The goal of “first movers and doers” in the UN’s Climate Ambition Summit is accelerate the decarbonization of the global economy, armed with not just pledges, but credible actions, policies and plans to deliver climate justice in line with the Secretary General’s Acceleration Agenda.
From influencing legislation and shaping renewable energy policies, to leading research on greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, education institutions are helping drive the Race to Zero.
The Race to Zero was busy in February translating material across six UN languages, putting a call out for case studies, and running Expert Peer Review Group & Partner workshops on the campaign’s criteria.
Race to Zero is the UN-backed global campaign rallying non-state actors – including companies, cities, regions, financial and educational institutions – to take rigorous and immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030 and deliver a healthier, fairer zero carbon world in time.
A review of 16 university carbon-management schemes showed that none had quantitatively considered how their land might be used to offset emissions. David Werner, Professor in Environmental Systems Modelling, Newcastle University explains why universities should use carbon offsetting strategies for the land under their management.
With a remit set out in law to be “the guardian of the interests of future generations in Wales”, Sophie Howe is the world’s only Future Generations Commissioner. At COP26 she discusses how her interventions have secured fundamental changes to land use planning policy, major transport schemes and Government policy on housing – ensuring that decisions taken today are fit for the future.
Securing gender equality and women’s full representation in vital negotiations about humanity’s future—like those happening at COP26—rely on fulfilling girls’ basic human rights, argue Kristen P. Patterson, Director, and Carissa Patrone, Program Coordinator, Drawdown Lift, Project Drawdown.
Covid has hit culture hard. In Glasgow, half of the city’s 160 cultural organizations have no plans to reopen due to financial distress. It’s time to come up with a master plan to save the arts, which allows the industry to more easily deacarbonize, says Annika Ericsoon, founder of digital art condition report tool, Articheck.
“Coronavirus has led to the greatest disruption in higher education in a generation. As London Fashion Week resumes, now is a good time for reflection and planning. As we look forward to a new academic year, we should stop regarding students as consumers but as fellow citizens in pursuit of solutions to the world’s urgent climate crisis.”
