University joins national climate network

Climate Change

The University of Liverpool has joined the COP26 Universities Network, to strengthen access to research, evidence and academic expertise ahead of the UN COP26 Climate Summit in November this year.

A consortium of more than 50 UK Universities, the network aims to ensure that the sector plays its part in delivering a successful COP26, getting all players on track to deliver a low-carbon, resilient world. The network is working to ensure easier access to evidence and academic expertise relevant to COP26 for government, NGOs, and other actors, and through its own actions.

Professor Ric Williams, School of Environmental Sciences says: “I’m delighted that the University of Liverpool has signed up to the COP26 Universities Network. We recently established our Climate Futures Research Challenge to increase the University’s efforts in tackling climate change and transitioning to a low-carbon future. Joining the Network is a fantastic opportunity for us to participate in a collective effort to engage with policy decision-makers through COP26 to drive change and address the challenge of climate change.”

The University’s academic engagement with the COP26 Universities Network will be coordinated through the Climate Futures Challenge Steering Group.

More about the COP26 Universities Network

The UK is a global leader in action on climate change and a considerable contribution stems from work undertaken in Universities, in terms of research, training, translation and innovation.

In the build-up to the COP26 event, following the example given from France in 2015, a series of publications, events and activities will take place to create momentum, engage public and business audiences, and support the UK Government in its planning.

To this end, UK Universities stand ready to collaborate and mobilise their capacities on issues relevant to the meeting and its build-up. The network has connected with Italian higher education counterparts, so that plans are shared between academics across the two countries.

The group has met at grass roots academic level since September 2019 to discuss and agree plans for COP26.