Second Forum on Climate Linked Economics: Social Inequalities
Hosted by the AMS Washington Forum
The Forum on Climate Linked Economics is pleased to host its second session organized by the Financial Weather & Climate Risk Management Committee’s Justice Initiative and the AMS Washington Forum.
This session will explore the impacts that economic decisions can have on the weather and climate and the social justice impacts intertwined within these events. Panelists from the private sector, government, and grassroots environmental organizations will detail what Economic Justice is, why it matters to Environmental / Climate Justice, how we are reacting to adapting to and learning about this intersection, and the impacts already seen in the real world.
Tuesday, April 26th, 2022: 245pm - 4pm (Eastern US Time Zone)
Washington, DC, at the AAAS Building — 1200 New York Ave NW Washington, DC 20005 and simulcast virtually.
After a two-year virtual format, the 2022 Washington Forum is now a hybrid format, providing an opportunity for both in-person and/or remote attendance. The Forum provides a platform to examine public policy issues across the weather, water, and climate enterprise. This year’s theme is Connecting Science and Technology with Business and Public Policy and will offer a mix of keynotes and engaging session topics.
Panelists:
Noah Patton: Housing Policy Analyst for Disaster Recovery at the National Low Income Housing Coalition
Noah Patton is the Housing Policy Analyst for Disaster Recovery at the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) where he manages the NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) and advocates for federal policies that equitably address disaster mitigation needs and ensure all disaster survivors receive the assistance they need to fully recover. Noah is a resident of Baltimore, MD, where he previously worked at the Homeless Persons Representation Project, Inc. (HPRP) advocating for policies expanding public benefit programs. Noah received a JD from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2018. While in law school, Noah was heavily involved in coordinating Legal Observers of the National Lawyers Guild to protect the legal rights of Baltimore-area political protestors and served as a Kellogg’s Law Fellow at the NAACP Office of the General Counsel. Noah received his B.A. in Political Science from McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. He has been a member of the Maryland bar since 2018.
Adam Smith: Applied Climatologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information - Climate Science and Services Division
Adam Smith is an applied climatologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information - Climate Science and Services Division. He is the lead scientist for the U.S. Billion-dollar Weather and Climate Disasters program (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions). He performs research to standardize and integrate many public and private sector disaster data sources into better quality-controlled disaster cost frameworks, as research tools. This also includes the integration of socioeconomic vulnerability analysis given that weather and climate extremes cause disproportionate physical, social and economic impacts on vulnerable populations.
Smith regularly briefs the U.S. Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction on U.S. disaster costs and is a NOAA expert on U.S. disaster loss data in support of the international Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2016-2022), the National Institute of Standards and Technology National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (2018-2021), and the American Meteorological Society Committee on Financial Weather Risk Management (2015–2022).
Smith is also the U.S. representative on the new WMO expert team for ‘Cataloguing of Hazardous Weather, Water, Climate, Environmental and Space Weather Events’ (ET-CHE). The purpose of this team is to establish globally agreed standards and procedures for identifying and cataloging hazardous weather, climate, water and space weather events has hampered the routine characterization and tracking of such events and associated losses and damages.
Karyn Bigelow: Co-Executive Director at Creation Justice Ministries
Karyn is a Co-Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries. She has served as the policy advisor and project manager, as well as, policy analyst and research analyst at Bread for the World, focusing on the intersections of climate change, food security, and racial equity. She is a steering committee member of the American Baptist Churches’ Creation Justice Network and on the Leadership Committee of the Pan African Young Adult Network. She earned her Master in Divinity from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, where she sat on the Board of Directors, and her undergraduate degree in social relations and policy from Michigan State University. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Global Food Security and Nutrition focusing her studies and research on sustainability. She holds a certificate in Beekeeping.
Moderators:
Mark Papier: Principal Meteorologist at AT&T and Chair of the Second Forum on Climate Linked Economics
Mark is a Principal Meteorologist for AT&T, where he forecasts for company assets and helps to manage FirstNet ensuring first responders have communication channels after weather and climate disasters. Previously, Mark was an award-winning Storm Specialist and On-Camera Meteorologist for The Weather Channel from 2004 to 2022, and during that time was a part of the coverage of just about every type of weather phenomenon.
Mark holds a dual major undergraduate degree from Rutgers University in Meteorology and Environmental Science Physics. He then continued his studies at The Georgia Institute of Technology, completing a Master of Science in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. He is a long-standing member of the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association and has held various board and committee positions. He serves on the executive board of JCAN-GA (Jewish Climate Action Network) as their Chief Climate Officer.
Mark has been a guest speaker for many schools, organizations, and civic groups to talk about meteorology, broadcasting, and climate change. He is a frequent interviewee of NPR including for their national show, Here and Now.
While not talking weather, Mark enjoys traveling, craft beer, running, and occasionally traveling to run races that end at craft breweries.
Stephen Bennett: Co-founder and Chief Climate Officer at The Demex Group
Steve is a co-founder and Chief Climate Officer at The Demex Group. Demex built the first-of-its-kind platform for analyzing, pricing, and transferring climate-linked risks at scale. Demex embeds climate resiliency solutions into existing insurance policies, such as homeowners or business lines. API integration hyper-localizes real-time risk pricing at the property address level within customer networks. For clients with nuanced financial exposures to weather, our team of climate scientists analyzes historical costs and revenues compared to extreme weather events and produces custom-fit expense models.
Steve is a meteorologist and entrepreneur who applies the practical science of climate change to optimize business practices. His career spans 25-years in the private and public sectors ranging from The Weather Channel to UC San Diego. Steve founded his first company in 2010 with technology from the Climate Research Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Prior to that, he spent nearly 10-years applying weather and climate technology for commodity trading and insurance/reinsurance investing at Enron and, later, Citadel.
Steve has been featured in a wide variety of national and international media including CNBC, Forbes, and Reuters, among many others. Steve also contributed on-air weather commentary for The Weather Channel, Bloomberg Radio, the Associated Press Radio Network, WRKO, WTOP, WOR, and other media outlets.
What is the Forum on Climate Linked Economics?
An ongoing joint initiative across the American Meteorological Society (AMS) to create a link between the meteorology/climate communities and the broader community of economists, corporate executives, risk managers, financial planners, insurance professionals, and technology leaders.
The American Meteorological Society is uniquely situated to assemble a diverse community of scientists and practitioners who are all focused on Climate Linked Economics. This topic includes scholarly research presentations, practitioner panel discussions, keynote speakers, and small group meetings for public and private-sector leadership. The initiative targets partner organizations including the American Bar Association, the Global Association of Risk Managers, and others.