FOOD & CLIMATE

VIDEO (15 MIN)

Can Vegan Spam Change the Way Asia Eats?

David Yeung is a Hong Kong-based entrepreneur whose mission is to disrupt China’s pork industry and grow demand for sustainable food in Asia. In 2012, he launched Green Monday Group, which has been called the Beyond Meat of Asia. Yeung talks with Maya Chorengel, co-managing partner at The Rise Fund, a $5 billion global impact fund managed by TPG, about shifting mindsets and changing behavior. The Rise Fund led a $70 million funding for Green Monday Group that was announced during Climate Week — an annual summit of international leaders that takes place alongside the UN General Assembly to showcase global climate action. Aspen Ideas Now is underwritten by The Rise Fund. Watch.

NATURAL SYSTEMS & CLIMATE

REPORT

Public Lands Offer a Solution to the Climate Crisis

Did you know nearly one-third of the land mass in the US is designated as public land? Spreading far and wide, public lands offer a critical solution to the climate and extinction crises. On Saturday, the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Program, in partnership with The Wilderness Society, celebrates National Public Lands Day with the launch of the report “Public Lands, We the People: Creating a Healthy and Just Future for All.” Learn how public lands are a natural tool to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, halt biodiversity loss, improve community health and wellbeing, create new sustainable economic opportunities, and enhance the resilience of natural systems. Find out more.

WATER & ACCESS

ARTICLE (7 MIN. READ)

Water: The Giver and Sustainer of Life

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit tribal reservations in the United States especially hard, in part, because of a lack of access to clean water. While the pandemic is providing new urgency to the problem, this inequity has a long history. Tribes have historically been left out of major water management decisions in the West which has had tremendous human and financial costs, especially as climate change reduces available water supplies. “The tribes’ development of water rights is really about providing water to their people,” says Daryl Vigil, a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation. Read more from Moira Mcdonald, director of the environment program at the Walton Family Foundation. Aspen Ideas Now is underwritten by the Walton Family Foundation

IN MEMORIAM

PODCAST (60 MIN)

Celebrating Ruth Bader Ginsburg

As the nation mourns the loss of a transformative leader, we elevate this conversation with her from our archives. The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second female justice confirmed to the US Supreme Court, told an Aspen Institute crowd in 2017 that her experiences as a woman gave her a unique perspective on the Court. She talked about her relationships with Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and the late Antonin Scalia. She also explained what it was like to work with newly-elected Justice Neil Gorsuch. Her discussion with Elliot Gerson, an executive vice president at the Aspen Institute, also touches on her book My Own Words. 

More than Ready

September 30

How can women of color best forge their professional journeys and break ground in different fields? Cecilia Muñoz — the first Latinx woman to lead the White House Domestic Policy Council and the most senior Latinx woman in President Obama’s administration — offers practical tools in her book, More than Ready: Be Strong and Be You...and Other Lessons for Women of Color on the Rise.Register.

Holding the Line

September 30

Crafted from interviews with New York City medical first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic, “The Line” cuts through the media and political noise to reveal the lived experiences of frontline medical workers. Creators Jessica Blank and Eric Jensen discuss the docu-play as part of the Institute’s discussion series, Conversations with Great Leaders in Memory of Preston Robert Tisch. The series features inspiring and innovative leaders working to improve their communities and the world. Register.