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¹ Videos of all solution sessions are available at https://www.nobelprize.org/our-planet-our-future-day-three.

ROOTS OF CHANGE: EMPATHY AS A COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

Hosted by DICCE, GenZ Girl Gang, and ProjectLets

9:30–11:30 am EDT

We are in an empathy crisis. In a world defined by political ideology, race, and economic status, there seem to be more that divides us than unites us. And this polarization creates barriers, both for mutual understanding and societal problem-solving. Citigroup estimates that the U.S. economy has lost $16 trillion from racism against African Americans over the past 20 years. The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), a measure of well-being, has been stagnant. To move forward, we must acknowledge our collective responsibility in addressing the empathy crisis. In this discussion, we explored the scientific impact of empathy and how we can embed empathy into our science, systems, and individual lives. We heard from leading cognitive behavioral scientists on the sociobiological basis of empathy and from incredible thought leaders and psychologists on how to ground ourselves in revolutionary empathy. In this youth-led session, we explored new ways of measuring social progress and helped explore our own empathy and active listening through some fun speed-friending activities!

Moderators:

Phoebe Omonira, Director of Community Outreach, GenZ Girl Gang

Lyne Odhiambo

Zoë Jenkins, Founder, DICCE

Speakers

Julie Fratantoni, Head of Operations, The BrainHealth Project, Center for BrainHealth, University of Texas at Dallas

Gary A. Hoover, Executive Director of the Murphy Institute and Professor of Economics, Tulane University

OUR PLANET: FROM HUMAN IMPACT TO CLIMATE ACTION AND SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS

Hosted by Embassy of Sweden in the United States

10:00–11:30 am EDT

The human impact on nature is undeniable. The never-ending demand for limited natural resources leaves lasting effects on the environment and risks the loss of biological diversity. With a foundation in science, industry is a vital part of the solution by creating efficient resource utilization aiming to reduce the negative impact on the environment. What does science tell us about the human impact on nature and loss of biodiversity? How can science contribute to industries’ ongoing sustainability efforts? How do companies incorporate science in developing strategies and plans for a smaller environmental footprint? How can science and industry inspire and innovate sustainable solutions? This event addressed these issues with a foundation in the findings from the Nobel Prize Summit and in collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.

Speakers:

H. E. Karin Olofsdotter, Ambassador of Sweden to the United States Johan Rockström, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Carl Folke (NAS), Director, Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics and Chair, Stockholm Resilience Centre

Cristian Samper, President and CEO, Wildlife Conservation Society

Emma Nehrenheim, Chief Environmental Officer, Northvolt

Florian Schattenmann, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President for Innovation and Research and Development, Cargill

Tuula Teeri, President, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences

Gayle Schueller, Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, 3M

Theodor Swedjemark, Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer, ABB

Heather Johnson, Vice President for Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility, Ericsson

Lena Hök, Senior Vice President for Sustainability, Skanska Group

Anna Sjöström-Douagi, Program Director, Nobel Prize Summit

THE FUTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION

Hosted by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

10:00–11:30 am EDT

This event highlighted the findings and recommendations from the recent National Academies’reportStrengtheningSustainabilityProgramsandCurriculaattheUndergraduate and Graduate Levels (2020) with a focus on the future of sustainability education. The report provides expert insights for strengthening the emerging discipline of sustainability in higher education in the United States. Presentations and facilitated discussion examined the role of universities in achieving the SDGs, digital learning opportunities and student engagement, and the critical need to build a K-12 pipeline to higher education.

Moderators:

Arun Agrawal (NAS), Samuel Trask Dana Professor, School for the Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan

Vaughan Turekian, Executive Director, Policy and Global Affairs, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Speakers:

Marcia McNutt (NAS/NAE), President, National Academy of Sciences

Marilu Hastings, Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer, Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Anne Kapuscinski, Director, Coastal Science and Policy Program, University of California, Santa Cruz

Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

Ellen Stofan, Under Secretary for Science and Research, Smithsonian Institution

Dan Higgins, Global Technology Consulting Leader, Ernst & Young Global Ltd.

