COP26 talks: Changing the way we live

Changing the way we live was the theme of the third in our series of four COP26 talks reflecting how our world-leading research is contributing to climate policy and climate action, and how our institutional policies and actions are contributing to our community, campus and local environment.

Adrian Bell, Research Dean (Prosperity and Resilience), was joined by Kathy Pain, Professor of Real Estate Planning, and Dan Fernbank, Energy and Sustainability Director.

Introducing the session, Adrian said, “We will have to change the way we live if we are going to build resilience worldwide. This session will look at the city of the future and what we are already doing to ensure sustainability on campus.”

Kathy Pain’s presentation focused on the sustainability in the future city. She said, “Urban areas are home to more than half the world’s population, contribute 80% of the global economic output, consume 70% of global energy and are responsible for between 71-76% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. Urbanisation is planetary and what we are seeing here is a real global urban challenge in terms of the climate emergency.”

Dan Fernbank spoke about sustainability on campus and achieving net zero carbon by 2030. He said, “What we mean when we say net zero carbon emissions is reducing our carbon emissions as much as we can, and anything that remains we need to improve natural carbon capture such as through plants and through land to make sure that we remove as much carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as we are emitting.”

A video recording of the event can be accessed below:

The video can also be accessed directly on Microsoft Stream

If you missed the previous sessions, you can access the video recordings and a summary of COP26 talks: climate science, policy and education and COP26 talks: Green curriculum and balancing biodiversity on the Staff Portal.

The last of the COP26 talks will take place this week and will focused on:

Thursday 11 November – Reflections on COP26 and action at local level

• Speaker Professor Bill Collins (Meteorology): Reflections on COP26: Outcomes and next steps
• Professor Tim Dixon (Built Environment): Local action for climate change

Chair: Professor Dominik Zaum, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation)