#LoveYourPlanet

Local to National: Achieving Green Transition

14 FEBRUARY 2024 | 10AM-4:30PM | UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON, LOGAN HALL WC1H 0AL

In our third annual event around the theme of COP, Climate Reality Europe–Team UK have the pleasure of working with Shooka Bidarian, environmental TV presenter, producer and award-winning Climate Reality leader, and Mark Maslin, professor of Earth System Science, University College London (UCL) in a unique collaboration to bring you #LoveYourPlanet. The event will explore the outcomes of COP28 and why we have to transition faster than the international consensus. We will hear from businesses, policymakers, activists, and academics. The aim is to inform decision-making processes and inspire our audience.

Now is the time for us all to harness our areas of influence to encourage faster collective action for climate change and #LoveYourPlanet will show us that we can work together to achieve this.

With a specially recorded opening address from Climate Reality founder Al Gore, and a great speaker line-up, we look forward to welcoming you to #LoveYourPlanet on 14 February.

Versha Jones, UK Climate Reality Volunteer Coordinator

BOOK TICKETS HERE

PROGRAM

10.00 Opening remarks: Climate Reality, UCL, Climate Reality Team UK

10.30-11:30 Session 1: COP28 Outcomes

Explore and dissect the outcomes of COP28, delving into the key takeaways and implications for addressing climate change and setting the stage for informed discussions.

11.30-12.30 Session 2: Role of Businesses in Achieving Net Zero / Driving the Green Transition

Uncover the pivotal role of businesses in accelerating the transition towards a sustainable future.

12.30-13.30 Lunch

13.30-14.30 Session 3: Role of Policymakers in Achieving Net Zero / Driving the Green Transition

Highlight the crucial influence policymakers wield in steering the green agenda forward.

14.30-15.15 Session 4: Role of Community in Achieving Net Zero / Driving the Green Transition

Emphasise the power of communities in effecting change. The session will examine the grassroots efforts and community-driven initiatives crucial for achieving a sustainable transition.

15.15-15.45 Session 5: Fireside chat with high-profile figure

Engage in an intimate conversation with a prominent figure in the climate arena. Gain insights and perspective from their experiences and expertise in combating climate change.

15.45-16.00 Closing remarks

16.00-18.00 Climate Cafe (drinks) - networking event open to all and particularly marketed to students at UCL

Wind down and foster connections at the networking event open to all attendees, particularly aimed at UCL students. An opportunity to mingle, discuss, and forge collaborations in the pursuit of climate leadership and action.

GUEST SPEAKERS INCLUDE

Priti Parikh

Dr Priti Parikh is a Professor of Infrastructure Engineering and International Development and Director of the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction. She is founding head of UCL’s Engineering for International Development Centre which researches infrastructure solutions for water, sanitation, energy and clean cooking in lowmiddle income countries. Her work has infl uenced policy and practice especially around evidencing links between infrastructure and Sustainable Development Goals and climate change.

Simon Chin-Yee

Dr Simon Chin-Yee is a lecturer in development studies. He has 20 years of experience in international cooperation and policy. Simon’s research is focused on climate change, confl ict and vulnerable populations – with an emphasis on human security and climate justice on the African Continent and in Small Island States. Additionally, his research examines the global climate negotiations, understanding how norms, values and rules constructed within the global climate regime have an infl uence on national policies.

Mark Watts

Mark Watts is Executive Director of C40 Cities, a network of the mayors of nearly 100 of the world’s largest and most infl uential cities, dedicated to delivery science-based and inclusive climate action. C40 cities represent 25% of global GDP and hundreds of millions of residents. Under Mark’s leadership C40 has focused on showing through city leadership how the world can halve global carbon emissions by 2030, while creating millions of good green jobs and reducing inequality.

Erik Dalhuijsen

Erik is a physicist and petroleum engineer, as well as a climate change activist, sustainability engineer and avid ocean sailor. He advocates the introduction of the proven industrial approach to scaling up home decarbonisation in Scotland and the UK. He is developing a pilot for this in the Scotland’s North East. As a Dutch national living in the European oil-centre of Aberdeen, he is intimately familiar with the oil and gas industry from which he learned to use integrated solutions to complex challenges

Milan van der Meulen

Milan is a passionate environmentalist and entrepreneur whose journey began at the age of 13 when he was profoundly impacted by Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” Fueled by the desire to make a positive impact on the planet, Milan co-founded Soly in 2013, a visionary solar energy company dedicated to redefi ning how we power our lives. Right now Soly is considered as one of Europe’s leading solar energy businesses.

Eleni Polychroniadou

Eleni Polychroniadou is an impact entrepreneur and on a mission to grow the green building market globally. As the Co-Founder of Sintali, an environmental verifi cation company, Eleni takes a systems approach to decarbonising the built environment. She works with the private sector, fi nancial institutions, construction professionals and government to accelerate the uptake of green buildings in over 75 countries. Eleni was recently recognised as a rising star in ESG by the Women of the Future.

Buffy Price

Buff y is a co-founder and COO of Carbon Re. She wears many hats in this role including MarComm, Policy, Legal and HR. Formerly the AI for Climate Partnerships Manager at Element AI and Senior Advisor at Amnesty International, Buff y has extensive experience in change management, organisational development and project management.

Simon Heppner

Having worked in climate strategy for 15 years and cofounded The Sustainable Restaurant Association, Simon had a deep understanding of both the complexities of reaching Net Zero for major organisations and the realities of life as an SME and could see the need to create a sector-specifi c solution that would work across businesses large and small.

