Mountain Towns 2030, a nonprofit accelerator for mountain and outdoor communities to address climate change, has released the agenda for the 2023 MT2030 Climate Solutions Summit, Oct. 18-19 in Vail, Colo.
The Mountain Towns 2030 Climate Solutions Summit is an annual gathering of more than 400 stakeholders from 55-plus mountain communities across the United States and globally. Attendees include local government elected officials, staff and sustainability teams, ski resorts, businesses, and nonprofit leaders, all committed to accelerating a movement to zero carbon emissions.
Taking place at The Hythe Vail, the Summit will bring communities together in a collaborative environment that empowers everyone to deploy the most challenging climate solutions quicker and accelerate a collective movement to zero carbon emissions.
The Summit features inspirational keynotes and conversations with some of our nation’s foremost climate, government, business, and community leaders, combined with hands-on workshops to give communities tools and insights delivered by colleagues from peer communities.
Serving as the Summit’s emcee will be Climate Town TV’s Rollie Williams, and speakers will include former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, former Obama Administration advisor Molly Kawahata, Sun Valley Institute’s Aimée Christensen, EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker, panel conversations with the four major ski resort operators (Alterra Mountain Co., Vail Resorts, POWDR, and Boyne Resorts), Climate Mayors, Protect Our Winters and more.
The agenda includes more than 30 peer-led workshops, designed to give attendees insights into topics that include: advocacy, climate action planning, clean energy, utility partnerships, climate equity, IRA funding opportunities, biomass, and much more.
The Summit will conclude with a closing address from Washington Governor Jay Inslee, who has become known as a forward-thinking leader, especially on issues of clean energy and climate change.
Inslee co-wrote the book Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean-Energy Economy about fighting climate change through clean energy innovation and job creation. As governor, he has helped put Washington state at the forefront of climate action and is helping lead numerous subnational partnerships.
Since 2013, the state has passed nation-leading policies to transition to 100 percent clean electricity, cap carbon pollution, electrify transportation and more.
Also scheduled to address the Summit’s closing session is Patagonia’s President Jenna Johnson. Patagonia has been a long-time leader in fighting climate change.
“At Patagonia, we are committed to ditching growth for growth’s sake and using all the levers available to us to help restore and protect the Earth,” Johnson said. “The climate and ecological crises require every sector of society contributing solutions to the systemic issues that got us into this mess. In addition to cutting emissions, protecting nature and supporting communities, one of the most important things we are doing at Patagonia to address the environmental crisis is reshaping consumption habits. This starts with high-quality products, and I look forward to sharing more at this year’s summit.”
For more information and to register for the upcoming MT2030 Climate Solutions Summit, visit www.mt2030.org/summit
