On July 17, 2019, CEOs and industry leaders from over 150 corporations will gather atop Salesforce Tower on the “Ohana” Floor, to focus on the vision for a Climate Resilience and Ocean Conservation Living Museum being proposed in San Francisco.
The non-profit (501c3) Aquarium of the Bay is California’s only Smithsonian Affiliate, that has served millions of visitors on Pier #39 for 23 years. This Association of Zoos and Aquariums accredited, award winning institution holds over 23,000 animals in its care in its 750,000 gallon saltwater tanks, including sharks, bat rays, octopus, sturgeons and squids, among others, offering 70,000 children free education each year. An international team of experts is involved in conceiving the BayEcotarium- a living museum- to address the challenges of climate change, ocean acidification, clean energy, carbon-sequestration, sea-level rise, plastic and micro-plastic pollution and solutions- at public policy, programs, prototypes and paradigm-shift levels.
Former President of Kiribati, His Excellency Anote Tong, will deliver the Key-Note. President Tong has been at the forefront of raising global awareness on catastrophic risks caused by climate change. His atoll nation faces an existential threat due to rising sea levels owing to Climate Change. He directed Kiribati’s purchase of land in Fiji in 2014 as a contingency refuge for his people. Climate warrior Tong, pioneered the notion of ‘migration with dignity’ to prevent his people from becoming ‘climate refugees’. He oversaw the creation of a 480,250 square kilometer marine park, the largest Marine Protected Area in the world winning the Peter Benchley Ocean Award, it was later adopted as a UNESCO World Heritage site. “This gathering of minds In San Francisco is part of a continued process of engagement that strengthens our vision and collective resolve to make this environmental edifice a reality,” says visionary President and CEO, George Jacob, who was recently honored with the Louie Kamookak Medal by the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, and named Chief Advisor to UN Environment on Climate Museum initiatives in the Caribbean Region.
