BY KAREN BOSSICK

In 2014 former “60 Minutes” producers David Gelber and Joel Bach launched The YEARS Project with a Showtime television series called “Years of Living Dangerously.”

It won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Nonfiction Series. And, in the years since, The Guardian described it as the “most important climate change multimedia communication effort in history,” telling  stories with the help of film star Matt Damon, New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman and others.

Dvid Gelber will be among the speakers at the fifth annual Sun Valley Forum, which will be held July 23 through 26 at the newly opened Argyros Performing Arts Center in Ketchum.

This year’s Forum, titled “The Future We Want: Transforming Leadership, Accelerating Innovation, Unlocking Imagination,” is inspired by the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Risks report, “Out of Control,” which names the top two risks facing our globe as extreme weather events and the failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The 2018 intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warned of significant changes to the earth’s life support systems in the next decade, noted Forum Founder Aimee Christensen. The devasting California fires during 2018 illustrate how much is at stake, she added.

Hilary Franz, commissioner of public lands for the State of Washington, will be back after delivering a mesmerizing presentation at last year’s forum about the innovative projects that state is taking on.

So will Jeff Goodell, a contributing editor to “Rolling Stone,” who has written such books as “The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities and the Remaking of the Civilized World,” and “How to Cool the Planet.”

Other speakers include Sherri Goodman, secretary general for the International Military Council’ Dune ives, executive director for the Lonely Whale Foundation, and Mark Brand, founder of A Better Life Foundation, which seeks to make positive change in the lives of children and young adults who need food, shelter and medical assistance.

The forum will showcase solutions and seek to offer a platform to inspire new projects and partnerships through innovation laboratories and more.

This year there also will be an inaugural Youth Forum titled “Claiming Our Future: Youth Action for a Resilient World.” The goal of the youth forum, for high school students from around the country, is to inspire the next generation of leaders to discuss radical new ideas concerning sustainability and to create a network of next-generation change makers, said Christensen.

The forum kicks off on Tuesday, July 23, at 1 p.m. with an opening reception and dinner at the Warfield. It will include optional hikes and an adventure day. To learn more or to register, visit www.sunvalleyforum.com