SEI Oxford event addresses the future of climate change adaptation

The event featured diverse and leading voices in adaptation from around the world. In the opening session, panellists presented diverse ideas about the main goals for adaptation, the key barriers to adaptation and ways to achieve progress on the agenda.

Participants included:

• Youssef Nassef – Director of the UNFCCC Adaptation Division
• Lisa Schipper – Affiliated Researcher, SEI, (Incoming) Professor of Development Geography, University of Bonn
• Nathalie Seddon – Professor of Biodiversity and Senior Associate, International Institute for Environment and Development, University of Oxford; Senior Fellow, the Oxford Martin School
• Magnus Benzie – Research Fellow, SEI Stockholm
• Sukaina Bharwani – Senior Research Fellow, SEI Oxford.

Another group held a lively, intergenerational chat around the “electronic campfire”. The voices of experience were represented by two experts who have been working on adaptation-related causes globally throughout their careers; the voices of the up-and-coming generation were represented by two young people who have been active in research and in championing both social justice and greater inclusion of youth in climate change-related decision-making globally.

Participants included:

• Arame Tall – Senior Adaptation and Resilience Specialist, Climate Change Group, World Bank
• Richard J. T. Klein – SEI Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Geography, Climate Policy and Development at Linköping University
• George Carew-Jones – UN COP Working Group Member and Press Officer, UK Youth Climate Coalition
• Inès Bakhtaoui – Research Associate, SEI Oxford.

Other expert panellists participated in the event through pre-recorded interviews. They are:

• Kathryn Brown – Director of Climate Action, Wildlife Trusts; former Head of Adaptation, UK Climate Change Committee
• Gilbert Siame – Associate Professor of International Urban Development Planning, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
• Albert Salamanca  – SEI Senior Research Fellow, SEI Asia

In the video, they respond to questions about the main goals for adaptation, the key barriers, and ways to achieve progress in adapting to climate change.