Evidence for Action - Online International Research Symposium
As we see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, it’s time to return our attention to urgent unfinished business. Two tasks are particularly high on this list: dealing with the Climate Emergency; and getting back on track to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Both the climate and SDG agendas are enormous, requiring massive investments in new technology and infrastructure and transformative reforms in governance and management. Which raises the question: faced with shrinking resources after the pandemic, can we align and accelerate action on these two huge efforts or must they compete for scarce resources?
To provide answers to this question, the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP), a joint initiative between the University of Sussex and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), organised an online international symposiumon 20-22 July 2021 entitled 'Evidence for Action: Aligning the Climate and SDG Agendas'. The event was co-hosted by 12 partner organisations from 10 countries, including 7 organisations in low and medium income countries:
- the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development (CISD) at Utrecht University;
- the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD);
- the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies (IESS) at the University of Ghana;
- the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED);
- the Rapid Transition Alliance (RTA);
- the Climate Change Research Program (PINCC) at National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM);
- Southern Voice;
- the Centre for Climate and Development (CCCD) at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike (AEFUNAI) of Nigeria;
- the Barcelona Laboratory for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability (BCNUEJ);
- and the Environmental Science and Technology Institute (ICTA-UAB), Spain.
With the aim to debate policies and measures that simultaneously realise the objectives of both the Paris Agreement and 2030 Agenda, the Symposium provided a very successful forum for discussing and debating a wide range of cutting-edge sustainability issues, including: strategies for connecting the climate and SDG agendas; locally led climate adaptation and sustainable development; integrated assessment modelling for exploring sustainability scenarios; new ideas for ensuring climate and environmental justice for indigenous and other marginalized people; the steering effects of global goals, and many others. Special sessions were devoted to research results from India, Indonesia, South Africa and Bangladesh.
Over the course of three days, 279 people participated in the Symposium, encompassing international academics and sustainable development stakeholders from 40 countries. More than 50% of participants were from the Global South. The event featured 9 plenary sessions with 15 keynote speakers, including internationally recognised scientists, policymakers, and directors of civil society organisations; and 18 parallel sessions with more than 50 presentations.
Watch the plenaries and summary sessions.
The Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP), with support from 12 international co-hosts, is delighted to publish the symposium's full programme, which is accessible to registrants only by logging into the Oxford Abstracts conference management software. Here is a document with tips on how to view the programme.
FULL PROGRAMME
The symposium took place on 20-22 July 2021, with an exciting line-up of 15 prominent keynote speakers and 18 parallel sessions with presenters from over 20 countries. The programme was organised into three streams for attendees to select the sessions most relevant to them:
- Stream A – Climate Adaptation and the SDGs
- Stream B – Climate and Environmental Justice
- Stream C – Sustainable Transformations and the Green Recovery
This symposium was open to all interested academics and development practitioners around the world. Follow the ‘Evidence for Action’ Twitter account @EfA2021 and use #EvidenceForAction in your posts in the lead up to, during, and after the symposium.
If you have any queries, please contact the SSRP symposium coordinating team at: evidenceforaction@sussex.ac.uk .
20 July
Plenary
How can we align the SDG and climate agendas?
Prof. Joseph Alcamo, SSRP, University of Sussex, UK
Power shift: From transition to transformation in energy and society
Prof. Peter Newell, University of Sussex, UK; Rapid Transition Alliance, UK
Parallel Session A1
Local Adaptation Planning & Risk: Experience from Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Austria
Making Social Protection adaptive – insights from an integrated ASP risk assessment in Indonesia
Dominic Sett, Christina Natalia Widjaja, Angelica Greco, Simone Sandholz, United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security, Germany
Dr. Thomas Schinko, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria
Parallel Session B1
Reframing Climate and Environmental Justice
Livestock and climate justice: challenging mainstream policy narratives
Fernando García-Dory, Ella Houzer1 Prof. Ian Scoones2, 1Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK, 2ESRC STEPS Centre, University of Sussex, UK; IDS, UK
Parallel Session C1
The Steering Effects of Global Goals: Fostering System-Level Transformation to Address Climate Change and Other Sustainable Development Challenges
Maya Bogers, Prof. Frank Biermann, Dr. Agni Kalfagianni, Dr. Rakhyun Kim, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Oscar Yandy Romero-Goyeneche1, Gaston Heimeriks2, Cristian Matti3
1Utrecht University Center for Global Challenges, Netherlands. 2Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Netherlands. 3EIT-Climate KIC, Belgium
Can the SDGs foster integrated sustainability? An expert survey
Francesco S. Montesano, Prof. Frank Biermann, Agni Kalfagianni, Marjanneke J. Vijge, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Matteo Spinazzola, Prof. Frank Biermann, Dr. Thomas Hickmann, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Plenary
International policies to jointly protect climate and health
Dr. Helena Molin-Valdes, Former Head of UN Climate and Clean Air Coalition Secretariat
Parallel Session B2
Advancing Climate Change Adaptation, Sustainable Development, and the Rights of Marginalised Peoples
Lisa Hiwasaki, University of Rhode Island, USA
Relevance of autonomous agricultural adaptation to climate change: Survey analysis of Bihar
Saheli Das, Prof. Meeta Keswani Mehra, Jones Paulson, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Parallel Session C2
Cities as Catalysts of Sustainable Transformation
Everyday climate action: mapping the ordinary spaces of low-carbon transitions in cities
Dr. Enora Robin Urban Institute, University of Sheffield, UK
21 July
Plenary
Dr. John Thompson, SSRP and IDS, UK
Locally led Adaptation: Can it become a vehicle for transformative adaptation?
