Climate Change Lecture Series 2018

The 2018 Climate Change Lecture Series starts today with ideas and actions from Bangladesh to tackle the issue. This lecture, by Saleemul Huq, Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, is the first of five free events in Cambridge which will be live streamed around the world.

Engaging young people globally is a key objective of CCLS – and that’s the focus of the second lecture on 22 February, by Renee Juliene Karunungan, of Climate Tracker. A CCLS essay competition for the best ideas to tackle climate change has attracted more than 80 entries, including people from the global south – the winner will be announced at the first lecture.

CCLS was  co-founded in 2017 by Trinity Fellow, Dr Hugh Hunt, in frustration at the apparent inertia and inability of government and intergovernmental institutions to bring about meaningful change.

At the same time,  at the Conferences of (government) Parties focused on climate change, Dr Hunt witnessed the enthusiasm, concerns and ideas of young people – who will bear the brunt of rising sea levels, flooding, temperature rises, and biodiversity loss, to name just some of the predicted impacts of climate change. He said:

Young people really are the future – I met many people from around the world who are very concerned and committed to tackling what is without doubt the greatest challenge of this and subsequent generations’ lifetimes. There is so much that people can do, from becoming vegan and not flying, to taking action at a political level aimed at halting production of fossil fuels.

CCLS is emphatically not another ‘talking shop’, says Dr Hunt. ‘Cambridge has many climate-change events but we’re ‘preaching to the choir’ in this city. CCLS seeks to showcase Cambridge as fertile hub for climate change-thinking and action.’

Anyone with an internet connection can watch the events via live stream on Facebook #CCLS2018. Attending the events in person is free – just let the organisers know you are coming via Facebook.

Loss and damage: Insights from the front lines in Bangladesh 

     15 February, 19:30 UTC

Dr Saleemul Huq, Director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), Independent University, Bangladesh

Engaging youth with climate change

      22 February, 19:30 UTC

Renee Juliene Karunungan, Climate Tracker

Satellite observations for climate resilience and sustainability’

     1 March, 19:30 UTC

 Professor Stephen Briggs, European Space Agency – European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications, & University of  Cambridge

Protecting carbon sinks: Resetting our relationship with nature

     8 March, 19:30 UTC

Lisa Walker, CEO of Ecosphere+

The above events take place in Trinity’s Winstanley Lecture Theatre and will be followed by a reception with eco-friendly snacks, and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic).

The last event in the 2018 series, Climate Change is Now, is a panel discussion on 15 March 19:30 UTC, which is part of Cambridge Science Festival, at Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Site Avenue, with Sir David King, Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative for Climate Change, Renee Juliene Karunungan, Climate Tracker, Lisa Walker, Ecosphere+  You can book your place via the Cambridge Science Festival.

There is more information about taking part in CCLS2018.