Tag: Policy

Carolina Schmidt, Minister of Environment, Chile and Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC at the Host Country Agreement signing ceremony (c) UNclimatechange
Climate negotiations, COP 20, Policy

Have I got the Bonn blues? Time to look forwards to COP25 in Chile

Carolina Schmidt, Minister of Environment, Chile and Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC at the Host Country Agreement signing ceremony (c) UNclimatechange Trish O’Beirne, student on the MSc in Environmental Technology, reflects on her experience at the UNFCCC’s Climate Change Conference in Bonn, and looks ahead to the forthcoming Conference of the Parties (COP25), in Chile. Having spent most of my academic career in the happy … Continue reading Have I got the Bonn blues? Time to look forwards to COP25 in Chile

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Graphic showing a green future city, with icons representing health, wealth, happiness and employment
Communicating climate change, Individual action on climate, Mitigation

What can the Brexit vote tell us about harnessing peoples’ enthusiasm to act on climate change?

Dr Neil Jennings, Partnership Development Manager at the Grantham Institute, considers how we can frame action on climate change in terms of other public priorities. Each month, the polling organisation Ipsos MORI surveys members of the public in the United Kingdom about what they think are the main issues facing the country. Currently (July 2019), the ‘Common Market/Brexit/EU’ tops the list. However, in 2015 it … Continue reading What can the Brexit vote tell us about harnessing peoples’ enthusiasm to act on climate change?

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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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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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Scaffolding on Big Ben, London, with a view of a lamppost in the foreground
Policy

It is time be more ambitious – the UK’s Climate Change Act needs strengthening

Joanna Haigh, co-director of the Grantham Institute — Climate Change and the Environment, and John Krebs, emeritus professor of zoology at the University of Oxford and former member of the UK Committee on Climate Change, consider why the UK needs a more ambitious Climate Change Act.  The UK’s Climate Change Act is a pioneering and far-sighted piece of legislation, ushered in ten years ago by a remarkable cross-party … Continue reading It is time be more ambitious – the UK’s Climate Change Act needs strengthening

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