SGR online conference (open to all - 4.00-6.00 PM BST) and AGM (members only - 6.15-6.45 PM BST)
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Speakers and presentations
- Which technologies are most effective in the transition away from fossil fuels?
Prof Mark Jacobson, Stanford University - Ending the social licence for overconsumption
Kate Power, Independent Consultant - A treaty to keep carbon underground: the rising tide of supply-side policies
Prof Peter Newell, Sussex University - Military carbon emissions: how can we stop them rising?
Dr Stuart Parkinson, Scientists for Global Responsibility
Chair: Andrew Simms, Scientists for Global Responsibility
Download a pdf of the conference programme and AGM agenda here.
Summaries of the presentations and short biographies of the speakers are provided below.
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Presentation abstracts and speaker biographies
A treaty to keep carbon underground: the rising tide of supply-side policies
Prof Peter Newell, Sussex University
In 2023, it was reported that $150 billion of finance went to companies working on 425 'carbon bomb' projects - each capable of emitting a gigatonne of carbon. We urgently need to defuse these bombs, not least by ending their financial support. Encouragingly, there is also a rising tide of supply-side policies to keep fossil fuels underground. One of these is the proposal for a Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty, which has inspired a rapidly growing global campaign. Can it break new ground and become an effective complement to other international agreements?
Biography
Peter Newell is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Sussex and co-founder and research director of the Rapid Transition Alliance. His recent research focuses on the political economy of low carbon energy transitions, but he has undertaken research, advocacy and consultancy work on different aspects of climate change for over 25 years. He has worked at the universities of Sussex, Oxford, Warwick and East Anglia in the UK and FLACSO Argentina. He has sat on the board of directors of Greenpeace UK and Carbon Market Watch in Brussels, and currently sits on the board of the Green House think-tank and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative. He has also worked for Friends of the Earth (England & Wales) and Climate Network Europe. He has undertaken advisory work for the governments of the UK, Ireland, India, Sweden and Finland and for international organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme, the Global Environment Facility, the Inter-American Development Bank, UNCTAD and the World Bank. His authored and co-authored several books include Climate for Change; Governing Climate Change; Globalization and the Environment; Climate Capitalism; Transnational Climate Change Governance; Global Green Politics; Power Shift: The Global Political Economy of Energy Transitions and Changing Our Ways: Behaviour Change and the Climate Crisis.
Which technologies are most effective in the transition away from fossil fuels?
Prof Mark Z Jacobson, Stanford University
As the need for rapid transition away from fossil fuels becomes ever more widely accepted, so the debate on which technologies are best placed to replace them intensifies. It is all too easy for the non-expert to become bewildered by the huge range of claims for different non-fossil fuel energy sources. In some cases incumbent energy providers promote technologies that appear to provide an alternative but under closer inspection are revealed to be still fossil fuel dependent, or designed to prolong the dominance of fossil fuels in other ways. So which technologies are best placed in terms of speed of substitution and wider economic and environmental benefits to end dependence on coal, oil and gas, and how quickly can they be put in place?
Biography
Mark Z Jacobson is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University, USA. His career has focused on better understanding air pollution and global warming problems and developing large-scale clean, renewable energy solutions to them. Towards that end, he has developed and applied three-dimensional atmosphere-biosphere-ocean computer models and solvers to simulate and understand air pollution, weather, climate, and renewable energy systems. He has also developed roadmaps to transition countries, states, cities, and towns to 100% clean, renewable energy for all purposes and computer models to examine grid stability in the presence of 100% renewable energy. Jacobson has been a professor at Stanford University since 1994. He has published over 185 peer-reviewed journal articles, given about 750 invited talks, published six books, and founded (in 2004) and still directs the Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford.
Ending the social licence for overconsumption
Kate Power, independent consultant
Reducing consumption in richer populations remains something of a taboo, even within the climate movement – even though reducing our aggregate demand for energy and resources is one of the quickest and simplest ways to reduce environmental harm. Pressure to consume seems to come from all around: how might we shift cultural norms towards low carbon and resilient ways of living? How can we ensure our actions contribute to deeper systemic change? And how will we have fun while doing it?
Biography
Kate Power is an expert in sustainable consumption and behaviour change, with 16 years' experience as a consultant providing research, analysis, and training for clients including the European Environment Agency, European Commission, Nordic Council of Ministers, Greenpeace Germany, Copenhagen Business School, Climate Outreach, and KR Foundation. She recently led work on fair, caring and sustainable lifestyles for the Hot or Cool Institute. She has a Master´s degree in anthropology, and 24 years’ work experience overall in the non-profit sector. Kate is an advocate for the scientific legitimacy of social sciences in the climate debate, as well as for the essential role of individual behaviour change as a force for systemic change.
Military carbon emissions: how can we stop them rising?
Stuart Parkinson, Scientists for Global Responsibility
Global military spending is rising rapidly – not least due to ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza. In 2023, it reached its highest level on record – $2.4 trillion – nearly 7% higher than the previous year. Data on military and conflict carbon emissions is very patchy – but some NATO countries are claiming their own emissions are either steady or falling. However, independent research argues that emissions tend to rise with military spending – and that this is the case both within NATO and globally. Who is right? And what can be done to bring down military and conflict emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement?
Biography
Dr Stuart Parkinson is Executive Director of Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR), and has been involved in research and campaign work on climate issues for over 30 years. He leads SGR’s work on military carbon emissions, having authored three influential reports on the issue at UK, European, and global levels. This work is regularly quoted by academics, security think-tanks, politicians, journalists, peace campaigners, and military bodies. He started his career as an engineer in the arms industry, before ethical concerns led him to move into environmental work, including posts at the University of Surrey and Friends of the Earth (England & Wales). He holds a PhD in climate physics, and has been an Expert Reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
