judith Evans hosts a panel on investment in the circular economy with Audrey Choi, Chief Sustainability Officer at Morgan Stanley, and Paul Bodnar, Global Head of Sustainable Investing at BlackRock. And, H&M Head of Supply Chain David Savman discusses how global supply chains can be redesigned to facilitate growth that not only generates profit but creates more inclusive and equal societies while tackling environmental issues. ------ Thank you for watching this video. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a UK charity working on business, learning, insights & analysis, and communications to accelerate the transition towards the circular economy. Subscribe to The Ellen MacArthur Foundation for more insightful videos -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQAC2otE5_agzHZPnk3mE5w?sub_confirmation=1 Find out more about our work here: www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org Follow us online on these channels: Instagram: http://instagram.com/EllenMacArthurFoundation Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ellenmacarthurfoundation Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/circulareconomy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ellen-macarthur-foundation/ Website: http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org

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CISL’s latest publication "Let’s Discuss Climate: The essential guide to bank-client engagement", created in partnership with the Banking Environment Initiative, equips relationship managers to

CISL’s latest publication "Let’s Discuss Climate: The essential guide to bank-client engagement", created in partnership with the Banking Environment Initiative, equips relationship managers to have meaningful conversations clients about their net zero transition plans. The guide can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/3sUz5Hm The Guide to Bank-Client Engagement has been designed for immediate use by relationship managers and client-facing staff. It will also be valuable for sustainability strategy teams and those who structure the remit and education of relationship managers of large corporate clients, including the heads of business lines. Join the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership for this webinar on Tuesday, 25 May 2021 where we will go into more detail on the five-phase approach to client engagement for banks. Chaired by Annabel Ross (Senior Programme Manager for the Banking Environment Initiative), the webinar will begin with a presentation from Jasminka Enderle (Project Manager for the BEI) followed by a panel discussion with Peter Kanning (Global Head of Business Development, Sustainable Finance, HSBC), Delphine Queniart (Global Head of Sustainable Finance & Solutions, Global Markets, BNP Paribas), David Carlin (TCFD and Climate Risk Programme Lead, UNEP FI) and Thomas Vergunst (Programme Director, Finance Sector Education, CISL). There will then be a Q&A with the audience.

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Using public monies to reduce carbon footprint, practice energy conservation, and raise the environmental awareness among citizens in Ireland. €9 billion is spent by the public sector on goods and services annually in Ireland! Dublin fireman Neil McCabe showed how with a little ingenuity, this money could result in environmentally friendly buildings and huge cost savings to the public sector but will local authorities and the government take notice.

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With the rapid increase in cybersecurity threats, digital identity theft, the spread of misinformation, hate speech, cyberbullying and gender-based violence on the Internet, etc., Governments across

With the rapid increase in cybersecurity threats, digital identity theft, the spread of misinformation, hate speech, cyberbullying and gender-based violence on the Internet, etc., Governments across the world are increasingly concerned about the safe and secure use of digital technologies and online information. In particular, the role of social media and the risks it carries for citizens and society have gained significant attention over the past years and prompted policy makers to implement policies and standards as well as share best practices. This session will explore how such risks could be addressed and mitigated through digital education and skills development programmes. It will feature various stakeholders and showcase best practice examples of how to educate citizens on the safe and secure use of online information. Moderator Ms Natia Kukuladze Commissioner Georgian National Communications Commission Georgia Panelists Mr David Wright CEO SWGfL and Director UK Safer Internet Centre United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Ms Rūta Jašinskienė Cybersecurity Capacity Building Expert NRD Cyber Security Lithuania (Republic of) Mr Guy Ngambeket Director and Board Member ISC2 Mr Datuk Zulkarnain Mohd Yasin Deputy Managing Director MCMC Malaysia Mr Najib Mokni Programme Specialist for Communication and Information Sector UNESCO office to the Gulf States and Yemen

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Mr. Gregory Gorman, conservation chair for the New Jersey Sierra Club, discusses the Green New Deal and how this legislation specifically impacts New Jersey, USA. As a part of the TED Countdown

Mr. Gregory Gorman, conservation chair for the New Jersey Sierra Club, discusses the Green New Deal and how this legislation specifically impacts New Jersey, USA. As a part of the TED Countdown initiative, this talk aims to discuss climate change action with specific focus on infrastructure and cost parity. 〣 Volunteer with Nj Sierra Club since 2009 and serving as Conservation Chair since 2014. 〣 Graduate of Al Gore’s first online Climate Reality Leadership Training-July 2020. 〣 NJ Skylands Sunrise Movement Hub Coordinator and Chair of NJ Skylands Group-NJSC since 2019. 〣 Active with DivestNJ and EmpowerNJ advocating for clean energy economy. 〣 Retired after a 37-year career as Contracting Officer for U.S. Army Contracting Command at Picatinny Arsenal. 〣 Fellow of the National Contract Management Association. 〣 Recipient of Certificate of Excellence presented by Assistant Secretary of the Navy (May 1996) 〣 Defense Acquisition Executive Certificate of Achievement presented by Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (April 2000) 〣 David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award presented by Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (June 2002). This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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Reconciling Ways of Knowing Series, Dialogue 3: "Braiding Ways of Knowing" This dialogue originally aired on Thursday, September 24 at 8:30 am Pacific / 10:30 am Central / 12:30 pm Atlantic. Known

