Ahead of COP27 (the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference), leading European research and university organisations have joined forces to renew the call for collective, common global efforts for climate action, launched last year.
They are proposing a systemic approach where universities, national research performing organisations and research funding organisations work together, involving policy-makers, the business sector and non-governmental organisations, in Europe and globally.
The call was made by the European association of leading universities of science and technology (CESAER), the European University Association (EUA), the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN), Science Europe, the Network of Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA) and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, the city that hosted COP26.
They gathered on Thursday 3 November for a symposium on “Interdisciplinarity for the Net-Zero Transition”, a lead-up event to COP27, to mobilise their expertise and call for cooperation in urgent climate actions.
In 2021 CESAER, ISCN, Science Europe and the University of Strathclyde launched a Call to Action for research performing and funding organisations and universities regarding the ‘net-zero transition’.
This year the EUA and UNICA joined the four partners in co-organising the COP27 lead-up symposium focused on “interdisciplinarity”, and all six organisations presented their commitment for climate action, shared good practice and called for the mobilisation of research and higher education communities.
In a joint statement they said universities and research performing and funding organisations are key contributors to the global net-zero transition effort in reducing their energy consumption and, most importantly, providing new insights into challenges, as well as solutions, including ‘green’ technologies and societal innovations.
Professor Gisou van der Goot, president of ISCN, said: “The net-zero transition is needed now, more than ever. The energy crisis, the war in Ukraine, and the lingering effects of COVID are all striking and dramatic revelations of the interconnectedness of our world, of which climate and sustainability are the ultimate examples.
“We are therefore committed to promoting international collaboration and working to build bridges between our institutions, to deepen our impact and accelerate our efforts toward realising the net-zero transition.”
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