Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
It's the opening general assembly at Willis Tower for Aspen Ideas: Climate 2026. Tom Skilling anchors the morning around a simple but urgent question: we now have unprecedented climate models, so what are we actually doing with that data? Al Roker and Sarah Kapnick dig into how they make sense of a world increasingly defined by extreme weather and looming tipping points. Sweta Chakraborty, Monica Medina, and Kate Marvel discuss what it feels like to live through this moment, and how naming those feelings can make climate science more human, legible, and actionable. Peter Reinhardt pitches a surprising—and genuinely spicy—fix for one of the fastest-growing climate risks: water scarcity. And Governor JB Pritzker argues that clean energy, affordability, and economic competitiveness aren't in tension — they go hand in hand.
Speakers:
Tom Skilling, Meteorologist, WGN-TV
Governor JB Pritzker
Al Roker, Co-host, TODAY (Speaker)
Sarah Kapnick, Global Head of Climate Advisory, J.P. Morgan
Peter Reinhardt, CEO, Charm
Kate Marvel, Senior Scientist, Project Drawdown
Monica Medina, Co-host, "Scientista" (Moderator)
Sweta Chakraborty, CEO, We Don't Have Time-North America (Moderator)
Anne Thompson, Chief Environmental Affairs Correspondent, NBC News (Moderator)
🔗 Learn more about Aspen Ideas: Climate: aspenideas.org/attend/climate
🔗 Full 2026 agenda & speaker lineup: aspenideas.org/pages/aspen-ideas-climate-2026-program-tracks
🔗 Sign up for updates on future events: aspenideas.org/pages/newsletter
#AspenIdeasClimate #ClimateSolutions
It's the opening general assembly at Willis Tower for Aspen Ideas: Climate 2026. Tom Skilling anchors the morning around a simple but urgent question: we now have unprecedented climate models, so what are we actually doing with that data? Al Roker and Sarah Kapnick dig into how they make sense of a world increasingly defined by extreme weather and looming tipping points. Sweta Chakraborty, Monica Medina, and Kate Marvel discuss what it feels like to live through this moment, and how naming those feelings can make climate science more human, legible, and actionable. Peter Reinhardt pitches a surprising—and genuinely spicy—fix for one of the fastest-growing climate risks: water scarcity. And Governor JB Pritzker argues that clean energy, affordability, and economic competitiveness aren't in tension — they go hand in hand.
Speakers:
Tom Skilling, Meteorologist, WGN-TV
Governor JB Pritzker
Al Roker, Co-host, TODAY (Speaker)
Sarah Kapnick, Global Head of Climate Advisory, J.P. Morgan
Peter Reinhardt, CEO, Charm
Kate Marvel, Senior Scientist, Project Drawdown
Monica Medina, Co-host, "Scientista" (Moderator)
Sweta Chakraborty, CEO, We Don't Have Time-North America (Moderator)
Anne Thompson, Chief Environmental Affairs Correspondent, NBC News (Moderator)
🔗 Learn more about Aspen Ideas: Climate: aspenideas.org/attend/climate
🔗 Full 2026 agenda & speaker lineup: aspenideas.org/pages/aspen-ideas-climate-2026-program-tracks
🔗 Sign up for updates on future events: aspenideas.org/pages/newsletter
#AspenIdeasClimate #ClimateSolutions
