Experts attend COP31 as public asked to edit Wikipedia

Experts from the University of Reading are set to share their expertise in climate and environmental science at COP31.

The UN climate conference, held in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November, will be attended by a University of Reading delegation including:

The University of Reading has experts available for comments and interviews throughout COP31 on climate science, adaptation, misinformation, the built environment, infrastructure and energy. Learn more about our experts: University of Reading - COP31

To arrange interviews with any of the delegation, or other University experts, contact the University of Reading Press Office on 0118 378 5757 or pressoffice@reading.ac.uk.

Countering climate misinformation

COP31 is the University’s first COP as host of the International Universities Climate Alliance (IUCA) Secretariat, a global network of research universities working to share climate science with policymakers and the public. Reading and IUCA are involved in more than eight side events across the two weeks of COP31.

On Wednesday 11 November, IUCA will host a COP31 side event on climate misinformation and disinformation, presenting a new IUCA briefing on how false and misleading claims are slowing climate action.

The same day, IUCA, led by Secretariat Director Rose Armour, is supporting a 24-hour Wikipedia editathon for COP31, which anyone can join from anywhere in the world. Participants will learn to edit Wikipedia with help from trained session leads, improving climate articles so they reflect the best available science. The editathon runs as six two-hour online sessions spread across 24 hours, so people in any time zone can take part. Register your attendance via IUCA.

Preparing for tipping points

Professor Rosalind Cornforth is Director of The Pearl, a research group in the University of Reading’s Department of Meteorology that brings climate science together with evidence on people’s livelihoods to support adaptation decisions. On 19 November, she will co-lead an official COP31 EU side event, Prepared for Tipping? Adaptation and Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty.

The event is hosted by the ClimTip research consortium with the University of Reading, the Technical University of Munich, LMU Munich and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Speakers from climate science, policy, finance and practice will discuss how to adapt to climate tipping points, including representatives from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Adaptation Fund.

A new ClimTip policy brief published alongside the event, Climate Tipping Points: Scientific Evidence, Risks & Policy Implications, sets out the latest evidence on tipping points and what it means for policymakers.

Professor Cornforth said: “Most adaptation planning assumes climate change will arrive gradually, but parts of the Earth system may not behave that way. At our side event, we’ll be asking how governments, funders and communities can prepare for sudden, irreversible change without waiting for scientific certainty.

“In The Pearl’s work with climate scientists in the Sahel, we start with the people whose livelihoods are most at risk. Together we build realistic pictures of possible futures, including one where the West African monsoon is disrupted. That means decisions can be made now, with clear warning signs that show which future is unfolding and when plans need to change.”

Buildings for a hotter world

Professor Emmanuel Essah, Head of the University of Reading’s School of the Built Environment and Professor Irem Dikman, Professor of Construction Engineering and Management, will be in Antalya for COP31.

Professor Essah said: “Buildings and infrastructure are headline targets at COP31, so this is a real chance to make progress on cutting the energy they use and the emissions they produce.

“The buildings we put up today will still be standing in 50 years. They need to run on clean energy and use as little of it as possible, while staying cool in heatwaves and coping with floods and storms. COP31 needs to agree targets that make this the standard for new buildings everywhere.”

Professor Irem Dikmen, Professor of Construction Engineering and Management at the University of Reading's School of Built Environment, Executive Board Member of UKCRIC will speak at two panels at COP31, focusing on bridging mitigation and adaptation, and building climate-resilient infrastructure and cities through long-term water security.

Professor Dikmen said: “Roads, power, water and transport networks all depend on each other. When extreme weather knocks out one of them, the others can fail too. To make infrastructure resilient to climate change, we need to understand those links, involve the people who build, run and use these systems, and keep plans flexible as climate risks change.

“COP31 should agree a shared approach to planning infrastructure that treats it as one connected system linking people, technology and the natural environment.”

Space data for climate action

Space4Climate, the UK’s climate Earth observation network based at the University of Reading, is helping to lead a free online event running alongside COP31.

The Space Climate Observatory (SCO) World Virtual Congress runs from 16 to 20 November. Over 12 sessions, experts will explore how satellite data can help tackle floods, droughts, wildfires, rising seas and other climate challenges.

Space4Climate will co-host the opening session with the UK Space Agency and the French space agency CNES on Monday 16 November, 12pm–1.30pm (UK time). Speakers include Professor Rosalind Cornforth and Professor Richard Allan from the University of Reading, who will discuss how Earth observation can help turn climate commitments into action.

Both events are free and open to anyone. Register via Space4Climate. 

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