Eco Lunch & Learn On Climate Change
Bermuda College and the Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce [BEST] will host a free lecture by William Campbell on October 30 titled “Climate Realism for the 21st Century: Reckoning with Historical Experiences & Future Trajectories of Change.”
A spokesperson said, “Bermuda College and BEST present ‘Climate Realism for the 21st Century: Reckoning with Historical Experiences & Future Trajectories of Change,’ a free lecture by William Campbell.
“The community is invited to attend this very informative lecture on Thursday, October 30th to learn ways they can be a part of the solution to climate change. William will share insights into how our community is affected and what solutions already exist that can be scaled up. The lecture is the second of the 2025 Eco Lunch & Learns series for fall, presented by the Bermuda College and the Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce.
“William Campbell is a Bermudian climate adaptation specialist, insurance and reinsurance broker, and the well-known vice-chair of the Bermuda Is Love charity/community organization, where he serves as the working group lead for the right to a healthy environment. A lifelong historian possessing a bachelor’s degree in the study of war and conflict, William’s climate activism spans international, corporate, and local grassroots levels, where he advocates for holistic understanding and response to the impacts of climate change on nature and human societies.
“William has attended the numerous United Nations climate conferences, the Global Sustainable Island Summit in St Kitts & Nevis [2025] as an independent agent building networks and capacity for Bermuda’s climate adaptation efforts. He returned to Bermuda to focus his efforts on climate action in 2020 and engaged in a broad and diverse range of local development and environmental efforts.
“He has been a proud two-time Summit Host and five-time Climate Justice Track Host for the annual BUEI Youth Climate Summit.”
Mr. Campbell said, “While often overlooked or acknowledged only in passing from the relatively secure vantage point of our Atlantic island home, the myriad impacts and resultant threats of global climate change continue to be increasingly felt across the world. Acknowledged as perhaps the most significant macrotrend of the 21st century by global policymakers, economists, scientists, futurists, and diverse civil society groups, human influences on the climate and environment have historically been experienced across the Earth to diverse and differing degrees of intensity.
“Today, no corner of the globe is untouched. The incredible scale of the impacts of climate change, while sometimes difficult to clearly discern in the present, are easily explicable with a wider lens and longer-term historical context.
“How have human societies of the past recognized, responded, and been influenced by changing climatic conditions? What impacts do the changing conditions of today have on our increasingly globalized and interconnected societies? What prospects does the future hold, and what can we do to safeguard a secure future for our planet and human community?
“This ECO Lunch & Learn session seeks to provide an essential reality check on the historical, contemporary, and potential future experience of what climate change is and how it is experienced by human societies. It is today more crucial than ever to recount what has transpired to bring civilizations face-to-face with the risk of ruin and to learn from such experiences to avert further catastrophe in the 21st century.”
The spokesperson said, “This event invites attendees to engage with sometimes lesser-known but increasingly relevant historical human experiences of resilience, risk, and ruination in the face of changing environmental conditions, to recognize the present impacts and growing global response to the climate crisis, and to proactively adopt a responsive approach to effectively address one of the greatest challenges experienced by the collective human species.”
Amy Harvey, the Earth and Environmental Science Senior Lecturer at the Bermuda College, said, “Climate change is here to stay. As a small island nation, we cannot hide from it. We are seeing increasing air and sea temperatures, increasing strength and frequency of our hurricanes, increased and more intense precipitation events, as well as flooding and coastal erosion.
“It is impacting our society, economy and environment. Our focus needs to be on solutions based on resiliency that not only benefit our local community, but the global one as well. We need to build empathy into our solution-based thinking to ensure everyone is supported in the fight against climate change. This is an intersectional and intergenerational issue that will require all hands-on deck to see effective change.”
Jennifer Flood, BEST Executive Officer, said, “Bermuda is being affected in numerous ways by changes in the climate: rising sea levels, acidification of the oceans affecting marine life, increased number of storms, coastal erosion, changing rainfall patterns, and infrastructure issues. Island nations are particularly vulnerable to these changes, and especially those in our community who are already facing food and housing issues.
“Whilst a small population, overall consumption is considerably higher than international average [e.g. today it takes the average citizen of Tanzania almost a year to produce the same volume of carbon emissions as is effortlessly generated every two and a half days by a European, or every 28 hours by an American].
“Bermuda relies heavily on imported goods, so the pollution and energy costs to other countries are unseen yet very real and do affect us. How can Bermuda expect other countries to address climate change issues if we don’t? Local activists such as William Campbell and Noelle Young are working to bring awareness to us locally and internationally.
“William’s talk should help us understand the individual and collective efforts that we can take along with ensuring our government implement appropriate sustainable climate change policies.”
The spokesperson said, “Join us for this informative presentation on Thursday, October 30th from 1:00pm to 2:00pm, either in person at The Bermuda College, Athene Room H100, or streaming live online on Facebook and YouTube.
“A lively Q&A follows the presentation. Light refreshments will be served on a first come, first served basis. Please bring your own beverage.
“This lecture is kindly sponsored by Chubb.”
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Category: All, Environment
