Higher Education at COP26

Higher Education at COP26 : 1 – 12 November 2021.

The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November 2021. During this summit, parties will come together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This meeting is therefore very significant, as is the role Higher Education will play to reduce Climate Change. Indeed, it is soon the young generations who will be in charge of organizing such events and taking decisions on the internatonal scale, and Higher Education has the responsability to prepare them to create a better future for all.

A lot of projects and campaigns are being led by Higher Education Insititutions in direct link with the upcoming COP26.

An example of that is the creation of the Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort in the lead-up to the COP26. The goal is to accelerate knowledge transfer across the Commonwealth. The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and the British Council have therefore partnered to establish the Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort, supporting 26 rising-star researchers from 16 countries to bring their expertise to a global stage.

Dr Paulette Bynoe is part of this initiative and wrote an article ahead of the COP26. She will act to mentore some of the 26 rising-star researchers. She is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Guyana’s Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and has led a distinguished career in teaching and research in the field of environmental impact and policy and previously served as the G77 and China lead negotiator.
She wants to bring an optimistic spirit and believes in the late President Nelson Mandela's saying : “Our experience has taught us that with goodwill a negotiated solution can be found for even the most profound problems”. She believes that COP26 provides a window of opportunity to act and that it is imperative that Parties to the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement maintain the centrality of the present and future climate crisis.

Link to the article : https://www.acu.ac.uk/get-involved/cop26-commonwealth-futures-climate-re...
More information on the Cohort here : https://www.acu.ac.uk/get-involved/cop26-commonwealth-futures-climate-re...

Another initiative taken by Higher Education Institutions ahead of the COP26 is the creation of The COP26 Universities Network. It is a growing group of more than 55 UK-based universities and research centres working together to raise ambition for tangible outcomes from the UN COP26 Climate Change Conference. The Network will create lasting partnerships and legacies that reach beyond this single event.
The Network's mission is to ensure that the UK academic sector plays its role in delivering a successful COP26, getting all players on track to deliver a zero-carbon, resilient world. They aim to do so by easing access to evidence and academic expertise for COP26 for government, NGOs, and other actors, and by taking action.

More information on this Network here : https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/cop26/about/

The Global University Climate Forum is also a project that aims at empowering students to take action in order to reduce Climate Change. It brings student activists together to share ideas, learn, connect, and act on the global imperative of addressing climate change. Launched during the week of November 9, 2020, the Forum is a one-year program that is inclusive, inspiring, and impact-oriented.
134 multidisciplinary teams of students from 44 countries were accepted to participate based on their proposals for actionable projects in one of four tracks: Inspiration and Empowerment, Ideas into Action, Governance and Policy Innovation and Innovation and Imagination.
The nearly 500 accepted students participated in a series of workshops during the week of November 9, 2020. Once the workshops were done, students executed and reported on their ideas for six months. Successfully completed projects will be included in a publication to be issued during the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Glasgow, Scotland.

More information on the Forum here : https://campuspress.yale.edu/climateforum/

ONE OCEAN HUB’S COP26 SIDE EVENTS
Starting on 27 September. Full information and registration here:
https://oneoceanhub.org/one-ocean-hubs-cop26-side-events-registration-no...

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