The Sussex Beacons series is a programme of bite-sized talks with Q&As, highlighting the exciting work happening across the university. Here, our researchers will share their passion, reveal their processes and highlight the impact of their discoveries. Open to all, we welcome everyone to listen, engage, explore fresh ideas and build new connections.

The Climate Action event brings together speakers from three of the Sussex Centres of Excellence; the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP), UK Trade Policy Observatory (UKTPO) and the Sussex Centre for Migration Research.

Emily Lydgate of UKTPO will discuss the emissions produced by the manufacture of the things we buy, and the global uncertainty – and controversy – of how to address this. She will look at the problem of responsibility and of fairness, and why therefore trade policy is integral to slowing climate change, meaning trade and climate regimes must work more effectively together in future. 

Jo Middleton of SSRP will share how they and colleagues have worked in an indigenous-led collaboration to integrate climate action, medical service provision, and biodiversity conservation in New Guinea’s globally important rainforest. In the project, University of Sussex has established health services for medically neglected forest communities, enabling protection of 150km² of rainforest (storing 1.5 million tonnes of carbon). 

Dominic Kniveton of the Sussex Centre for Migration will discuss different ways to look at the climate emergency and suggest a way forwards – having more fun! One of the main shorter-term fears of climate change is that the world’s population will be forced to ‘up sticks’. Dom will use different lenses to reconsider this phenomenon, as well as the role of consumption in climate change and how we might overcome this.

Our Speakers

Emily Lydgate is a Professor of Environmental Law at Sussex and Co-Director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory. She is a Specialist Advisor at the UK House of Commons (Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and recently led a project for the UK Committee on Climate Change on trade policy and emissions reduction. 

Jo Middleton is a Research Fellow at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, convenor of the Planetary Health theme at Sussex Sustainability Research Programme, and a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. As well as working on public health and neglected tropical diseases, Jo has a long-term commitment to biodiversity and climate action with a focus on forest preservation and indigenous health in Oceania. 

Dominic Kniveton is Professor of Climate Change and Society at the University of Sussex. His research spans issues of development, climate change, disaster risk, complexity and decision-making, migration and health. He has been asked for advice from the United Nations, the World Bank, the EU, the UK government and the International Organisation of Migration. Dom is a panel member of the UNEP’s International Resource Panel and the Lancet Countdown.

Please note, this is a rescheduled event that was originally postponed during the Summer of Research 2024.

Event Details

Time

1:00–2:15pm

Location
Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA), Falmer, BN1 9RH