On the 12th December 2023, Sustainable Futures hosted the Accelerating Just Climate Action Conference. Supported by Tyndall Manchester, Henry Royce Institute and Creative Manchester, this event was a one-day conference that showcased the work of Early Career Researchers at The University of Manchester. The work of these researchers intersected with topics that were discussed during the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference or "COP28".
Held at the University's Alliance Manchester Business School, the conference consisted of 4 sessions each focusing on a unique aspect of the climate crisis. Each session consisted of 3 speakers who were in turn invited to attend a Q&A panel with two other special guests and the session chair. The day began with the first session titled Global South followed by Local Transitions to Net Zero. After a networking lunch, two more sessions on the Circular Economy and External Collaboration ensued.
The overall aim of this conference was to foster debate, collaboration and interdisciplinary thinking to help develop new, or grow existing relationships across the University’s diverse group of Early Career Researchers studying the many facets of sustainability. The conference was organised and executed in the spirit of helping to accelerate climate action.
Professor Mike Shaver, Professor of Polymer Science at The University and Director of Sustainable Futures, welcomed attendees and commenced proceedings with an energetic introduction. Watch Mike's intro here:
Professor Shaver then gave up the stage for Dr Luke Graham, chair of the day's first session, Global South. Dr Graham then introduced the conference's first speaker Dr Yusra Suedi. Yusra is a Lecturer in International Law at UoM, where her research is focused on international dispute settlement, climate/environmental law and human rights. Her talk was titled "Climate Change Litigation before the African Human Rights System: Prospects and Pitfalls." Watch Yusra's talk here:
The next speaker, Gloria Muñoz Romero, followed soon after with a talk named "Enabling just climate change adaptation in the Global South: Where to start?" Gloria is a PhD candidate in Planning and Environmental Management with a focus on public policies and land management at The University of Manchester.
In her talk, Gloria addressed the gap on research about ongoing individual adaptive behaviour among the urban poor and argued that socially just adaptation to climate change begins with acknowledging the everyday forms of resistance and struggle of the global majority. Watch Gloria's talk here:
After this talk, Dr Chris Kinally gave his presentation on 'Toxic waste from solar energy access initiatives'. Chris is a postdoctoral researcher from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at The University of Manchester. Chris recently completed his PhD assessing the environmental and ethical implications of waste from off-grid solar technologies in sub-Saharan Africa, intersecting the fields of life cycle assessment and energy ethics.
Chris’s presentation on his PhD research highlights that efforts to promote electricity access with off-grid solar technologies in sub-Saharan Africa are causing justice issues from the privatisation of energy access and ineffective e-waste management. Most concerningly, the highly toxic flow of waste lead-acid batteries presents substantial health and environmental burdens – threatening to exacerbate the child lead poisoning epidemic in the Global South. Watch Chris' presentation here:
Chris' presentation signalled the end of the first round of talks which meant a panel discussion followed afterwards. Each of the Global South presenters were invited to take part along with Dr Aarti Krishnan and Dr Polyanna da Conceição Bispo.
Aarti is a developmental economist, working at the nexus of environment, trade and development. Aarti holds a Masters in Environmental Management and PhD in Development Policy from The University of Manchester, and BBA (Finance) from Delhi University. Meanwhile, Polyanna's research encompasses Forest Ecology and Earth Observation, contributing to the development of methodologies and strategies to monitor tropical forests, as well as understanding how environmental factors influence and shape biodiversity and forest structure. Polyanna is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography at The University of Manchester, having started her role in 2019. Before this, she was a Research Associate at the University of Leicester, working as a Marie Curie Individual Fellow (Horizon 2020 EU). Watch the panel discussion here:
After a spirited discussion amongst the panel members, attendees took a break for refreshments.
After the break, Dr Chris Jones welcomed back attendees for the second session of the day, Local Transitions to Net Zero.
The first speaker of this session, Alexandra Barrueta Sacksteder, proceeded with their talk 'Beyond net zero: Building sustainable communities.' Alexandra is a Strategist from Mexico who lives in Manchester and cares deeply about running responsible organizations. A published author in the fields of responsible management and communication, her current research is focused on the implementation of carbon reduction strategies that go beyond net zero.
Alexandra's talk looked at carbon reduction strategies that go beyond net zero; mainly carbon positive, carbon negative and climate positive. She addressed the need for these strategies as well as how viewing them as aspirations enables a wider adoption. The talk's main focus was on community-wide adoption of said strategies and why it is time we move beyond net zero.
