Conferences align to enhance collaborative climate action
With Glasgow set to host the UN Climate Change Conference — COP26 — in November, the next few months are critical for building capacity and ambition for impactful climate action. In May, two important conferences will focus on just that, strengthening collaboration between the research and policy sectors, showcasing the latest thinking in climate science and its translation into solutions on the ground.
Over two days, the Met Office Climate Science Conference will lay out a scientific agenda to inform climate policy over the next decade, highlighting how robust science can and should be used to solve problems associated with our changing climate. The following week, Climate Exp0 will delve more deeply into some of these solution opportunities to support policy discussions both at COP26 and in the years to come.
The two complementary conferences will bring together academics, policymakers and others to discuss science and policy in relation to climate change. Both programmes feature remarks from the President of COP26, Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, alongside leading climate researchers and key decision makers from around the world.
The Met Office Climate Science Conference takes place on 11 and 12 May with key themes around the latest scientific understanding on climate change risks, as well as mitigation strategies and climate resilient development. These themes align with a number of the UK Government COP26 campaigns.
Climate Exp0 then takes place from 17–21 May, organised by the COP26 Universities Network and the Italian University Network for Sustainable Development (RUS), sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Cambridge University Press, the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI), and the 2021 UN Climate Change Summit (COP26), and part of the All4Climate Italy 2021 official pre-COP26 initiatives. It will focus on the latest thinking and international climate change research relevant to decisions being made at COP26 in November. The conference days map across five themes: Green Recovery; Nature-based Solutions; Mitigation Solutions; Adaptation and Resilience; and Finance and Regulation.
Together, these virtual conferences aim to build community both within the academic sphere globally, and also between the research community and policy makers. These relationships and conversations should continue from May through to November’s negotiations and beyond.
Keep an eye on our websites and social media channels for the latest headlines and insights from both conferences. We hope that you are able to join us over the next fortnight for these important conversations that will help to inform the negotiations at COP26 and critical climate action beyond.
Follow the Met Office Climate Science Conference on Twitter or via the hashtag #ClimateScienceConference.
Follow Climate Exp0 on Twitter or via the hashtag #ClimateExp0, or follow on LinkedIn.
