THE SCHWARZENEGGER CLIMATE INITIATIVE
focuses on:
- building awareness of the climate crisis and the urgent need for action every day and once a year at our AUSTRIAN WORLD SUMMIT (AWS). The AWS, entering its fifth year, has become one of the largest environmental gatherings in the world and provides a platform for highlighting concrete solutions and measures from global decision-makers committed to preserving a healthy planet and decarbonizing the economy by 2050.
- presenting workable solutions from all over the world and connecting these ideas to available technical and financial resources.
- supporting best in class climate protection projects from all over the world.
- serving as a "matchmaker" - we connect players from business, finance, NGOs and local & national governments committed to collaborating on sustainable projects.
Please find here information about our annual AWS: program draft, preliminary list of speakers, partners, etc.
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We talk to real Climate Action Heros, who are role models and inspire more and more people to become enthusiastic about active climate protection.
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Showcasing successful best practice projects for climate protection and sustainable development from all around the globe
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Latest News
February 4, 2021
Joe Biden’s Climate Action Team
The new US president Joe Biden moved fast on climate change policies as soon as he took office: first he initiated the United States' re-entry into the Paris Climate Agreement, then he signed a climate-related executive order suspending new oil and gas leases on public lands, directed federal agencies to purchase electric cars by the thousands and is seeking to end fossil-fuel subsidies. He announced that climate change will be at the centre of his national security and foreign policy. President Biden clearly showed that he does not want to lose any more time and is also prepared to spend a lot of money on fighting the climate crisis. His team for this enormous task is top of the class. But see for yourself:
John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate: This position was created specifically for the former Secretary of State and places John Kerry at the heart of the Biden Administration's environmental, national security and diplomatic efforts. Kerry has a seat on the National Security Council and will have wide latitude to shape and promote President Biden’s climate response.
Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior:
Haaland was a member of the House of Representatives on the Committee on Natural Resources. Her position is central to implementing the new goal of protecting 30% of America's land and oceans by 2030.
Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy:
The introduction and development of renewable energy and storage technologies will be at the heart of Granholm's energy ministry. She describes herself as a "clean energy advocate".
Gina McCarthy, national climate advisor: President Biden created the new White House Office of Climate Policy and placed President Obama’s former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy at the helm of the new office. McCarthy is known for her straight talk and considerable experience as an environmental regulator. McCarthy will work quickly to reinstate many of the Obama-era climate policies and executive orders that the Trump Administration dismantled.
Michael Regan, EPA Administrator: Michael Regan was a surprise pick for the job but was elevated to the position because of his success leading the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and his strong track record championing environmental justice issues. He will be heavily focused on bring equity and fairness to the to the EPA's regulatory efforts.
Liane Randolph, Chair, California Air Resource Board: Randolph is not a member of the White House’s climate team but holds one of the United State’s leading environmental regulatory positions. The California Air Resources board is considered by most people to be the second most important environmental regulator in America and often pushes the federal government to be more ambitious in setting environmental quality standards. Randolph, new to the role, is expected to prioritize environmental justice and equity.
Brenda Mallory, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality-CEQ.
Mallory, an environmental lawyer, will play an important role in implementing environmental and climate law. Under the Biden administration, the CEQ could act as a brake on environmentally damaging projects, such as pipeline construction.
February 1, 2021
Bosco Children Center in Ethiopia
An aid project in Ethiopia by "Jugend Eine Welt" is making a sustainable impact: At the Bosco Children Center near the capital Addis Ababa, former street children are given a new perspective. They are not only given emotional support and social care, but - depending on their age – receive regular school lessons or vocational training. The Bosco Children Center relies primarily on sustainable, future-oriented areas and technologies. There are courses and training courses on local vegetable and food production as well as on renewable and decentralized energy supply. The number of street children in Ethiopia has increased significantly over the past twenty years. An estimated 17,000 children live unaccompanied in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The Bosco Children Center not only cares for the future of these children and adolescents, but also lays an important foundation for the future of Ethiopia and thus contributes to a "green recovery" from the difficult situation in this African country, which has worsened by the corona crisis. The actions create an efficient system of rehabilitation and social reintegration. The project has particularly impressed the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative, which is why we will continue supporting it.
January 7, 2021
Arnold Schwarzenegger on why Republicans must stop Trump
It is time to end the president’s “stupid, crazy and evil” ploy to cling to power, says the former governor of California
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was my first love. I fell for this country long before I was lucky enough to live here. From the moment I was exposed to my first images of skyscrapers, huge bridges, Cadillacs, beaches and Hollywood in grade school, I felt that I belonged here.
And as I learned more about the founding of America, about the vision of the founding fathers, about this land of opportunity, I fell deeper and deeper under its spell. By the time I was lucky enough to move here more than 50 years ago, I was obsessed.
Today, I’m deeply concerned for my country. As an immigrant, as an American and as a Republican, it is my duty to speak up.
I grew up in the ruins of a country that gave up on democracy and faced the consequences. You may think I’m being overly sensitive about this—but when you’ve lived through the aftermath as I did, trust me, you worry.
When I was born in 1947, two years after the second world war ended, Austria was in the middle of a famine. Growing up, I was surrounded by broken men drinking away their guilt over their participation in the most evil regime in history. They were part of a system that murdered 6m Jews along with at least 5m other innocent people, tortured and experimented on human beings and started a war that caused 75m deaths. Not all of them were rabid anti-Semites or Nazis. Many just went along step by step down the road toward greater and greater evil because it was the easiest path.
I don’t believe America is capable of those depths of evil, but I do believe we should remember the dire consequences that choosing selfishness and cynicism over service and hope can have. I want to be sure that we don’t take those fateful steps.
President Donald Trump’s actions to destroy faith in our elections and throw centuries of American principles out the window must be met with universal condemnation from all political leaders, regardless of party.
Claims of mass voter fraud have been rejected by court after court (59 cases were thrown out of courts including the Supreme Court), by the Department of Justice and by state election officials from both parties. There is no question about who won the presidential election and continuing this charade is stupid, crazy and evil.
President Trump’s request in a leaked phone recording to Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to “find 11,780 votes” is a low point in American history. If I hadn’t already given Mr Raffensperger a Democracy Action Hero award last month—which my institute at the University of Southern California hands out to recognise officials who protect American values—I’d be scrambling to honour him now. He is a true hero for standing up to this un-American bullshit.
On January 6th, when electoral-college votes are counted, leaders in Washington, DC will be faced with a choice. I once did a Terminator film called “Judgment Day”. That’s just Hollywood. But January 6th is Judgment Day for a lot of politicians. Will they choose to side with the voters, or will they choose to side with their party and their selfish president?
For those in my party considering standing up against the voters on January 6th, know this: our grandchildren will know your names only as the villains who fought against the great American experiment and the will of the voters. You will live in infamy.
John F. Kennedy wrote one of my favourite books that helped lead me in my own public service, “Profiles in Courage”. If our politicians go down this road and ignore the voters, we will need a sequel to that book called “Profiles in Cowardice”, about the leaders who chose party over country, conspiracy over democracy, and one man over 81m voters.
When George Washington left office, he wrote a farewell address that echoes through history to us today. As our only independent president, he specifically warned about the danger of political parties. Today, he sounds like someone who travelled through time (though I thought that was my thing):
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”
It is time for the members of my party to step back from the partisan battlefield and accept the results of the election. We must never put our party above the great American experiment. We must never forget that we are Americans first. We must never forget that any power our politicians have comes from the voters, and they have spoken.
God bless this country and every American brave enough to stand up for it. God help those of you willing to throw it all away.