On September 29 the “Climate Solidarity” conference, organised by the Lech Wałęsa Institute Foundation in cooperation with the City of Gdańsk, the European Solidarity Centre, and the Pomeranian Voivodeship Marshal’s Office, will take place in Gdańsk.

The aim of the conference is to gather multiple groups and draw public attention to the problem of global climate change which has now become one of the most fundamental challenges of the modern world. The idea of the ‘Solidarity of the 21^st Century’, developed by former President of Poland, legendary leader of ‘Solidarity’ movement, and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Lech Wałęsa, will be the main topic of the event. The climate conference is the first among the series of conferences organised by the Lech Wałęsa Institute Foundation which will concentrate on the idea of searching for new frameworks of social cooperation and values in a rapidly changing world.

The conference will encompass numerous panel discussions about good practices related to climate protection in both business and local government policy. Representatives of business, local authorities, and social organisations are among the invited guests. Delegates of the Youth Climate Strike, being the special guests of the conference, will speak about engagement of the young people in shaping climate policy as well as their, as a relatively new social movement, plans for the future.

The central point of the agenda is the discussion of President Wałęsa with the special guests from Ecuador: Manari Ushigua, leader of the Sapara tribe, and Antonella Calle, famous social activist and spokesperson of the Yasunidos movement which fights for the preservation of the Amazon jungle in Ecuador. The projection of the documentary “The Curse of Abundance” by Ewa Ewart (produced by Krupa Gallery), showing Ecuador’s initiative to cease oil extraction in exchange of financial compensation, will serve as an introduction to the discussion on the need for global climate solidarity in the light of the threat of ongoing environmental devastation.  “Open statement from Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, supporting Global Climate Strike”, signed by 18 former Nobel Prize laureates, including Lech Wałęsa, on September 20 during the Nobel Peace Summit in Mexico will be read. The statement urges for firm action to fight global climate change.

Special guests from Ecuador will meet on Monday, September 30, with the students of the High School No. 8 in Gdańsk to plant a tree together in an act of global climate solidarity.

Media partners: ONET, SmogLab

Partners: Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport, Grupa Gallery, IKEA Retail, Saule Technologies, “Clear Poland” Association, UN Global Compact Poland, WWF Poland, Polish Smog Alert, THINKTANK Institute, Centre for International Relations, Green Institute, The Innovation in Politics Institute.

Strategic partners: City of Świdnica, Tarnowo Podgórne City Hall

Agenda and graphic materials of the conference available at: www.konferencja.ilw.org.pl

Facebook event: www.facebook.com/events/560519081356929

Contact for media: Anna Komosa +48 601 717 192, e-mail: konferencja@ilw.org.pl