"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in."

Leonard Cohen

Peel away the layers of dangerously naïve hope and unfounded optimism and the mitigation challenge posed by the Paris Agreement now demands the rapid and profound re-shaping of contemporary society. Whilst the models dominating the mitigation agenda employ evermore exotic and speculative technologies to remain ‘politically palatable’, the arithmetic of emissions increasingly embeds equity at the heart of any mathematically cogent strategy. Dress it up however we may like, the Parisian mitigation agenda is ultimately a rationing issue. Until we are prepared to acknowledge this, we will continue our reckless pathway towards a 3-5°C future.

Against such a depressing backdrop, do the rapid emergence of new and vociferous constituencies and the heightened profile of climate change suggest early cracks and the prospect of new light?

Biography

Kevin Anderson, Professor of Energy and Climate Change - Universities of Manchester (UK) and Uppsala (Sweden)

Kevin Anderson holds a joint chair between the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE) at the University of Manchester and the Centre for Environment and Development (CEMUS) at Uppsala University. He has just completed two years as the Zennström Professor of climate change leadership at Uppsala and previously held the roles of Deputy Director and Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. Kevin is research active with publications in Science, Nature and Nature Geosciences.

Kevin engages widely across all tiers of government (EU, UK and Sweden) on issues ranging from shale gas, aviation and shipping to the role of climate modeling (IAMs), carbon budgets and ‘negative emission technologies’. With Manchester colleagues, his analysis previously contributed to the framing of the UK’s Climate Change Act and the development of national carbon budgets.

Kevin has a decade’s industrial experience, principally in the petrochemical industry. He is a chartered engineer and a fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Twitter: @kevinclimate

Refreshments will be available from 5.30pm onwards.

This lecture is free and all are welcome to attend.

Please note that are no restrictions for visitors on parking in areas marked for staff parking, including the Keele Hall courtyard, from 5.00pm.

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