My name is Lian Beckstead and I recently finished my second year at 香蕉视频, majoring in Honours International Development Studies. I entered McGill with a broad range of interests, but have decided to specialize in environmental sustainability after interning at the Centre for Human Rights and Environment (CHRE).
CHRE is a non-profit organization that works to promote greater access to justice and guarantee human rights for victims of environmental degradation. To this end, CHRE fosters the creation of inclusive public policy that promotes socially and environmentally sustainable development, through community participation, public interest litigation, strengthening democratic institutions, and the capacity building of key actors. CHRE鈥檚 advocacy programs include initiatives to help reverse climate change, contain and reduce the emission Short-Lived Climate Pollutants such as Black Carbon, HFCs and Methane, to Protect Glaciers and Permafrost environments for their value as natural water storage and basin regulators, to address the impacts of oil and gas, of mining operations, to reduce emissions from brick production, and to promote corporate accountability on human rights and environmental issues.
I originally wanted to intern at CHRE because their mission coincided with my interests of targeting human rights and environmental issues. Given the current state of the environment, actions for change are of the utmost importance and need to be prioritized in everyone's agenda to avoid global tipping points that humanity may not recover from. I wanted to be a part of this organization because it fights for the same cause and has the resources to galvanize change. An additional bonus that incentivized me to intern at CHRE was the co-founder of the organization being Jorge Daniel Taillant, who is a published author and major climate activist. When I received an interview with them, I was ecstatic that I would be working with such experienced people in the field. Furthermore, CHRE is based in California and works in partnership with larger organizations such as the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (IGSD), so I thought this was the perfect opportunity and stepping stone to advance my career.
My responsibilities as an intern included researching diverse sets of actions society and its individual components (youth, organizations, companies, politicians, public officials, etc.) should take to address the evolving climate emergency, the results of which will be utilized for the upcoming publication called, 鈥淭he Race to Save Everything鈥�. I also assisted with miscellaneous climate and environment-related research and advocacy, on a case-by-case basis, which CHRE engages on, such as, but not limited to, the climate and environmental impacts of the extractive sector, corporate accountability, the role of methane and other short-lived climate pollutants in climate change, climate-related environmental justice issues, human rights and the environment, et al. Furthermore, I assisted CHRE with the development of a strategy to engage youth to take action to tackle climate change.
When reflecting on the highlights of my internship, the work that I am most proud of and spent the most time on is the comments to the California Air Resource Board (CARB) regarding their 2022 Scoping Plan. CHRE worked alongside IGSD for a couple weeks to prepare comments to submit to CARB, urging them to reconsider their timeline and strategy to mitigate impacts of global warming. We requested for CARB to adhere to a dual strategy approach of decarbonization in the long run while prioritizing short-lived climate pollutants in the near-term to reduce warming. I was fortunate enough to represent CHRE in these comments submitted to CARB and contributed to drafting a section of the proposal regarding the prioritization of front-line communities, as these impact areas are predominantly low-income communities of color, that have become sacrifice zones and are victims of perpetual environmental racism.
In spite of this incredible opportunity of interning at CHRE, the initial learning curve was difficult to overcome and encountered numerous challenges in the beginning. I found it difficult to adjust because I was amongst a team of qualified individuals who have had decades of experience in this field and the head of my team is the co-founder of CHRE. Meanwhile, I am a second year student in University, so needless to say, I felt overwhelmed due to my lack of experience and age. In addition to this, the team immediately expected me to assimilate into the role with little training or advice on the technicalities of writing press reports and briefings. However, this turned out to be beneficial because I gained more independence and responsibilities in proving my capabilities.
This internship impacted my university experience by providing a career path because prior to this internship, I was still uncertain about what career to pursue. I realized through speaking with my colleagues and completing work on environmental sustainability, that I want to pursue environmental law. Furthermore, CHRE has offered numerous future opportunities by introducing me to notable members of the community. Since CHRE works in partnership with the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (IGSD), one of my colleagues put me in contact with the director of their Paris branch, upon learning that I am moving to Paris this fall semester on exchange.
Lastly, I would like to thank Wendy Patton Keys for funding me for my internship, as it helped me alleviate financial pressures, thus allowing me to focus solely on dedicating myself to CHRE and publishing work without having to worry about finances.
