Stories

UBC understands that the actions we take today will affect human and environmental wellbeing for generations to come.

The stories below provide a window into the broad range of climate emergency-related activities underway by UBC academic units, operational departments, community initiatives, and student groups. UBC invites you to explore what’s happening, and join us in this vital work.

Featured Stories

Climate Emergency Fund Recipients Share Back

Sustainability Ambassadors Program

Join us in this interview with Jack Suchodolski and Kshamta Hunter to learn more about the Sustainability Ambassador’s Program, how the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF) has helped the program grow, and hear advice from Jack on getting involved in sustainability leadership. 

Climate Justice UBC

Join us in this Q and A with Michelle Xie and Yasmina Seifeddine from CJUBC, as they discuss CJUBC’s demands for UBC to follow up on their fossil fuel divestment commitments, how the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF) has supported CJUBC’s work and values, and the deeper message behind the recent release of the CJUBC CEF Grant Report.  

All Stories

Bodhi Patil: Reflections on COP29 by UBC student and member of Wisdom Keepers Delegation

Dec 03, 2024

In addition to UBC’s open competition for badges to the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, a number of determined students and faculty successfully pursued other opportunities to influence these high-stakes global negotiations. The article below represents the voice and opinions of one such delegate – Bodhi Patil […]

Sustainability Ambassadors take climate action outreach to Science World

Nov 12, 2024

Public outreach is key to ensuring people are informed on local climate issues, initiatives, and solutions. The UBC Sustainability Hub, in partnership with the City of Vancouver, is putting passionate, well-informed sustainability ambassadors in public spaces to help educate and inform residents at a special ‘climate literacy booth’. With B.C. experiencing more intense summers, harsher […]

Meet the on-site UBC delegates attending COP29

Nov 08, 2024

“My work aims to create more accessible, community-centered dialogue that prioritizes the needs of folks most at risk during the climate and nature emergency,” Aida Mohajeri. Words by Amy Leung Four UBC COP29 delegates will be heading to Baku, Azerbaijan, this November to tackle climate change issues. Discover the experiences of our delegates as we […]

Climate Emergency Week Microgrants — now open for application!

Oct 16, 2024

UBC’s annual Climate Emergency Week seeks to convene and energize communities of climate justice. Now microgrants are available for student organizers to plan and deliver events and activities during the next Climate Emergency Week, taking place February 10-14, 2025. This year, the Sustainability Hub is offering TEN $250 microgrants to student organizers to reducebarriers to […]

The Downtown Eastside Talks Climate with UBC’s CLEAR Project

Sep 06, 2024

Over the last year, the Climate Equity Action and Resilience (CLEAR) project initiated by UBC sought input from residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) on how climate change affects their lives. Residents have participated in various activities at climate booths at Working Gear’s clothing and equipment exchange pop-ups in Oppenheimer Park.Thanks to the residents for […]

Climate Emergency Fund: Global and Campus Impact

Jan 30, 2024

The Climate Emergency Fund (CEF) is a one-time, $1.5 million fund for UBC Vancouver faculty and staff-led programs that mobilize and cultivate learning, research, and community engagement efforts in climate action by students. Friday, January 19, 2024 – 15:27 The Climate Emergency Fund emerged through advocacy from the student-led UBC Climate Hub and close collaboration with elected […]

Climate Emergency Fund: Public Scholar Maya Daurio’s Community-Centred Wildfire Resilience Research

Nov 07, 2023

Maya Daurio, an anthropology PhD candidate participating in the Public Scholars Initiative at UBC, is in a unique position as both a researcher and a resident in her local community. Maya's participatory research to explore the impacts of the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire in Colorado, supported by the UBC Climate Emergency Fund, is engaging and highlighting local residents' experiences of disasters as a way to facilitate a broader reckoning with the uncertain future of a warming climate.

Extreme heat, extreme inequality: Addressing climate justice in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

Oct 11, 2023

Published: September 27, 2023 5.23pm EDT The hottest summer ever recorded in the northern hemisphere is a stark reminder of the immediacy of the climate crisis. And the hardest hit by climate impacts, such as residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, are often those with the least capacity to adapt. People who live in this community are exposed to […]

RESEARCH TO ACTION: ADVANCING URBAN SUSTAINABILITY 2023

Sep 14, 2023

Presented by the UBC Sustainability Scholars Program: A conference on urban sustainability research What happens when you give bright and engaged students real-world sustainability problems to solve? UBC Sustainability Scholars are helping to generate real change in the world. Join us to learn more about what our local governments, institutions and NGOs are doing to […]

How to Stay Cool in Extreme Heat: Tips & Strategies

May 17, 2023

Extreme heat events are on the rise due to climate change driven by fossil fuels and interconnected systems of colonialism, racism, capitalism and neoliberalism. Though deeper systemic change is needed to prevent heatwaves from magnifying and causing disproportionate community harms, at the Climate Hub, we also understand that amplifying knowledge, tangible strategies and coping mechanisms […]