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Malibu Library Speaker Series: Bill McKibben

In-Person Program

Bill McKibben is an author, educator, and environmentalist. He will speak about his latest book, 'Here Comes the Sun'. For adults.

The Malibu Library Speaker Series and Pepperdine University present Bill McKibben, speaking as part of Pepperdine's 2026 Climate Calling Conference. Climate Calling is a conference dedicated to exploring climate change, its consequences, and our moral calling to respond to growing concerns about the future of our planet. The conference is led by a group of Pepperdine faculty members from diverse disciplines.

Bill McKibben first appeared as part of the Malibu Library Speaker Series in 2016. He returns to speak about his latest book, Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization, a call to harness the power of the sun and rewrite our scientific, economic, and political future.

McKibben's 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change and has appeared in 24 languages. He’s gone on to write 20 books, and his work appears regularly in periodicals from the New Yorker to Rolling Stone. He serves as the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he has won the Gandhi Peace Prize as well as honorary degrees from 20 colleges and universities. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the alternative Nobel, in the Swedish Parliament.

McKibben helped found 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign, which has organized protests on every continent, including Antarctica, for climate action. He played a leading role in launching the opposition to big oil pipeline projects like Keystone XL, and the fossil fuel divestment campaign, which has become the biggest anti-corporate campaign in history. He stepped down as board chair of 350 in 2015, and left the board and stepped down from his volunteer role as senior adviser in 2020, accepting emeritus status. He lives in the mountains above Lake Champlain with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, where he spends as much time as possible outdoors.

This event takes place at Elkins Auditorium on the campus of Pepperdine University. Registration is appreciated but not required. Here Comes the Sun will be for sale at the event, and a book signing will follow the lecture.

Free parking is available. For parking information and directions to Elkins Auditorium, call Malibu Library at 310.456.6438.