The 2024 Sun Valley Forum
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 2, 2024
Contact: Aimée Christensen, Founder & CEO
Christensen Global & Host, Sun Valley Forum
208-721-8619, aimee@christensenglobal.com
Pamela Wellner, Strategic Communications Director, Christensen Global
415-730-0105, pamela@christensenglobal.com
Announcing the 2024 Sun Valley Forum
Restoring Harmony With Nature
Global Leaders and Innovators to Gather for the Ninth Sun Valley Forum
July 15-18, 2024
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2024 KEELING CURVE PRIZE AT CEREMONY TO BE HELD AT THE SUN VALLEY FORUM
Keynote Speakers currently include:
Dr. Sylvia Earle, renowned marine biologist, oceanographer, author, and National Geographic Explorer
Jenna Johnson, President of Patagonia, Inc
Shannon Wheeler, Chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee
KETCHUM, IDAHO, April 2, 2024 — The ninth annual Sun Valley Forum, “Restoring Harmony With Nature,” will be held from July 15 to July 18, 2024 at the Argyros Performing Arts Center in Ketchum, Idaho. The Forum is hosted by Ketchum-based global sustainability advisory firm Christensen Global, with partners including the Forum’s founding host, Sun Valley Institute for Resilience, which advances resilience in Idaho’s Wood River Valley.
Each year, the Sun Valley Forum advances transformative solutions to restore planetary health and resilience in the face of unprecedented change by convening global leaders and innovators from business, government, philanthropy, finance, Indigenous Peoples, entrepreneurs, and storytellers. Participants have been informed and inspired by past speakers, including U.S. Senator Cory A. Booker, Polar Explorer Robert Swan (OBE) and Jean Oelwang, CEO of Virgin Unite. Known as a gathering where action is accelerated and new partnerships are sparked, the Forum has a legacy of impact.
The 2024 keynote speakers include Dr. Sylvia Earle, President and Chairman of Mission Blue and a National Geographic Society Explorer In Residence, and a celebrated oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer. Jenna Johnson, President of Patagonia, Inc., and Shannon Wheeler, Chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee. Other featured speakers include Mary Nichols, former Chair of the California Air Resources Board; Nathalie Kelley, actress and Re:Wild Ambassador; Amy Mattias, Executive Director, Sun Valley Institute for Resilience; Stephen Markley, author of The Deluge; and Henk Rogers, President of the Tetris Company and Founder of the Blue Planet Alliance, among others. (List of confirmed speakers to date).
The 2024 Forum will spotlight the climate solutions that protect and restore natural ecosystems. According to the UN Environment Program and International Union for Conservation of Nature, the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems like forests, grasslands, wetlands, and oceans could potentially remove at least ten gigatons of CO2, or the equivalent of emissions from 2,570 coal-fired power plants per year by 2050. Critically, our natural systems regulate our climate and provide sustenance, shelter, medicines, inspiration, and protection from our changing climate.
“2023 was again the hottest year on record - by a staggering amount. To protect all life on our unique planet, we must speed up the phase-out of coal, oil and gas production and transform our food systems while rapidly ramping up resilience. It’s clear that one of the most effective climate mitigation and resilience solutions is nature, and our stewardship of nature is best informed by Indigenous Peoples who have for millennia stewarded nature to the benefit of us all,” said Aimée Christensen, Sun Valley Forum founder and curator.
This year’s Forum will host the 2024 Keeling Curve Prize awards ceremony on July 15. An initiative of the Global Warming Mitigation Project (GWMP), the annual Keeling Curve Prize recognizes ten outstanding climate initiatives worldwide in categories such as carbon sinks, energy, finance, social and cultural pathways, and transport and mobility. The ten winners are each awarded a $50,000 prize for their exceptional ability to reduce, remove, or replace greenhouse gas emissions. This year's 20 finalists will be announced at an exclusive event during San Francisco Climate Week on April 25th. Winners and finalists gain access to GWMP’s interconnected programs for funding, capacity building, and visibility support, helping global changemakers scale their science-based solutions to decarbonize the planet. ”We’re thrilled to announce the winners at the Forum because of our shared DNA of innovation and impact by elevating proven climate solutions across all sectors globally,” said Jacquelyn Francis, Founder and Executive Director of the Global Warming Mitigation Project.
The 2024 Sun Valley Forum’s keynote speakers are known for their deep commitment to protecting ecological systems and advancing social impact. Dr. Sylvia Earle, called “Her Deepness” by the New Yorker and the New York Times, “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, and “First Hero for the Planet” by Time Magazine. Dr. Earle holds the record for the deepest untethered dive. She was the first woman Chief Scientist of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 1970, Dr. Earle led the first all-female research expedition, Tektite II, living and studying marine habitat fifty feet below the surface for two weeks. She is now the President and Chairman of the Mission Blue/Sylvia Earle Alliance, an ocean advocacy group that has scientifically identified a global network of “Hope Spots” critical to the health of the ocean.
Jenna Johnson is the president of Patagonia, Inc., where she oversees product and storytelling. The company is a pioneer in responsible business, the first California company to sign up for B Corp certification (in 2012), and in 2022, it adopted a novel business structure that locks in the company’s values and commits all money not reinvested in the company in protecting our planet. Grounded in sport and business, Jenna and Patagonia have been instrumental in broadening the coalition of advocates necessary to protect wild places worldwide.
Chairman Shannon Wheeler has served on the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) Tribal Executive Committee, the Tribe's governing body, since 2016. Under his leadership, the Tribe has made land purchases in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon—areas within the original territory of the Nez Perce people. He is firmly committed to safeguarding natural resources and has championed various initiatives to sustain and protect these vital lifelines. In support of Nez Perce traditional livelihoods and cultural heritage, Chairman Wheeler is dedicated to reviving the Snake River ecosystem and the thriving populations of salmon and steelhead, a story beautifully told in the film Covenant of the Salmon People, for which he served as an executive producer.
“We’re incredibly honored and excited to learn from leaders like Sylvia, Jenna and Shannon, who are forging systemic solutions for long-term results. We look forward to working together to accelerate, scale, and sustain deep greenhouse gas reductions and restoration of nature with guidance from Indigenous leaders to build resilience in the face of our changing climate,” said Aimée Christensen.
QUOTES FROM KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Dr. Sylvia Earle, President and Chairman of Mission Blue
"We must embrace the profound wisdom of nature and Indigenous Peoples and its boundless potential to restore our planet's health. Together, at the Sun Valley Forum, we have an opportunity to chart a course towards harmony with the ocean, land, and all living beings," said Dr. Sylvia Earle.
Jenna Johnson, President of Patagonia, Inc
“I’m looking forward to being part of the Sun Valley Forum and collaborating with other leaders to navigate our path to a better future where profitability and purpose converge, ensuring a legacy of environmental stewardship and social impact for a thriving future for all," said Jenna Johnson, President of Patagonia Inc.
Shannon Wheeler, Chairman, Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee
“As we face climate change's ecological repercussions, we must accelerate and prioritize deeply rooted Indigenous-led, nature-based solutions. Our stewardship offers critical insights into safeguarding our ecosystems for the benefit of all. The Sun Valley Forum provides an opportunity to work together to advance Indigenous rights and knowledge that can restore harmony with nature and help secure a sustainable future for generations to come,” said Shannon Wheeler, Chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee
PARTNERS
Sun Valley Forum partners are climate solutions leaders who make the event possible with their financial support and collaborate with the Forum on program strategy. The 2024 Forum partners to date are Blue Planet, Nia Capital, Equilibrium Capital, Resilient Earth Capital, Stand.Earth, Global Warming Mitigation Project, Woodwell Climate Research Center & Forum host, Christensen Global.
Sun Valley Forum details and registration (for in-person paid attendance or the free live broadcast) are available at https://www.sunvalleyforum.com/forum-2024. Media registration is also available; contact pamela@christensenglobal.com.
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ABOUT THE SUN VALLEY FORUM
In the wake of fires, drought, power outages and snowfall changes, in 2015 Aimée Christensen founded the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience to build community resilience locally and globally. The Institute hosted the first Sun Valley Forum on Resilience that same year with keynote speaker U.S. Senator Cory A. Booker and gathering global leaders across industry and innovation, finance and government, advocacy and the arts, to share strategies and spark connections to accelerate resilience. Since its first year, the Forum has inspired, informed, and catalyzed multiple major projects and investments accelerating resilience, including right in our home community, next door in Washington state, and as far away as Fiji!
ABOUT CHRISTENSEN GLOBAL
Christensen Global is a sustainability advisory firm developing, accelerating, and scaling solutions for impact. At this time of urgency and opportunity due to our changing climate, our mission is to achieve collective well-being by building a just, resilient, and thriving world inspired by a vision and grounded by values built from grounded expertise, inspired by nature, leveraging the strength of the story, building community and expanding empowerment. Christensen Global clients have included sustainability leaders and innovators, including Duke Energy, the Global Ocean Commission, Microsoft, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, United Nations Development Program, United Nations Foundation, and the Virgin Group.
ABOUT THE KEELING CURVE PRIZE
The Keeling Curve Prize awards $500,000 annually to projects that display proven carbon uptake, drawdown, or sequestration efforts. The prize is a program of the Global Warming Mitigation Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is identifying, activating, and accelerating projects and programs worldwide that are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon uptake. This includes direct funding of vetted organizations, enhancing networking and promotional efforts, identifying ways to unleash funding opportunities for climate solutions, and supporting climate justice.