Highlights of 2021-2022
Here are some of the highlights of Grantham Institute activities in 2021–22, showing how we contributed towards our vision for a sustainable, resilient, zero-carbon society.
highlights
Centre for climate change innovation launches
Imperial and the Royal Institution launched a joint centre to put London at the heart of global climate change innovation. The bold initiative will advance London’s leadership in innovation on climate change, supporting new and existing businesses, policymakers, the public, financiers and investors. In a message recorded for the launch event,
The Prince of Wales said: “I am really delighted to have been invited to join the launch of the Centre for Climate Change Innovation at Imperial College and the Royal Institution as a way to highlight the critical importance of science, technology and innovation to solving the increasingly urgent climate and biodiversity crises.”
WATCH: Launch event for the Centre for Climate Change Innovation
READ MORE: Shaping Solutions
[Image Credit: Imperial College London]
Global warning from IPCC
In August 2021, the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I showed ‘unequivocal’ evidence for human cause of widespread, rapid and intensifying climate change. Authors including Grantham Institute Director of Research Dr Joeri Rogelj and Senior Lecturer Dr Fredi Otto warned the world that sustained cuts to greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to limit sea level rise, heatwaves, droughts and fires. Grantham Institute co-organised a conference with the Royal Meteorological Society, Met Office and BEIS that explored the science for 650 business, NGO and civil service leaders, followed by an interactive session seeking collaborative solutions for the climate crisis.
READ MORE: Imperial news and media
[Image credit: Imperial College London]
Ruenna Haynes delivers annual lecture
The Grantham Institute’s first online Annual Lecture focused on lessons from the pandemic to help fight the climate crisis. Rueanna Haynes (pictured), International Climate Law and Governance Specialist and Director, Climate Analytics Caribbean, spoke to 600 virtual attendees in September 2021. Her lecture linked the existential threats from COVID-19 and climate change to the socioeconomic and environmental vulnerability of Small Island Developing States such as Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, and their combined inhabitants of 65 million people worldwide.
WATCH: Weathering the climate crisis and COVID-19: Epicentre of the perfect storm
[Image credit: Rawle Thornhill]
Climate action celebrated at festival
Solutions for climate change and environmental concerns took centre stage at the Great Exhibition Road Festival by Imperial and its cultural and educational neighbours in South Kensington. This lively public event saw families and adult visitors up-cycling cotton tote bags into sustainable yet fashionable items in a workshop by Hana Amer (pictured), exploring the implications of policy decisions on people and the environment with a card game developed by Drs Madeleine Morris and Oytun Babacan, and painting placards inspired by the Victoria & Albert Museum’s collection
of climate protest imagery.
EXPLORE: Visit the festival in 2022
Community committed at COP26
The 2021 calendar built up to November, when the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) arrived in the UK. We created stunning street murals with artists and young people, a Model-COP26 for university students, animations and international media commentary. Researchers, professionals and student delegates travelled to Glasgow to observe the negotiations, forge new connections, and share their expertise on biodiversity, eco-anxiety and the path to net-zero. The Institute established and coordinated a proliferation of climate change evidence, engagement and enthusiasm from the UK’s academic sector, with a legacy that continues as the UK Universities Climate Network (UUCN).
READ MORE: Highlights of the COP26 Presidency
Investors prepared for climate risks
With the help of Drs Alexandre Köberle and Anastasiya Ostrovnaya, Grantham
Institute’s Visiting Research Fellow from HSBC UK, Gaurav Ganguly, helped us
kick-start conversations on how the financial sector can integrate climate risks into their other risk assessments and planning processes. The Institute then contributed to the new Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Certificate in climate and investing, training investment practitioners to recognise the socio-economic implications of climate change and the systemic risk that climate change presents to the stability of the financial system.
READ MORE: A guide to building climate-financial scenarios for financial institutions