Victoria Serda (right), a senior mentor with the Climate Reality Leaders: Who We Are panel, moderated by former American Vice-President and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore (left) at the Climate Leadership Corps Training in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Photo supplied

Hub Staff

“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.” - Donald Trump, President of the United States/Reality TV Star, regarding pulling the United States out of the Paris climate agreement in June 2017.

Port Elgin resident Victoria Serda recently travelled to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania to again take part in a Climate Reality Project. The Climate Leadership Corps Training was held October 19 at the LEED-certified David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by the Climate Reality Project charity in collaboration with the Heinz Endowments. “Quite often there’s a number of things that make it kind of a perfect time to do something, if it’s really, really topical in the location there might be training there,” said Serda.

The now senior mentor, Serda was part of the Climate Reality Leaders: Who We Are panel which was moderated by former American Vice-President and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore. She was originally one of 20 Canadians involved in Gore’s Climate Change training held at the former VP’s hometown in Nashville, Tennessee in 2006. Since 2006 over 11,500 people from across the globe have attended the Climate Change training sessions.

Serda mentored 23 mentees representing an international crowd - from Saudi Arabia to Albania, Israel to Pakistan and Eritrea to Portugal - with a variety of career backgrounds including biotech, sustainable business, teaching, medicine, and agriculture. Serda said that 60 people who attended the event were from a United Nations initiative called Global Shapers (globalshapers.org) that has a mission of inspiring young people in being central to solution building, policy making and lasting change. “Younger people like in their late 20s, to really be able to have an impact in the world,” she said. “So they created this network of support for these people.”

Serda went on to say that the group made many connections and “were an inspiration” and added that even after years of taking part in climate change events, she still learns. “I can learn from any audience, and I can learn from any group of people I'm with,” she said.

One statistic that stands out from the most recent training is that the new greenhouse gas emissions have peaked globally, but there is a lot of work to be done to keep reducing emissions and ensure the temperature rise stays below 2 degrees to avoid catastrophic climate change. Serda said that methane gas is still a leading factor in climate change, and suggested that the most significant impact individuals can have is in their food choices. “What you have on your plate is the biggest thing that anyone can do,” Serda said, adding that by eating a more plant-based diet reduces the spread of methane produced by animals, with cows being the biggest culprits.

The Saugeen Shores Climate Change expert joked that many attendees were focused on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s hair, but said that overall Canada is seen as being “extremely progressive” when it comes to tackling Climate Change, however Serda admitted that although Canada has more aspirational goals it doesn’t have as many solid targets and programs to implement.

“The big challenge we have in Canada is having the planning to have an effective solution into reducing emissions,” she said, adding that Canada is seen as having two sides “because of the promotion of the tar sands at the same time we’re saying we’re going to meet our targets on Climate Change.”

Serda said herself and her fellow panelists including Divya Nawale from India and Pittsburgh, Donna Hope from Brooklyn, New York; and Dean Barone from Houston and the Philippines, covered topics that included: the importance of a personal story to connect with your audience; how to work through public speaking anxiety; and how to ensure diversity and inclusion.

A story Mr. Gore shared was about chains of inspiration. He used the example of his professor Roger Revelle who first measured carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Serda shared advice on dealing with mental health issues, including planning rewards and taking time away from working on the climate crisis. As well, she talked about the importance of considering the trauma audience members may have gone through when showing slides of natural disasters. She spoke about how important it is to be an ally with Indigenous communities, and - referencing the recent decision from Catherine McKenna that the Saugeen Ojibway Nation must consent to the Deep Geologic Repository - how Indigenous rights can help protect the land and water. To hear the whole panel, follow this link: step4.ca/climate-reality.

Serda grew up in Owen Sound where she started an environmental group at Owen Sound Collegiate Vocational Institute, and began public speaking about global warming. She was a municipal councillor in Saugeen Shores from 2006 to 2010, is a founding board member of SauGREEN for the Environment, a not-for-profit whose mission is to empower and mobilize Saugeen residents and visitors toward green community action, and has worked with Saugeen First Nation on a wide variety of community projects.

Please contact Serda at vic@toria.ca if you’d like her or her daughter Corrina, who is also trained, to give an updated and localized climate presentation.

Port Elgin’s Victoria Serda (front row, second from left), a senior mentor, with other Climate Reality mentors at the Climate Reality Project event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Photo supplied

Climate Leadership trainees in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Photo supplied

Victoria Serda (front row, centre), a senior mentor, with her team of mentees at the Climate Leadership Corps Training in Pennsylvania. Photo supplied

Joseph Moran passed the mic to Victoria Serda to ask table question to Dr Michael Mann, Dr Henry Pollack and Al Gore. Photo supplied