Reconciling Ways of Knowing Series, Dialogue 3: "Braiding Ways of Knowing" This dialogue originally aired on Thursday, September 24 at 8:30 am Pacific / 10:30 am Central / 12:30 pm Atlantic. Known for her award-winning books Gathering Moss: A Natural & Cultural History of Mosses and Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants, amongst many other ways in which she has had an impact as a teacher, researcher, and writer, Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer spoke in dialogue with friend, colleague, renowned ethnobotanist and moderator Dr. Nancy Turner on the theme of Braiding Ways of Knowing. Drs. Wall Kimmerer and Turner discussed how Dr. Wall Kimmerer had concluded that Indigenous and scientific ways of knowing could be braided together in her work on the role of traditional ecological knowledge in ecological restoration and the ecology of mosses. Fellow Reconciling Ways of Knowing project founders Miles Richardson, O.C., Dr. David Suzuki, and Elder Dr. Dave Courchene, Jr. joined Dr. Turner in the dialogue with Dr. Wall Kimmerer to connect her findings and reflections from her work to the objective of the Reconciling Ways of Knowing project to facilitate pathways for building better relationships across ways of knowing and for creating better stewardship outcomes together. And finally, participants asked Dr. Wall Kimmerer or any of the project founders questions about how they can apply the considerations from the discussion on braiding ways of knowing to their work and engagement in community. More information at https://www.waysofknowingforum.ca/dialogue3 and www.turtlelodge.org

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Celebrated writer Susan Orlean visits The Commonwealth Club for the first time to discuss her new book, On Animals, a collection from her lifetime of musings, mediations and in-depth profiles about

Celebrated writer Susan Orlean visits The Commonwealth Club for the first time to discuss her new book, On Animals, a collection from her lifetime of musings, mediations and in-depth profiles about animals. Orlean, a staff writer for The New Yorker, is fresh off her last best-selling book, The Library Book, about the Los Angeles Public Library, which won numerous awards. Her new collection focuses on a range of creatures—the household pets we dote on, the animals we raise to end up as meat on our plates, the creatures who could eat us for dinner, and the various tamed and untamed animals we share our planet with that are central to human life. Since the age of six, Orlean has been fascinated by stories about animals, and her new book brings forward a lifetime of writing about cross-species connections. How humans interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets and naturalists for ages. Come hear one of America's most gifted writers discuss why she is so passionate and curious about the subject. OCTOBER 14, 2021 SPEAKERS Susan Orlean Staff Writer, The New Yorker; Author, On Animals Julia Flynn Siler Journalist; Author, The White Devil's Daughters 💯SUBSCRIBE for more VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/user/commonwealthclub 📆 UPCOMING EVENTS: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events 🎉 BECOME a MEMBER: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/membership 💰 DONATE NOW: https://support.commonwealthclub.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=298 📺➕📻 Watch & Listen https://www.commonwealthclub.org/watch-listen CWC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonwealthclub/ CWC Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cwclub/ CWC Twitter https://twitter.com/cwclub The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum 📣, bringing together its 20,000 members for more than 400 annual events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy. Founded in 1903 in San Francisco California 🌉, The Commonwealth Club has played host to a diverse and distinctive array of speakers, from Teddy Roosevelt in 1911 to Hillary Clinton in 2010. Along the way, Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton have all given landmark speeches at the Club.

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This month, Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration reported a quarter of a million Californians experiencing homelessness requested help in 2020—numbers that skyrocketed from previous estimates

This month, Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration reported a quarter of a million Californians experiencing homelessness requested help in 2020—numbers that skyrocketed from previous estimates in some Bay Area counties. The Golden State is lauded for its job opportunities and diverse population, but it’s also the state with some of the highest housing and transportation costs in the nation. Now, Californians are demanding change, and a cross-sectional group of affordable housing and homelessness advocates created Roadmap Home 2030, a definitive plan to end homelessness and create affordable homes for all over the next 10 years. Housing California, the California Housing Partnership, and dozens of experts and advocates identified 57 policy solutions to create affordable homes, protect low-income renters, end homelessness and ensure racial equity. With their detailed plan of creative solutions, coupled with dedicated leadership, this ambitious group believes a better California is doable. The wealth gap and a shortage of affordable homes in the state prohibits Californians from building healthy and fulfilling lives. With considerable energy and influence, this coalition of housing advocates are seeking to make bold, structural change to create an equitable future where everyone has a safe place to live. Join our expert panel for a conversation about equity, change and the fight to dramatically shift the landscape on affordable housing and homelessness in the Golden State. About the Speakers Ruby Bolaria-Shifrin is director of housing affordability for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). As part of CZI’s commitment to ensuring access to safe, stable and affordable housing, she works with community leaders, advocates, researchers, policymakers and investors to help more people find housing that meets their needs. As one of San Francisco’s voices in Sacramento, Assemblymember David Chiu is an outspoken advocate for housing reform and equity. He currently chairs the California State Assembly’s Committee on Housing and Community Development. With more than 20 years of leadership and work in the field, Tomiquia Moss brings expertise in the issues of housing, public policy and community development. She is the founder and chief executive of All Home, a Bay Area-focused nonprofit. Prior to All Home, Tomiquia served as chief of staff for Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and as executive director for the HOPE SF initiative under the late San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, Executive Director, Los Angeles Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LA LISC) NOTES TUE, APR 27 / 3:00 PM PDT SPEAKERS Ruby Bolaria-Shifrin Director of Housing Affordability, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative David Chiu California State Assemblymember, 17th District Zella Knight Resident Leader, Residents United Network Tomiquia Moss Founder and Chief Executive, All Home Molly Solomon Reporter for Housing Affordability, KQED Public Media—Moderator -www.commonwealthclub.org/covid19support -Subscribe for more Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/commonwealthclub -Upcoming events: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events -Become a Member: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/membership -Donate Now: https://support.commonwealthclub.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=298 -Watch & Listen https://www.commonwealthclub.org/watch-listen -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonwealthclub/ -Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cwclub/ -Twitter https://twitter.com/cwclub

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