Royal Holloway has been accredited as an official observer at COP26 in Glasgow, and ten of our academics, from a range of different departments, will be reporting from the talks themselves. You can find out more about some of our academics who will be attending COP26 below:
Professor David Simon, Professor of Development Geography, Department of Geography
Research
My research encompasses principally the interface between development and the environment, in the context of sustainability and global environmental/climate change, with particular reference to urban, peri-urban and regional change, sustainability and resilience. Also multi-stakeholder and transdisciplinary co-production methods.
Why attending / aims for COP26
“At COP26 I’ll contribute to debates on increasing ambition in relation to urban sustainability transformations; I’ll also be flying the flag for the Commission on Sustainable Agricultural Intensification, on which I serve. More generally, I’ll be scouting the stands and exhibitions to see what others are doing in these fields, and hope to catch up with some international colleagues/UN staffers with whom I collaborate.”
Dr Rebecca Fisher, Department of Earth Sciences, The Greenhouse Gas Group
Research
My research within the Greenhouse Gas Research Group focuses on understanding the reasons for increasing atmospheric methane concentrations in the atmosphere and identification of sources of methane emissions using tools such as stable isotopic analysis and methane:ethane ratios. Mobile measurements of greenhouse gas concentrations are also used to locate and quantify emissions.
Why attending / aims for COP26
“Attendance at COP26 will help develop links between my research and direct greenhouse gas emissions reduction. There is a clear fit with the first goal of COP26 – ‘to secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees C in reach’.”
NB: Join Rebecca Fisher and Julianne Fernandez from the Department of Earth Sciences alongside scientists from NPL and the Universities of Bristol and Edinburgh on the 11 November from 13:00 - 15:30 for an online COP26 Universities Panel Meeting where they ask 'What Role Does Measurement Play in Climate Action?'
More information here: https://bit.ly/3w2cjAJ
Dr Laurie Parsons, Lecturer in Human Geography (Principal Investigator of the Project The Disaster Trade: The Hidden Footprint of UK Imports and Investment Overseas)
Research
My research seeks to explore how climate change is articulated through the social, political and economic systems within which we live. My work demonstrates, the subjectivities and inequalities which shape climate change impacts channel their worst impacts through the lens of pre-existing local and global precarities. My book, Climate Change in the Global Workplace, was published with Routledge in 2021.
Why attending / aims for COP26
“At Cop 26 I will be seeking to highlight the role of the global economy in shaping vulnerability to climate change. This is a key meeting not only for global decarbonisation efforts, but also to highlight the climatic precarity faced by the world’s most vulnerable workers. I’ll be raising these issues in relation not only to research, through the newly released Disaster Trade project, but also teaching, by promoting our new Environment and Social Change BSc, beginning next academic year.”
Professor Dave Waltham, Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Earth Sciences
Research
I have undertaken 35 years of research and teaching in subjects from oil-exploration to exoplanets and climate change to computer-programming. Nowadays I concentrate on Energy Transition issues such as how to store energy and carbon dioxide underground
Why attending / aims for COP26
“I am attending COP26 as an official UNFCCC observer for the Citizens Climate Lobby (a grassroots organisation lobbying for people-friendly climate taxes). I’m there to help ensure transparency and openness and to make sure that the views of civil society are heard.
I am running 15-minute Q&A sessions with 8 secondary schools across the UK.”
Dr Daniele Colombaroli, Department of Geography, Centre for Quaternary Research
Research
My research lies on the interface between Biogeography, Long-term Ecology and Conservation Biology. I'm primarily interested in past environmental changes (related to people, ecosystems and climate) as they can inform us on biological responses under future global change scenarios
Why attending / aims for COP26
“My main purpose for attending Cop26 is to get a sense about plans for achievement (or not) of the net-zero goal in the short term, as this will have long-term consequences on climate and ecosystems in the future. ”
Professor Simon Blockley, Director of the Centre for Quaternary Research - Department of Geography
Research
The CQR promotes interdisciplinary research based on three themes of major importance for understanding Quaternary climatic and environmental change: 1) the dynamics of global change; 2) the human dimension of environmental change, and 3) advances in geochronology to understand rates of response to climate change. A core goal of the CQR is to use our understanding of natural climatic change and environmental response to help with predictions of future changes.
Why attending / aims for COP26
My reason for attending is to find out more about how research within the CQR can feed into key issues around COP26. It is really useful to us to know where there are uncertainties over future projections, for example around abrupt events or regional patterns of response to climate forcing, and for me COP26 is a chance to see the level of understanding of the science across different groups, from politicians to NGO’s and to see where there are questions and debates where our science could be important. We all desperately hope that COP26 is a success and leads to genuine cuts in emissions but even if that is the case continued warming is likely and it is important to understand what this means for different populations, different ecosystems and different parts of the Earth, from glaciers to continents and oceans. CQR scientists work on all of these issues using records of the past to understand how climate change can influence them. What we are increasingly interested in is how we can best use our expertise to help with understanding what this means for the future.
Four other academics from Royal Holloway attending COP26 are Professor Helen Gilbert, Professor Ben OLoughlin, Dr Juan Pablo Rud, and Dr Mohammad Kalantari.