Sajitha Bashir, Adviser, Office of the Global Director, Education Practice, The World Bank

Jeffrey Sachs (NAM), President, Sustainable Development Solutions Network

Zohra Yermeche, Program Director, Connect to Learn, Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility, Ericsson

Sir Richard Roberts, Chief Scientific Officer, New England BioLabs, Inc. (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1993)

STARTUP SOLUTIONS: HOW SOCIAL ENTERPRISES ARE ADDRESSING 21ST CENTURY CHALLENGES

Hosted by Halcyon and S&R Foundation

10:00–11:00 am EDT

Startups provide the most nimble, adaptive, and fast-paced business solutions to many of the most pressing 21st century environmental and sustainability challenges. In concert with governments, large industry, and engaged leadership, social enterprises have a critical role to play. This event featured three remarkable social enterprise founders who have integrated both profit and purpose into their business models to maximize their impact. Learn the story behind some of the most innovative social ventures in the world and how these enterprises will help to create a brighter future for humans and our planet.

Moderator:

Joshua Mandell, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Halcyon

Speakers:

Svanika Balasubramanian, CEO, rePurpose Global

Sam Teicher, CEO, Coral Vita

Phil Wong, CEO, Misfit Foods

Sandhya Murali, COO, Solstice

FROM RESULTS IN THE LAB TO RESULTS ON THE GROUND

Hosted by Global Solutions Summit

11:00 am–12:30 pm EDT

How can we ensure that cutting-edge scientific results enhance sustainability and lead to concrete improvements in peoples’ lives? To accomplish these objectives, scientific knowledge has to be embedded in products and organizations that meet three criteria: (1) financial, operational, and environmental sustainability; (2) accessibility to the billions of people at the lower/lowest strata of the income pyramid rather than serving only the economic elites; and (3) deployed at scale to improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people in dozens of countries in thousands of communities around the world. The panelists explained that this daunting task is eminently worth pursuing, but it will require some changes to business-as-usual procedures in the scientific community and elsewhere.

Moderator:

Alfred Watkins, Chairman, Global Solutions Summit

Speakers:

Theresa Kotanchek, CEO, Evolved Analytics

Ramesh Mashelkar (NAS/NAE), Former Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Former President of Indian National Science Academy

Maurizio Vecchione, Co-Founder of AdAstral and President and CEO of Washington Global Health Alliance

ONLINE DISINFORMATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Hosted by National Academies Committee on Human Rights

11:30–12:30 pm EDT

This fireside chat examined the role of digital disinformation and media manipulation in entrenching societal inequalities, driving polarization, and eroding public trust. The panelists discussed possible human rights-based approaches to countering disinformation online.

Moderator:

Sam Gregory, Program Director, WITNESS

Speakers:

Safiya Noble, Associate Professor, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Co-Founder and Co-Director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2)

Kate Starbird, Associate Professor, Human Centered Design & Engineering, University of Washington

SMART CITIES AND NEW GREEN SOLUTIONS

Hosted by Embassy of Italy in the United States

12:00–1:15 pm EDT

Inspired by the motto of the G20 Italian Presidency in 2021, “People, Planet, Prosperity,” and on the triple special occasion of the 160th anniversary of Italy-U.S. diplomatic relations, the Italian co-presidency of COP26, and the Italian Research Day in the World, the Embassy of Italy to the U.S. organizes, in collaboration with the National Academy of Sciences, a high-visibility event on April 28. The theme was Urban Sustainability, with a panel of topnotch experts from both sides of the Atlantic, to discuss the global challenge of developing smart, people-oriented and resilient cities that could improve the long-term health of the planet’s human and ecological systems.

Moderator:

Alexander Kaufman, Huffington Post

Speakers:

Marcia McNutt (NAS/NAE), President, National Academy of Sciences

Armando Varricchio, Ambassador of Italy to the United States

Maria Cristina Messa, Minister of Universities and Research, Italy

Stanley Whittingham (NAE), Director, NorthEast Center for Chemical Energy Storage and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Binghamton University (State University of New York) (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019)

Chris Greer, Senior Executive for Cyber-Physical Systems, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce

Debra Lam, Managing Director for Smart Cities and Inclusive Innovation, Institute for People and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology

Carlo Ratti, Director of Senseable City Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli, Professor of Physical Oceanography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A CALL FOR AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON THE INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT

Hosted by PeaceTech Lab

12:00–1:30 pm EDT

In response to the existential threat posed by the proliferation of false information across online and offline media, leadership at PeaceTech Lab proposes the consideration of the formation of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) equivalent—the Intergovernmental Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE)—to analyze the global information environment in order to provide governments with recommendations, based on science, for arriving at objective, transparent standards for a healthy global information environment and the actions needed to achieve it. With expert voices and thought leaders, this panel explored the practicalities and importance of creating an IPIE in our immediate future.

