Before Miami Grand Prix, Formula 1 driver leads climate change roundtable

On Thursday afternoon, the Hard Rock Stadium racetrack for Sundays' Miami Grand Prix was unveiled for the Formula 1 drivers as they got their first view of the 3.36-mile course.

But before the race drivers' walk-through, Sebastian Vettel, four-time winner of the World Drivers' Championship, was a few miles away in tony Miami Shores. Under a tent in the lush botanical garden of the design firm and retailer, Plant the Future, Vettel held court with a dozen scientists, engineers, land use experts, non-government organization leaders, entrepreneurs, a cinematographer and others steeped not in auto racing but climate change.

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For nearly two hours, Vettel listened and questioned as the roundtable discussion veered and careened from apocalyptic scenarios to solutions, from fatalistic pessimism to hopeful optimism.

"I find it fascinating at how everything is interconnected," Vettel told the gathering in explaining his passion for taking on the global climate challenge. "We are all fascinated by nature. But where we're going, we're giving nature, and ourselves in nature, no chance. That's where I see the enormous potential in trying simply, in the first place, to raise awareness and addressing this especially to young people."

Racecar driver among sports figures speaking up on a variety of issues

When not behind the wheel of his Aston Martin team racing machine, Vettel is touting and championing efforts to address climate change. In that regard, he is among a growing legion of activist sports world figures speaking out on all sorts of political, cultural or economic issues.

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Former Miami Heat (now Los Angeles Lakers) star LeBron James has been on the forefront of advocating on racial justice and equity issues. Like her U.S. women's soccer teammates, Abby Wambach, who played at the University of Florida, is outspoken about equal pay for women.

Sometimes that advocacy has been inspiring, at other times being a vocal athlete has elicited push back and retribution.

Vettel, nonetheless, didn't seem to shy away from making a statement. The 34-year-old German native arrived at Thursday's lunchtime discussion wearing a t-shirt with a racing driver helmet equipped with a snorkel and saying, "Miami 2060: 1st Grand Prix under water, act now or swim later."

Vettel, however, said his objective is not to shame people. Nor is it, he said, to impose guilt on industries or individuals. Or to take anything away from anyone, he added.

Vettel noted in the discussion that he is aware that auto racing, with its emissions, opens him up to questions of hypocrisy. He even conceded he was "shocked" the first time he calculated the estimated carbon emissions from his race car from a full season's worth of racetrack laps.

The issue, he said, "comes down to education" and learning about ways to offset impacts and reduce carbon output into the atmosphere.

"The difficult thing is the moment you start [scolding] people there is an immediate defense strategy in terms of, 'Yeah but you're not going to take this away from me,'" he said. "That's why I think it's incredibly inspiring when new solutions come in."

Doomsday scenarios, but also solutions and innovative mitigation

Finding answers and solutions seemed more pressing after hearing some of the doomsday warnings mulled over a lunch of artichoke empanadas, Chickpea Masala, coconut curry veggies and Basmati rice.

The roundtable participants included: Jayantha Obeysekera, a sea level rise expert at Florida International University, Wayne Pathman, real estate and land use attorney, Hardeep Anand with Miami-Dade County, Maximiliano Bello, a fellow at The Wilson Center, marine advocate Francis Pastor, business owner and artist Paloma Teppa, Jose Javier Guarderas, founder of Premios Verdes, filmmaker Lawrence Curtis and entrepreneurs Daniel Kleinman and John Scianna.

Vettel was told about the dangers of rising seas and inland flooding as water levels rise through the porous limestone bedrock in South Florida. He heard about potential super hurricanes, like 2019's Hurricane Dorian, which brought 20-plus feet of storm surge to Grand Bahama Island. And about wetter rainy seasons that, combined with hotter atmospheric temperatures, would bring unbearable surges in the heat index.

That was just the South Florida doorstep impacts. Vettel heard about dangers faraway, such as from Arctic ice melts slowing the flow of the Gulfstream current and a calving glacier the size of Florida in Antarctica that alone could raise sea levels by two feet — perhaps — within the next decade.

There were positive discussions, too.

A number of mitigation strategies were talked about, including changing building codes to raise homes and offices and investing in above-ground infrastructure to offer more flood-proofing.

One speaker mentioned a pool of more than a trillion dollars available globally to cover the costs of mitigation efforts. And business entrepreneurs talked about harnessing technologies and the booming digital currency and assets trade to further bolster financing for other mitigation.

Vettel left after the discussion to rejoin his Aston Martin racing team. At the Miami International Autodrome, the temporary race circuit around the Miami Gardens home of the Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes, all the trappings of a glitzy Formula One race awaited.

"I love my life. I love my children. I love what I do," Vettel said as he departed the climate discussion, again emphasizing that his goal is to seek ways to mitigate the impact on the environment so that everyone can continue to do what they love while also limiting the impact on the planet we inhabit.

"Why are we hesitating?" he said. "We can be heading toward a world that can be so much better."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Sebastian Vettel in Miami Grand Prix talks climate change with experts