Shirley Rodrigues

Shirley is working to deliver the Mayor’s vision of making London greener, fairer and healthier through implementing his London Environment Strategy. This includes ambitious programmes to reduce air pollution across London, including the implementation of the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone, and greening and rewilding the city. Her key focus is on working to ensure London’s economic and social recovery from the impacts of COVID-19 is a green and fair one by tackling the climate and ecological emergency with the ambitious aim for London to be a net zero carbon city by 2030.

Robbie McPherson

Robbie is a senior political adviser at Uplift where he leads the secretariat for the All-Party Climate Group in Westminster, supporting cross-party MPs and Peers championing a just transition away from fossil fuels. Previously, he led the secretariat for the AllParty Environment Group in the politics team at leading environmental think-tank, Green Alliance where he helped to build political leadership for various ambitious green policies. Robbie has helped to infl uence local, national and international policy and political debates.

Annabel Rice

Annabel joined Green Alliance in September 2023 as a political adviser leading on the Warm This Winter campaign which brings together more than 50 environment and fuel poverty organisations. Previously she managed C40 Cities work on climate budgeting, an innovative governance mechanism seeking to accelerate urban climate action. Prior to this, Annabel has worked in international climate diplomacy most recently representing UK young people at the youth engagement group to the G7.

Tone Langenge

Tone is an expert in net-zero policy and strategy. Her work highlights the importance of practical policy solutions that address climate change. At TBI’s 2023 Future of Britain Conference, Tone was instrumental in developing the net-zero policy programme and worked with a technology company to show political leaders how embracing tech solutions and the strategic use of data can lead to better delivery outcomes.

Lauren MacDonald

Lauren is a climate justice campaigner, activist and spokesperson, focused on stopping all new oil and gas fi elds in the UK and pushing for a just transition to a safer, cheaper renewable energy system. She is currently working on the #StopRosebank campaign against the UK’s largest undeveloped oil fi eld, Rosebank, which was recently approved for development by the UK government. Lauren has a track record of high-profi le public speaking and has coordinated largescale mobilisations and campaigns against oil and gas.

Tori Tsui

Tori Tsui is a Bristol-based climate activist and writer from Hong Kong who focuses on climate justice and (environ) mental health. She is a cofounding member of the climate groups Bad Activist Collective and Unite for Climate Action and is an advisory board member of the Earth Percent group. Her debut book It’s Not Just You which explores the intersections between climate change and mental health from a justiceoriented perspective.

Molly Palmer

Molly is the Vice President of the University of Warwick Climate Reality campus corps. She has enjoyed getting involved in a range of events from the Climate Reality UK COP28 event with the u3a to a talk from MP Zarah Sultana on the green new deal. She has used her position to coordinate several crosssociety campaigns and initiatives including a #StopRosebank campaign, a Plant Based Universities Campaign and more recently embarked on supporting Warwick SU to become zero waste.

Louise Harris

Louise is a 25-year-old climate activist musician. Following 2 years of intense involvement on the frontline as well as behind the scenes of civil resistance, Louise has turned to music to spread her message of grief, and hope. Being a pop singer-songwriter, she now seeks to release music which helps people to emotionally connect with the climate crisis, and feel moved and empowered to fi ght it, through collective climate action. Her latest climate release, “We Tried”, was backed by Chris Packham, Brian Eno and Christiana Figueres, and reached #4 in the Big Top 40 Christmas Countdown.

Katherine Smith

Katherine is a Climate Reality Leader and worked with Climate Café to deliver key events during COP26 in Glasgow. Climate Café is a community-led space where people come together to drink, chat and act on climate change. The first one was founded by Jess Pepper in 2015 in the Scottish village of Birnam, Perthshire. Jess and her team now support other communities to start their own spaces, linked together in a global network. Attendees say these are safe spaces where they can share their ideas and concerns about the climate crisis.

ORGANIZERS

Shooka Bidarian

Shooka is a TV presenter and documentary maker, creating environmental, sustainability, and climate change content for English and Farsi-speaking audiences worldwide. Her work focuses on the interconnection between human health and a healthy environment. She presented and produced the fi rst ever climate change documentary in Farsi based on her experiences at COP26 in Glasgow. She is an award-winning Climate Reality Mentor and Leader. As part of this, she led the 100% Committed Campaign in Europe.

Mark Maslin

Mark is Professor of Earth System Science at UCL and the Natural History Museum of Denmark and has a particular interest in understanding the major challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. His work has been published in Science, Nature, and The Lancet. He regularly appears on radio and television, including David Attenborough’s Climate Change: The Facts (BBC). His books include Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction, The Cradle of Humanity and his latest book is How To Save Our Planet: The Facts.

Versha Jones

Versha is a graphic designer and works with award-winning book marketing and cover design departments. Her two worlds fi rst came together when she volunteered her time to Climate Reality to research, write and create strategic messaging and coordinate events. Now as UK Volunteer Coordinator for Climate Reality her aim is to engage as many people as she can to harness their area of infl uence to take action for the climate and build a safe future that moves away from the extraction of the planet’s natural resources at the expense of vulnerable people and our natural world.

VENUE

Disabled access All halls and rooms are accessible. A managed evacuation process is available from areas on levels 1 and 3 of the building for persons with mobility impairment. All areas of levels 4 to 9 of the building are accessible and feature horizontal means of escape and adapted facilities.

Tube (underground) The closest tube station is Russell Square, just 5 minutes’ walk away. Euston, Euston Square, Goodge Street, Tottenham Court Road, Holborn and Warren Street also nearby.

Train Euston is a 10 minute walk or a short taxi ride away. Kings Cross and St Pancras stations are less than a mile away

Light refreshments will be available

If you have any questions about the venue contact: 020 7612 6143 www.20bedfordway.com

Climate Reality Europe Team UK & University College London

in partnership with