Moderator:

Sheldon Himelfarb, President and CEO, PeaceTech Lab

Speakers:

Vint Cerf (NAS/NAE), Internet Pioneer and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google

Phil Howard, Director, Oxford Internet Institute

Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development, Oxford University

Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Prize laureate, journalist and human rights activist

Katherine Maher, Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation and Wikipedia

CRITICAL PATHWAY: IMPLEMENTING COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN MODELS FOR PEOPLE AND PLANET

Hosted by The Peace Department

12:00–1:30 pm EDT

This session included as a series of talks shedding light on the challenges we face globally, and the solutions the economic, political, and social sectors can bring to a collaborative effort. Our partners joined us in sharing the roles they play in the global development framework, and from this we focused our discussion on establishing a potential working relationship toward executing the SDG critical pathway: a pathway that includes using sustainably focused research and scientific theory to craft deployable solutions, aligning philanthropic and investment efforts to build new markets, and integrating new local and international policies that seed and cultivate sustainable change. By addressing coordination shortfalls and bringing together experts in global economic systems, carbon emissions research, sustainable climate policy, and international development, the session tackled the challenge and promise of putting innovation and capital to work. Through this panel’s collaborations, we began to bridge the gap between intention and action to accelerate progress on the dual global crises of climate change and systemic inequality.

Speakers:

James Sternlicht, Co-Founder, The Peace Department

Bobby Kia, Co-Founder, The Peace Department

Pierre Ferrari, CEO, Heifer International

Martin Wainstein, Founder and Executive Director, Open Earth Foundation

Zoe Knight, Group Head, Centre for Sustainable Finance, HSBC

William Sonneborn, Senior Director of Technologies and Funds, International Finance Corporation

Aude de Montesquiou, Senior Advisor, Strategy and Digital Innovations, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development

Richard Zimmerman, Partner, WE Family Offices

The Honorable Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, and Founder of Realizing Rights and Climate Justice

ACTING TODAY FOR AN AMBITIOUS TOMORROW

Hosted by 3M

12:00–1:00 pm EDT

Corporations play a crucial role in advancing the health of our planet, protecting its natural resources, and building a better future for its people—and stakeholders increasingly expect them to do so. Addressing our shared global challenges will require more ambitious commitments, action grounded in data, and broader cross-sector collaboration. Through the exchange of insights and ideas, this Solution Session detailed how corporate commitments are driving positive changes, the best approaches for leveraging technology and learning from data, and the crucial role of unified action in driving us toward a brighter future.

Speakers:

Gayle Schueller, Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, 3M

John Banovetz, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer and Environmental Responsibility, 3M

Peter Lacy, Chief Responsibility Officer and Global Sustainability Services Lead, Accenture

Chris Coulter, Chief Executive Officer, GlobeScan

THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COLLABORATION

Hosted by the National Academies and Arizona State University

1:00–2:00 pm EDT

The pandemic has made the achievement of the SDGs more challenging, with increasing concerns about supply chain disruption, environmental degradation, and persistent inequalities. As the international community slowly adapts to a new normal, the pace of global policy discussions should accelerate to deliver much-needed change. This session highlighted the importance of international collaboration for achieving the SDGs with a timeline of 2030. Presentations and facilitated discussions focused on the role of science, technology, and innovation in support of more effective policies and actions toward sustainability; advancing awareness of the SDGs with a particular focus on the youth, civil society, and the new U.S. administration; and research agendas related to sustainability and the SDGs to inform post-2030 processes.

Moderators:

Andrew Steer, President and CEO, Bezos Earth Fund

Amanda Ellis, Director, Global Partnerships, Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University

Speakers:

Tateo Arimoto, Principal Fellow, Japan Science and Technology Agency and Visiting Professor and Deputy Director, Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Research Center, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)

Daya Reddy, President, International Science Council and South African Research Chair in Computational Mechanics, University of Cape Town

Peter Schlosser, Vice President and Vice Provost, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University

Ada Yonath (NAS), Director, The Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly, Weizmann Institute of Science (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009)