Category: Policy

COP24 President Michal Kurtyka jumps in celebration of the approval of the Paris Agreement Work Programme at COP24 in 2018 (c) UNClimateChange
Climate negotiations, Policy

Why should the UK host the COP26 climate summit in 2020?

Grantham Institute lecturer Dr Joeri Rogelj, member of the United Nations’ Climate Science Advisory Group, blogs on why hosting the 26th Conference of the Parties in 2020 is an unrivaled opportunity for the UK to take the lead internationally on climate change action.  For the last 40 years, each consecutive decade has been warmer than the previous one. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere … Continue reading Why should the UK host the COP26 climate summit in 2020?

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London, UK - July 13th 2016:The front elevation and doorway of 10 Downing Street, with a cat and a British policemen standing outside. It is the official office and HQ of the British Prime Minister
Communicating climate change, Mitigation, Policy

Legacy on climate change – “make a powerful statement of global leadership”

A group of leading climate scientists, coordinated by Professor Joanna Haigh, former Co-Director of the Grantham Institute, have written to Prime Minister Theresa May calling for her to make climate change action her legacy by setting a net zero greenhouse gas emissions target into national law. Here is the text of the letter: Dear Prime Minister, As a group of Britain’s leading climate scientists, we … Continue reading Legacy on climate change – “make a powerful statement of global leadership”

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Extinction Rebellion protests in London, April 2019. A big crowd of people gathered around Oxford Circus
Media, Mitigation, Policy

Let’s embrace this fighting chance to reach net zero

Dr Ajay Gambhir, Senior Research Fellow at the Grantham Institute and contributor to the Committee on Climate Change’s Net Zero report, blogs on why we mustn’t lose this moment to accelerate the low-carbon transition. On Thursday 2 May 2019 I attended the launch of the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC’s) latest report, which advises the government that the UK should reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) … Continue reading Let’s embrace this fighting chance to reach net zero

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Protesters sitting outside Westminster for the Youth Strike 4 Climate
Communicating climate change, Individual action on climate, Policy

#fridaysforfuture: Rising to the challenge of the Youth Strike 4 Climate

On Friday 15 February 2019, more than 10,000 students in the UK walked out of their classrooms and onto the streets. Part of the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement, which is gathering pace around the world, they are demanding that the Government takes greater action on climate change. With another strike scheduled for 15 March, two Grantham Institute colleagues, born in different decades, reflect on … Continue reading #fridaysforfuture: Rising to the challenge of the Youth Strike 4 Climate

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Individual action on climate, Policy

2019: the year citizens speak up and governments act to protect our long-term prosperity

At the end of January, the Night of Ideas, an international event staged simultaneously in Paris, London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and worldwide, questioned today’s challenges. The French Institute in London explored citizens’ experiences of today’s most talked-about issues: Europe Beyond Walls and The Earth Here and Now. In this blog, Professor Joanna Haigh, Co-Director of the Grantham Institute, reflects on the role that British and … Continue reading 2019: the year citizens speak up and governments act to protect our long-term prosperity

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Amazon seen from above with large swathes that have been cleared and are covered in industry
Climate negotiations

Is Brazil losing the chance to become a climate leader?

Dr Alexandre Koberle, Research Associate at Imperial’s Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, considers Brazil’s potential to be a climate leader, and the impact of the political crisis. Brazil has been on the news a lot lately, and not for the best reasons. A deep economic crisis has deprived Brazilians of 10% of their income over the past 3 years, some 11 million … Continue reading Is Brazil losing the chance to become a climate leader?

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A group photo of Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, meeting with interns at the UNFCCC.
Climate negotiations, Student blogs

Behind the scenes at the UNFCCC: Imperial students on internships ahead of COP24

Albertine Pegrum-Haram and Goodwin Gibbins, Research Postgraduates at Imperial College London, are more at home with chemistry and climate models than the politics of global cooperation. However, as part of an internship to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, they joined a team dedicated to supporting the international climate change process – at a key moment for global climate negotiations. The UNFCCC … Continue reading Behind the scenes at the UNFCCC: Imperial students on internships ahead of COP24

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Climate march with people holding a sign saying "System Change Not Climate Change"
Climate negotiations, Mitigation, Policy

3 key ingredients could combine at COP24 to deliver real action on climate change

As the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24 to the UNFCCC) gets underway in Katowice, Poland, Alyssa Gilbert, Director of Policy and Translation at the Grantham Institute who is leading the Imperial College London delegation at the summit, explains why she is rooting for its success more strongly than ever. Evidence is undeniable: we must act now, … Continue reading 3 key ingredients could combine at COP24 to deliver real action on climate change

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Cover of the CCC Progress to Parliament report 2018
Mitigation, Policy

How can the UK get back on track? 4 simple messages for the Government from the CCC

Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Chair of the Grantham Institute and member of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), considers the 2018 Progress Report to Parliament, and why it’s the most hard-hitting yet. Last month, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) launched its 2018 Progress Report to Parliament. Under the 2008 Climate Change Act, the CCC produces annual reports that chart UK progress in reducing greenhouse … Continue reading How can the UK get back on track? 4 simple messages for the Government from the CCC

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Energy, Mitigation, Policy

The energy conundrum: Bringing carbon under control and reversing rising emissions

Neil Hirst, Senior Policy Fellow at the Grantham Institute and author of The Energy Conundrum, Climate Change, Global Prosperity, and the Tough Decisions We Have to Make, considers the outlook for global energy and how to bring rising carbon emissions under control. Twenty-five years ago, the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) treaty was set up to tackle the causes of global … Continue reading The energy conundrum: Bringing carbon under control and reversing rising emissions

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