Prof. Mizan R. Khan, Deputy Director, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), Bangladesh
Parallel Session A3
Legal, Financial and Institutional Aspects of Combining Climate Adaptation and Sustainable Development
A framework for defining local delivery of finance: a case study of the Green Climate Fund
Dr. Jessica Omukuti, University of York, UK
Dr. Chenjun Zheng1, Dr. Nadia Sanchez Castillo-Winckels2, 1Wuhan University, China. 2Earth System Governance Project, Netherlands
Dr. Imad Antoine Ibrahim, Center for Law & Development, College of Law, Qatar University, Qatar
Parallel Session B3
Indigenous Peoples, Climate Change Adaptation and Protected Areas: Lessons from South Africa
Dr. Igshaan Samuels, Agricultural Research Council, South Africa
Dr. Mmoto Masubelele, South African National Parks
The value of climate science to impoverished communities- experiences from a grad student
Jodene Foster, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Parallel Session C3
Towards Green Recovery and Sustainable Transitions in India
Global Ambition for Climate Change Mitigation: How Achievable are the Net-zero Goals?
Tejal Kanitkar, National Institute of Advanced Studies, India
Energy Use in Agriculture: The potential for Solar Irrigation in India
Juhi Chatterjee, National Institute of Advanced Studies, India
Plenary
Which political effects have the SDGs had so far? Evidence from a global science assessment
Prof. Frank Biermann, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Parallel Session C4
Circular Economy and Sustainable Consumption Approaches to Achieving the Climate and SDG Agendas
The social economy: a means for inclusive and decent work in the circular economy?
Esther Goodwin Brown1, Luis Sosa1, Kris Bachus2, Odul Bozkurt3, Antonius Schroeder4, 1Circle Economy, Netherlands. 2KU Leuven, Belgium. 3University of Sussex Business School, UK. 4TU Dortmund, Germany
Stan van Ginkel, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Peter Desmond, Institute of Development Studies, UK; University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
22 July
Plenary
Climate and the SDGs: Views of two governments
Aligning the Climate and SDG agendas: The view from Ghana
Hon. Henry Kwabena Kokofu, CEO of the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Parallel Session A5
From the Ground Up: Advancing SDGs and Climate Adaptation at the Local Level
‘Going Digital’ - Lessons for future coastal community engagement and climate change adaptation
Dr. Emma McKinley1, Dr. Philip Crowe2, Dr. Fernanda Stori3, Tim Brew4, Alex Cameron-Smith4, Lauren Blacklaw-Jones5, Dr. Saul Crowley2, Dr. Chiara Cocco2, Dr. Karen Foley2, Dr. Cathal O'Mahoney3, Dr. Brenda McNally2, Dr. Rhoda Ballinger1, Pauline Power2, 1Cardiff University, UK. 2University College Dublin, Ireland. 3University College Cork, Ireland. 4Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum, UK. 5Port of Milford Haven, UK
Parallel Session B5
Integrated Approaches to Converging Climate and Health Crises
Drought, Poverty and HIV drug resistance: threat to resilience in climate vulnerable rural settings
Dr. Kingsley Orievulu Africa Health Research Institute, South Africa
Parallel Session C5
Strategies and Frameworks for Aligning the Climate and SDG Agendas
General and specified vulnerability, resilience and adaptation to extreme temperatures
Dr. Ana Raquel Nunes, University of Warwick, UK
Modelling national transformations to achieve the SDGs within planetary boundaries
Dr. Cameron Allen, UNSW, Australia. Monash University, Australia
Dr. David Horan, Marie Curie IRC fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, UCD
Plenary
Cities: Convergence of risks and propagation of impacts
Dr. Francisco Estrada Porrúa, Climate Change Research Programme, National Autonomous University of Mexico
Parallel Session A6
Evidence for Action on Biodiversity, Bioeconomy, and Climate Change
Mainstreaming 'paraecology' - Civic Science and the transition to sustainability
Dr. Mika Peck, University of Sussex, UK
Laura Kuhl, Alaina Boyle, Northeastern University, USA
Parallel Session B6
Refugees and Energy Access: Policy Proliferation and Institutional Confusion
Hajar Al-Kaddo, Coventry University, UK; Dr. Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen, Oxford University, UK; Global Platform for Action
Parallel Session C6
Climate Ambition and Sustainable Development for a New Decade: Catalytic Frameworks and Models
EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region Joins the Decade of Action
Zane Šime, OSCE Academy, Riga, Latvia
Larissa Jaeger1, Marco Rieckmann1, Hannah Maxie Frost2, 1Faculty of Education and Social Sciences, University of Vechta, Germany. 2University of Business and Economics, Austria
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Symposium hosts
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