On Jan 25, 2019, Professor Kevin Anderson, the chair of energy and climate change at the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE) at the University of Manchester spoke at the Oxford Climate Society.
He is one of the rare academics with a background in mechanical engineering even worked on oil platforms as a young man. I addition to producing peer reviewed research he engages with European governments on issues ranging from shale gas, aviation and shipping. He also brings a strong sense of justice and equity into his recommendations on how to prevent climate chaos.
He said that it’s twenty-eight years since the IPCC’s first report on climate change and over a quarter of a century since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Now, in 2019, and with the benefit of hindsight, we can trace our voyage of abject failure – and with humility learn lessons for charting an alternative low-carbon course. Kevin Anderson also said we need to explore how academia has abdicated its responsibility to hold government to account, choosing instead to be complicit in maintaining a façade of mitigation.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)
