Ms. Kelly Willis Discusses the IPCC's "Last Warning" Report and the Upcoming COP 28 Meeting (April 18th)

This past March 20th the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its fourth and last sixth assessment cycle (AR6) report.  This last report integrates the main findings of the IPCC's three, sixth assessment working group reports published over the past 18 months.  The report has been informally termed the “last warning” since the IPCC 7th assessment work will likely not be published until after 2030 - at which time we’ll know whether we have succeeded or not in reducing CO2e emissions by approximately 45% in order to limit avg global warming to the preferred Paris climate accord goal of 1.5C.  Among other conclusions the IPCC authors warned, “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all.”  “The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years.”   The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, termed this last report “a clarion call to massively fast-track climate efforts by every country, every sector and on every timeframe.”  An excellent summary of the AR6 fourth report was published in late March by Carbon Brief, at: https://www.carbonbrief.org/carbon-briefs-definitive-guide-to-the-entire-ipcc-sixth-assessment-cycle/.

This 35-minute interview Ms. Willis discusses Malaria No More's work, related/relevant IPCC findings and those in context of her attendance last month at a climate/health summit meeting in Abu Dhabi held in preparation for subsequent related discussions during this coming December's IPCC COP 28 meeting also taking place in the UAE.  

Ms. Kelly Willis is currently the Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives at Malaria No More.  Ms. Willis has more than 20 years of experience working in infectious disease and global health, helping to build permanent capacity in health systems throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, in roles including Senior Vice President at United States Pharmacopeia, Executive Director of Accordia Global Health Foundation and through her consulting firm Willis Solutions LLC.  Ms. Willis's field experience includes several years living in East Africa where she helped launch and support the Infectious Diseases Institute at Makerere University and led a multi-year research program to better understand the impact of medical training programs on standards of care and health outcomes.  Prior to that, Ms. Willis spent five years in multiple finance and economics management roles at Pfizer where she also served as a Global Health Fellow in Uganda.   She holds a Distinguished Alumni award from Michigan State University where she earned a BA in French and an MBA in Supply Chain Management.

The IPCC report is at: https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6syr/pdf/IPCC_AR6_SYR_SPM.pdf.  

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