UKRI prepares for COP26 with global climate change events

Large waves breaking against the sea wall at Dawlish, Devon

An international events series hosted by UKRI and partners is taking place as the UK prepares for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November.

The COP26 adaptation and resilience series aims to showcase collaborative, locally-led and globally significant research focused around how we can respond to and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

Research highlighted will be aligned to the UK COP26 presidency’s adaptation and resilience theme. The events will feed into COP26 by discussing solutions to the climate challenges we face, bringing together:

  • global communities
  • businesses
  • researchers from a range of disciplines
  • local, regional and national-level policymakers.

The first event took place with a UK-hosted international launch on Thursday 3 June 2021.

Further events will take place over the next five months and will be co-hosted with COP26 delivery partners based in different countries and regions across the globe. Discussions at each event will focus on key climate adaptation and resilience issues encountered by the host countries and regions.

Collaborative international efforts

UKRI has convened an expert group of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) lead authors to develop a set of core questions to help frame discussions across the series. This will ensure that we deliver coherent messaging at COP26.

Core questions are:

  • what research is needed to respond to the adaptation gap?
  • how to evaluate the feasibility of adaptation options and outcomes for resilient and sustainable development?
  • what examples are there of transformative adaptation research enabling action through addressing social justice, capacity building and governance?
  • how can research funders, universities and data managers best champion inclusive, urgent and solutions-oriented adaptation research?

Dr Sarah Webb, Associate Director, International at the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UKRI, said:

People and ecosystems across the world are already experiencing the effects of climate change.

This is an important events series which will enable us as a global research community to consider how to better understand and manage the climate risks and impacts we face.

Our role is to bring together scientists, policymakers and business to discuss these issues and build evidence and identify locally-led solutions to support COP26’s ambitious objectives.

Further information

Find out further information about the upcoming events.

Top image:  Credit: monkeybusinessimages / Getty Images

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