11:30 - 12:15 PM
ESTATE PLANNING WITH GENERATION DREAD: Finding Financial Peace of Mind Through the Emotional Despair of Climate Change
Dr. Britt Wray
Advisor to the Climate Mental Health Network
Estate planning discussions are always difficult, but these days, perhaps even more so. That’s why tax and financial services providers must pay attention to new trends; notably that young people – those that need to be engaged as primary stakeholders in wealth transfers – have experienced a significant drop in hopefulness. A recent Statistics Canada study concludes that future research could be done to better understand the potential implications for policymakers. But DAC Keynote Speaker Dr. Brett Wray has done some important research of her own and has a critical, urgent message: intergenerational power and wealth will not fix the underlying malaise of these future inheritors
Dr. Britt Wray is well equipped to explain what the underlying mindset of this generation – and why this mindset matters so much in the work you do. Dr. Wray has a PhD in Science Communication from the University of Copenhagen and is a journalist, speaker, and author of two books: Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in the Climate Crisis (Knopf 2022) and Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics and Risks of De-Extinction (Greystone Books 2017).
She has hosted and produced several science radio programs, podcasts and television programs for international broadcasters including the BBC and CBC, and is a TED speaker. A Human and Planetary Health Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, her research focuses on the mental health impacts of climate change on ‘emerging adults’ and frontline community members, socio-emotional resilience and public engagement for improved mental wellbeing and planetary health.