New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer, and ABC News political commentator Cokie Roberts will address the more than 25,000 attendees expected for the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC's) Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, which will take place Oct. 4-7 in Toronto.
Friedman will deliver the opening keynote and then participate in a panel discussion on resiliency and how industries can play a role in community-rebuilding efforts. Roberts will moderate the panel. She and Friedman will be joined by Farmer, chair of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School and founder of Partners in Health.
In his 2008 bestselling book, “Hot, Flat, and Crowded,” Friedman explores the parallels between the climate crisis and the global economic crisis. He is a champion of “Geo-Greenism,” a national strategy to make America healthier, richer, more innovative, more productive, and more secure.
Roberts, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and bestselling author, serves as senior news analyst for National Public Radio and political analyst for ABC News. An inductee into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, she has won numerous awards and was named one of the 50 greatest women in the history of broadcasting.
Farmer has written extensively on health, human rights, and social inequality. His new book, “Haiti: After the Earthquake,” assesses what does and does not work in helping communities recover from disaster.
Bloomberg will deliver the closing plenary and discuss what cities can do to effect meaningful change. He will be joined by Natalie Jeremijenko, director of New York University's xdesign Environmental Health Clinic; John Picard, principal, John Picard & Associates; and Lisa Strausfeld, interactive-information designer and entrepreneur.
As chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, Bloomberg helped to make adopting and implementing sustainability policies possible for the largest cities in the world.
For more information, visit http://greenbuildexpo.org.