Climate change should be treated as an emergency in the same way as the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study led by Glasgow Caledonian University's Centre for Climate Justice.
The study, which focused on the experiences of policymakers in climate-hit regions of sub-Saharan Africa, recommends that climate emergencies should require governments to keep the public informed in the same way they have during the pandemic, with real-time data given as it has been for infection rates, death tolls and vaccination numbers.
The study also concluded that funding for developing countries must not be stopped or curtailed despite the economic fallout caused by the pandemic in wealthier nations.
The research consortium, which also included the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) and academic partners in Africa, undertook the four-month project to explore the impact of COVID-19 on climate-change efforts by compiling case studies of policymakers from Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco and South Africa.
You can view the entire study here.
Glasgow Caledonian University has won funding to share the testimonies of those hit hardest by COVID-19 and climate change at an international event.
The University's Centre for Climate Justice has been awarded funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh to demonstrate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in Africa and its implications for climate action, as well as the lived experiences of African communities.
The project, Raising African voices in Scotland: Towards ambitious and equitable climate policy, will build upon an existing research collaboration between the Centre and the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), and other partnerships with the African public.
The project has been informed by the findings of a recent study that has made key recommendations about how climate change should be treated post COVID-19 pandemic, and will get under way with a hybrid launch event in Nigeria on Tuesday, July 14.
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the findings and recommendations of the study, gain a copy and first-look at the research report, and engage with an expert panel of researchers comprised from an international consortium involved in the study.
The study recorded the experiences of people in climate-hit regions of Sub-Saharan Africa during the pandemic, with the aim of changing future government and NGO thinking.
The Centre for Climate Justice undertook the four-month project with the PACJA to explore the impact of COVID-19 by compiling case studies from Kenya, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Gabon and Morocco.
Stakeholders from Scotland, Africa, and the wider international community will be invited to attend and contribute to formulating position statements and policy actions that will feature in a consolidated report for dissemination among policymakers and COP negotiators in the runup to COP26 in Glasgow.
Climate recovery in the wake of COVID-19 and the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) will be top of the agenda at the second World Forum on Climate Justice, to be held at Glasgow Caledonian University in September.
The event, organised by the University's Centre for Climate Justice, will take place as the planet is still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and just two months before global leaders meet in Glasgow during COP26. The Forum's themes will reflect both of these topics, recognising the need to incorporate climate justice into global climate governance and the post-COVID-19 recovery. The event will be led by a keynote address from former Republic of Ireland President Dr Mary Robinson and other high-profile names are expected to be announced in the coming weeks..
GCU held the inaugural World Forum, in partnership with Elsevier, back in 2019. With hundreds attending and a strong line-up of speakers, including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Dr Mary Robinson and Dr Kerry Kennedy, the event made a landmark contribution to the important discussion around the inequality of climate change and its impact.
Professor Tahseen Jafry, who is Conference Chair and Director of the Centre for Climate Justice, said: "On the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, we need to assess whether and how the global climate governance community can reduce the inequities and injustices of climate change across the planet.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted all aspects of social life, with significant consequences for climate resilience, vulnerability, adaptation and mitigation at global, national and local levels. What can we learn from the pandemic in the pursuit of climate justice, and how has the pandemic affected the lived experiences of climate change?"
The event will take place between September 21-23 and host around 100 short talks, covering the diverse challenges posed by climate change, from its impact on fair access to food and water to the spread of diseases such as malaria, the growing vulnerability of communities to extreme weather events, and the resulting challenges on migration and population displacement.
The Forum will attract a diverse range of expertise in the emerging field of climate justice to consider the impact climate change is already having on people and their communities across the world.
GCU London's Dr Madhu Acharyya explored strategies to help India recover from COVID-19 as part of the Resilience and Reconstruction series of talks from GCNYC's Center for Social Impact and Innovation.
He discussed how policy makers can aid the country's economic and social restoration in 'How India Could Mitigate the Impact of COVID-19' on 18 February 2021.
Dr Acharya, Senior Lecturer in Risk and Finance, explained: "The pandemic has already caused significant physical, social and economic harms across the globe.
"The management of such a large-scale catastrophe requires a balancing act between protection of public health and servicing the national economy while restoring the long-term social values. We have developed an optimisation model for the decision makers that exhibits such a balance with constraints. We derived this model from the perspective of India, which is ranked as one of the top victims of COVID-19 as well as the second highest populated country in the world. The output of the model is expected to help the policy makers to develop recovery strategies for post-COVID-19 disruptions."
Dr Acharya leads the MSc Insurance and Sustainable Risk Management course at GCU London and is the winner of the 2006 SHIN research excellence award presented by the Geneva Association (Switzerland) and the International Insurance Society (USA).
Dr Angela O'Hagan has contributed a chapter to a COVID-19 related volume of ‘Scotland After the Virus’ edited by Gerry Hassan and Simon Burrow. In the chapter ‘Towards a Caring Economy’, Dr Angela O'Hagan draws on the work of the Commission on Gender Equal Economy of which she is a member. The contributions to the volume range across academics, activists, creative writers, and others with perspectives on key policy and governance issues for Scotland following the impacts of the pandemic.
