Do you need a climate change speaker for an event?
I can offer talks, presentations and interactive workshops for a variety of audiences. These days, I usually end up speaking about the following topics:
* Climate science for non-scientists
* Where do all our greenhouse emissions come from?
* The international picture - the UN talks and climate justice
* Solutions to climate change
* Taking action on climate change
I've been working on this kind of stuff for the last ten years, and hold a first class BSc in Environmental Biology, an MSc in Nature, Science and Environmental Policy and an MProf in Leadership for Sustainable Development. I will always do my best to be both informative and entertaining, and to tailor my talk to the needs of the audience. Recent speaker engagements have included the National Federation of Women's Institutes, the Oxford Climate Forum and the London Sustainable Schools Spring Conference.
I am also an established performance poet. For everyone who didn't immediately stop reading at that point - thank you, and this is relevant, I swear: much of my poetry is climate or sustainability-related, and in addition to performing at festivals, acoustic gigs, and spoken word nights I am increasing being booked for environmental conferences, rallies and campaign events. The whole point of my poetry is to communicate sustainability issues in an accessible and (hopefully) entertaining way - you can hear examples of my work at www.myspace.com/dannychivers and see videos of me here and here. If it means anything to anyone, I was Oxford Hammer & Tongue Poetry Slam Champion 2007 and a BBC Radio 4 National Slam semi-finalist in 2009, and I have a regular slot at the Speakers Forum at the Glastonbury Festival.
I am a completely independent speaker, not associated with any particular charity, campaign group, business or product. I am an active climate campaigner, and am critical of the many supposed "solutions" to climate change that involve minor lifestyle changes, alterations in our shopping habits or the creation of unwieldy and ineffective market mechanisms. These kinds of proposed solutions seek to maintain our current, unsustainable economy and consumption levels, and avoid tackling the root causes of the problem.
The real solutions to climate change will come through the building of a global climate movement powerful enough to push our society and economy onto a more sustainable path. "Ordinary" people around the world need to demand real solutions from their governments, and also need to put those solutions into practice themselves in their communities. This is beginning to happen, but we need a lot more of it - and it is this kind of meaningful climate action that I seek to promote through my talks and performances.
If any of this sounds useful, and you'd like me to speak or perform at an event, please do drop me an email - I do charge for speaking engagements (it's that whole pesky food-and-bills thing) but will always try to fit within your budgets where I can.
"...the charming young man had his audience absorbed from the first moments of his presentation. He had spent his entire working life with climate change, so was well placed to give us an excellent visual example of the way in which we would have control over our own emissions if we are to meet the targets for carbon reduction by 2050." - Oxfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes
"...the charming young man had his audience absorbed from the first moments of his presentation. He had spent his entire working life with climate change, so was well placed to give us an excellent visual example of the way in which we would have control over our own emissions if we are to meet the targets for carbon reduction by 2050." - Oxfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes
"...the plenary session was delivered by environmentalist, activist and performance artist Danny Chivers. He brought together some amazing ideas from students for combating climate change and finally delivered his poem “Consumed”. The young audience reacted with cheers and tumultuous applause." - Eco-schools newsletter, Ringwood School, Hampshire
"A terrific session where all the points were made in a very clear way...Came out feeling more optimistic despite the scary bits. Excellent facilitator who unravelled a very complicated story." - Feedback from a participant at the "Runaway Climate Challenge" day, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University
"Danny Chivers’ fun, pub-quiz style session laid out the facts in a simple, easy to understand way...For those wanting a better grasp on climate change, look no further than Danny Chivers’s easy to read book." - Feedback from a workshop session at Oxfordjam social enterprise conference
"A terrific session where all the points were made in a very clear way...Came out feeling more optimistic despite the scary bits. Excellent facilitator who unravelled a very complicated story." - Feedback from a participant at the "Runaway Climate Challenge" day, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University
"Danny Chivers’ fun, pub-quiz style session laid out the facts in a simple, easy to understand way...For those wanting a better grasp on climate change, look no further than Danny Chivers’s easy to read book." - Feedback from a workshop session at Oxfordjam social enterprise conference
