Call for staff and students to be part of this year's annual Climate Change Conference - COP27

DMU is set to host a series of events alongside the world’s biggest climate change conference to give staff and students the chance to get involved.

The United Nations Annual Climate Change Conference, COP27, is set to take place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt between November 6-18, 2022, and will see world leaders meet to try and agree policies and strategy to create a more sustainable global future.

To mark this, DMU is encouraging staff and students at DMU to help drive climate action at the heart of campus by hosting activities during this time.

Supported by DMU's United Nations Academic Impact Hub for SDG 16 (UNAI), the Sustainability Team and the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) project, the programme of activities will create new ways of working and innovations that will not only improve our campus life, but show politicians, large institutions and others that change is possible.

The activities will start on November 3, with a showcase of the university’s efforts on climate action, through teaching, research and campus operations.

This launch event will be followed by a series of activities at the university including the promotion of several schemes for staff and students to make a difference.

These include: Green Impact, Sustainability Advocates opportunities, SDG drop-ins, research impact initiatives and sessions on how to connect to the DMU UNAI SDG16 Hub.

This year, COP27 will focus on four keys areas and the university is encouraging events and activities to discuss each theme.

1. Mitigation - how to limit global warming to well below 2C and work hard to keep the 1.5C target alive
2. Adaptation - how to enhance resilience and assist the most vulnerable communities
3. Finance - how global climate action is funded
4. Collaboration - ensuring adequate representation and participation from all relevant stakeholders

Associate Director of Sustainable Development Goal Impact, Mark Charlton said: “We want to unite our staff and students around the need for Climate Action, showcase the good work already being done and inspire others to get involved.

“This is an open call for events and we would encourage people to get as creative as possible with the sessions they might offer.”

For the first time, this year DMU is hosting its inaugural Climate Action Awards to celebrate the work of staff and students who are making change happen. Details of the awards and entry submission will be announced shortly.

Anyone wishing to submit an event or discuss and idea for a COP27 activity is asked to email dmusdg16@dmu.ac.uk