Photo by Lyle Hastie on Unsplash By Aili Channer (she/her) Summary: Why small island states, such as Tuvalu, are vulnerable to climate change Why this needs to be recognised in discussions about climate action in the Global North Examples of the specific effects  of climate change that are being experienced in Tuvalu, and the adaptation strategies that are being developed Cultural impacts and looking towards the future Article: ‘Thirty years ago, I was asked about the sea level rise,’ says Teuleala, a retired civil servant, climate change activist and now co-founder of a ..read more

By Nayah Thu Image: NASA Writing about divisions in climate discourse often means pitting environmental movements and opposing interest groups against each other. However, this rhetoric risks painting environmental movements as monolithic. Such simplification prevents the public from disentangling different perspectives, and leads to in-fighting as factions within the movement seek to distinguish themselves from each other through confrontation. One of the most salient divides is between the eco-pessimists and techno-optimists. Much literature on this topic delves into their relative scienti ..read more

Event summary by Laura Watson This week, we were incredibly privileged to be joined by world-leading public intellectual and scholar, Professor Noam Chomsky, to discuss the intersection of neoliberalism, democracy and the climate emergency.   Professor Chomsky began by emphasising the well-known, scientifically proven position that it is time to panic about climate change. It is also time to act: we know what the solutions are, and we know that they are feasible and within our grasp. However, it must also be recognised that there is resistance to change fossil fuel companies, parts of th ..read more

Event summary by Larissa Nzikeu ​This week’s event focused on India’s energy transition, with esteemed guest speakers Amitabh Kant and Professor Navroz. K Dubash leading the conversation. Mr Kant is CEO of the National Institute for Transforming India, whilst Professor Dubash is a leading figure at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, India.  Mr Kant began the conversation brimming with positivity and optimism at India’s progress in achieving its sustainability goals. Indeed, he pointed out that India is one of the few G20 countries on track to meet its Paris Agreements cli ..read more

By Alli Devlin Image: Meenakshi Dewan by UK Department for International Development Can India’s switch to solar deliver not just clean energy, but empowerment of the poorest? For one of the world’s most rapidly developing economies, a lot rests on the answer to this question.  ​ The South Asian nation emits over 2300 megatonnes of CO2 each year, making it the third-largest emitting nation after the US and China, although on a per capita basis the emissions of the average Indian citizen is only 1.6 tonnes per year--far below the global average of 4.4. But the country’s emissions are not ..read more

Event summary by Nayah Thu At this week’s event on the role of civil disobedience in the climate movement we heard from Patrick Bond and James Jasper.   Jasper is best known for his research on the emotional and social aspect of protest movements, and spoke about the necessity of utilising civil disobedience to grow the climate movement and increase climate action. He distinguished between long-run emotions, which shape our basic value orientations and perceptions of rationality, and the short run emotions seen in social movements. He argued that social movements have the ability to use ..read more

By Bridget Stuart It is a fact that we need to limit the increase in global temperatures to below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels as soon as possible, but certainly before 2050. When I say ‘we’, I mean the governments of the world, and in particular the governments of wealthy countries in the Global North, who have particular responsibility for both causing the problem, and therefore for solving it. Unfortunately, it is already too late to prevent dangerous climate change, and it is unlikely the 1.5 degrees target will be achieved. Therefore, the more pertinent question asked ..read more

Event summary by Nayah Thu Dr. Ellen Quigley and Dr. Jonathan Porritt spoke at this week’s discussion about divestment. As effective legislation often comes from a place of moral indignation, Dr. Quigley asserted that we need to stigmatise the fossil-fuel industry in order to make abstract climate-change dangers seem more concrete. She mentioned the symbolic effects of divestment, which popularises ideas about fossil-fuel free societies. Divestment must apply to all asset classes, and Dr. Quigley criticised the Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) initiative, for misleading people with ..read more

By Alli Devlin Fossil fuel divestment and ‘net zero carbon by 2050’ targets are now commonplace across the globe in the race to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Leading actors within the private, public, and civil sectors have realised that without a substantial commitment to climate change mitigation, their social licence to operate is jeopardised. Since the 2015 Paris Agreement, 33 global banks have divested a value of $1.9 trillion from coal, oil and gas. The European Union has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, and more than half of UK’s universities have ..read more

Summary by Bridget Stuart This week, we heard from Dr. Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). Dr Birol’s spoke on the impact of COVID on the energy sector, and the Green Recovery of the future.   The global pandemic has led to the biggest shock to the energy industry since WWII, causing a decline more than 7 times larger than the 2008 financial crash. Fortunately, it is fossil fuels which have been hit the hardest, and renewable energies, such as wind or solar have actually proven to be relatively ‘COVID immune’. There has also been a 7% drop in emi ..read more