After this, Thomas van Laake followed with his talk 'Cycling networks and mobility justice: urban inequality and the scales of infrastructural transition in Manchester, Mexico City, and Toronto'. Thomas is an urban geographer with a particular interest in urban cycling. Originally from the Netherlands, he lived in Bogotá for four years and worked on projects related to cycling infrastructure and sustainable mobility policy in Latin America. Since 2021, he has been undertaking doctoral research at The University of Manchester, developing a comparative analysis of cycling infrastructure implementation in Manchester, Mexico City, and Toronto. Watch Thomas' talk here:
The third and final speaker of this session, Claire Brown, soon wrapped up this round of presentations with her talk 'Is it possible to build climate resilience social housing in the UK?'. Claire Brown is a PhD Researcher at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change from The University of Manchester. Claire’s research focuses on addressing issues around heating and cooling demand in social housing in the UK. Her talk was centred around these research interests. Watch Claire's talk here:
After this talk, Dr Chris Jones invited each of the three speakers to join Dr Joe Blakey and Dr Aurora Fredriksen for the second panel discussion of the day. Joe is an Environmental and Political Geographer whose work focuses on examining the political and social challenges of human-environment relations and post-carbon futures. Aurora is a social and cultural geographer interested in the ethics and politics of sharing space with others - human and non-human - in times of rapid ecological change. She joined the department of Geography in July 2016 as a Simon Research Fellow before starting as a Lecturer in 2018. Watch the discussion here:
After two deeply insightful and stimulating sessions that focused on different aspects of the climate challenge, the Conference paused for a lunch break.
Professor Mike Shaver welcomed back attendees, introducing and chairing the third session of the day, the Circular Economy.
Lois Pennington, final year PhD researcher based at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change, kicked of this session with her talk 'A Life Cycle Approach to Waste Management in the UK Aviation Sector'. Her talk was based on her research, which explores the management of waste in the aviation sector, using volume estimations and Life Cycle Assessment to calculate the environmental impact of both cabin and airport waste management. Watch Lois' talk below:
This talk was followed by 'The attributes of the informal e-waste management sector', given by Nicolas Enrique Labra Cataldo. Nicolás, also a PhD researcher at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, gave his talk on his research foci, including comprehending the informal aspects of the waste management sector and assessing circular economy strategies through a life cycle thinking approach. Watch Nicolas' presentation below:
The third and final talk of this session was given by Zixian Su, and was titled 'Developing and Applying Low Carbon Cements: towards Net-Zero'. Zixian is a PhD student in Materials Science at the Henry Royce Institute, where his research focuses on the use of advanced X-ray CT Imaging for low-carbon cement. His talk delved into this research area. Watch Zixian's talk here:
After Zixian's presentation, Professor Mike Shaver called the rest of the speakers down to hold a panel. They were joined in this discussion by Dr Claudia Henninger and Dr Alejandro Gallego Schmid. Claudia is a Reader in Fashion Marketing Management, with a research interest and passion in sustainability, the circular economy, and more specifically collaborative consumption, in the context of the fashion industry. She is also the Sustainable Futures Challenge Lead for Resourceful Futures.
On the other hand, Alejandro works as a Senior Lecturer in Circular Economy and Life Cycle Sustainability at The University of Manchester. He is part of Tyndall Manchester, where he works identifying sustainable solutions for industrial, agricultural, textile, construction, water and energy systems on a life cycle and circular economy basis, taking into account economic, environmental and social aspects.
Watch the panel discussion here:
After the panel and a short break, the fourth and final session on External Collaboration took place.
Session chair, Dr Catherine Headley, introduced the first speaker of this round, Dr Muir Freer who gave his talk titled 'Fuelling the Future of Glass: An Industrial Collaboration on Biofuels'. Muir is a Research Associate in Environmental Engineering and Climate Change at the Tyndall Centre. He specialises in modelling decarbonisation supply chains, and creating strategic roadmaps for the energy, transport, and agricultural sectors. His work revolves around dispersed Bio-Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage supply chains, aiming to meet Net-Zero targets. His talk focused on these research interests. Watch Muir's presentation here:
Dr Diarmaid Clery was up next with a talk named 'Social license to operate in the UK industrial clusters'. Diarmaid joined the Tyndall Centre in 2019 upon completing his PhD at the University of Leeds. He now works as part of the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre, working with stakeholders from CCUS clusters and the UK public to establish a social license for industrial decarbonisation, carbon capture storage (CCS) and bioenergy with CCS. His presentation details his research in this area. Watch Diarmaid's presentation below:
To round off the final session of talks, Harry Barton, PhD researcher at Tyndall Manchester, presented 'Accelerating city-level climate action: developing and trialling city-level decarbonisation projects and interventions'. This talk was centred around Harry's research project, which hopes to identify examples where cities are making significant emissions reductions and gather insights that support decarbonisation in Greater Manchester, culminating in a report of best practice and proposals for taking transferable insights for Greater Manchester forward. Watch Harry's talk below:
Dr Catherine Headley then invited the speakers to join Dr Tom McDonald and Dr Helen Holmes for the final panel discussion of the day. Tom a Reader in Sustainable Materials in the departments of Materials and Chemistry. He obtained his PhD from The University of Manchester in Materials Science in 2009. Helen is an interdisciplinary social scientist with expertise in the sociology of consumption, sustainability, materiality and diverse forms of economy, particularly circular economy. She is also the Deputy Director for Sustainable Futures.
Watch the panel discussion here:
The end of this panel discussion marked the end of an intriguing and thought-provoking day. A drinks reception followed wherein attendees were able to network and discuss the days' topics and activities.
The Conference was able to bring researchers and other academics from across The University of Manchester to come together and delve into the most pressing issues concerning our world today. After some closing thoughts provided by the Director of Tyndall Manchester, Professor Carly McLachlan, the Accelerating Just Climate Action Conference was brought to a close. Watch the closing thoughts here:
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