What should individuals, communities, schools and universities do about climate change? is the title of a seminar today at the Grantham Institute. As I'm having another London-free week, I'm not there.
Here's the description:
In July 2019, the UK set a legal target to stop its contribution to climate change by reducing its annual emissions of greenhouse gases to net zero by 2050. But what should individuals, communities, schools and universities in the UK do to stop climate change? This event will explore this question through a series of presentations and a panel discussion.
The event will consist of a series of short presentations by a wide variety of speakers, who will provide opportunities for engagement with the audience, followed by a panel discussion. There will be five presentations of 12 minutes each with 3 minutes for questions. The proposed line-up of speakers is:
- ‘What should we do to stop climate change while raising living standards in the UK and around the world?’ Lord Stern of Brentford (Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment)
- ‘What should Camden do to stop climate change?’ Georgia Gould (Leader of Camden London Borough Council)
- ‘What should the Women’s Institutes do to stop climate change?’ Ann Jones (Vice-Chair of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes)
Each speaker will identify in their presentation the most important ways to stop climate change.
The panel discussion that follows will be for 40 minutes. It will be on ‘What should schools, colleges and universities do to stop climate change?’
- Ellie Gilbert-Bair (UK Student Climate Network)
- Gabby Tan (UK Student Climate Network)
- Representative of Eco-Schools TBC
- Victoria Hands (Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education [EAUC])
- Naomi Oreskes (Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University)
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As usual in these events, there's not much scope for audience engagement. For example, the "3 minutes for questions" will likely mean one or two questions and 2 minutes for answers, and there are too many panel speakers [ 5 people 40 minutes = 8 minutes each including questions ] for the audience to get much of a look in. The main inputs ( stern Camden women ) are at least varied and eclectic
However, I'd like to have seen a better question. What should Camden / the Women’s Institutes do to stop climate change? surely gets the emphasis wrong.
What can Camden / the Women’s Institutes do, working with others, to help mitigate the effects of climate change? looks a lot better to me.
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