Its Declaration implores world leaders to use the post-COVID recovery to implement measures to counteract climate change, warning that failure to do so will lock in catastrophic consequences for generations to come. Regional media events will be held with a panel of speakers from Asia-Pacific and UK university members.
An international coalition of leading climate research universities issued its first Declaration ahead of the G20 Summit on the 21st November 2020.
Professor Ian Jacobs, President and Vice-Chancellor of UNSW Sydney in Australia, which founded and leads the Climate Alliance, said he and his colleagues recognised the need for experts with diverse voices to speak out about the climate crisis. ‘Many challenges lie ahead of us in combatting the existential crisis in which the world finds itself. The International Universities Climate Alliance is a rich resource upon which governments, business, industry and the wider community can rely for evidence-based expert advice.’
The Climate Alliance is unprecedented in scale and scope and will support world leaders, policy makers and industry in planning for, and responding to, climate change. The advent of the Climate Alliance comes at a time when momentum is building for countries to decarbonise their economies. In recent months there have been moves by various nations to fortify incremental efforts with policies and actions equal to the urgency of the situation.
The Alliance will provide a central hub for universities to share the latest climate research and enable greater collaboration between leading research teams.
Media enquiries may be directed to universitiesforclimate@unsw.edu.au
Climate Alliance Declaration