Published 2021-10-07

This post is also available in Swedish

Mistra’s webinar series highlights the climate issue from various perspectives

The latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has sparked immense engagement and increased pressure on the global climate negotiations in Glasgow, COP 26. In a series of webinars, Mistra highlights the climate and research into reduced emissions, climate justice and climate adaptation.

During the autumn, through the Mistra Dialogue initiative, Mistra is organising three webinars on various perspectives of the climate issue: justice, emissions and adaptation. Mistra Dialogue aims to strengthen the link between results and knowledge from Mistra’s research programmes and topical issues on the environmental policy agenda, both in Sweden and globally.

Thomas Nilsson, Programmes Director at Mistra.

“Prior to the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, we at Mistra want to contribute to knowledge-based dialogue between researchers, decision makers and other actors in society,” Thomas Nilsson, Programmes Director at Mistra explains. “Mistra Dialogue is a joint platform for all our research programmes with the aim of conveying knowledge and creating dialogue about topical issues,” he says.

The first webinar Climate justice prior to COP26 – what does research say?, is being co-organised with Formas, a government research council for sustainable development. The participants include Sweden’s Chief Negotiator on climate issues Mattias Frumerie and Mikael Karlsson, Associate Professor at Uppsala University and member of the management group for Mistra’s and Formas’ co-funded research programme Fairtrans. The second webinar highlights reduced emissions and Sweden’s possibilities for accelerating the climate transition with research, technology and politics, and it is being organised together with the Mistra Carbon Exit research programme.

The third addresses climate adaptation – an issue that Mattias Frumerie predicts will be highly significant at COP26, according to sustainability news site Aktuell Hållbarhet. Participants in this webinar include Björn-Ola Linnér, Programme Director of Mistra Geopolitics, with direct reporting from the climate negotiations in Glasgow, and Lars Marklund, Programme Director of Mistra InfraMaint, working on smart infrastructure.

“The three issues we are focusing on – climate justice, reductions in emissions and climate adaptation – are all significant to the coming climate negotiations in Glasgow,” Thomas Nilsson says. “Reductions in emissions and how the established climate targets can be achieved are fundamental. How the transition can be just and fair and thereby gain legitimacy is another key issue. With clearer consequences of climate change, such as floods, fires and heatwaves, society needs to take adaptive measures but also heighten preparedness.”

Prior to COP26, Mistra has also as one of 587 investors – with total holdings of more than USD 46 billion – signed the 2021 Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis. In signing this, they urged all countries to strengthen their national climate commitments for 2030 and ensure a transition to net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier. In September this call for action was submitted to global leaders in conjunction with the UN General Assembly.

Mistra’s webinar series about COP 26, reduced emissions and climate adaptation

Part 1. Climate justice prior to COP26 – what does research say?

8 October 09:00–10:00

The latest IPCC report clearly showed that we must urgently slow down climate change. In November, negotiators from around the world will meet at COP26 – the most important climate conference under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change since the Paris Agreement. It is now time for the countries to present ambitious targets for emission reductions by 2030 that can in future lead the world towards net zero emissions. But for the climate transition to be possible, it must take place in a way that is perceived as just.

Formas and Mistra invite you to a webinar where climate negotiators and researchers present various perspectives of climate justice. What is a just climate transition? What part does justice play in climate politics – internationally and nationally? What has the pandemic meant for the conditions for a just climate transition and how can justice issues infuse COP26? The participants include Sweden’s Chief Negotiator on climate issues Mattias Frumerie and Mikael Karlsson from Mistra’s and Formas’ co-funded research programme Fairtrans.

The webinar is being organised within the framework of the national research programme about climate.

See the entire webinar afterwards here:

Participants:

Mattias Frumerie, Sweden’s Chief Negotiator in UN climate negotiations

Göran Duus-Otterström, Professor of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg and Researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies

Naghmeh Nasiritousi, Researcher at Stockholm University

Mikael Karlsson, Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Leader of research into climate change leadership at Uppsala University, and Researcher in Mistra’s and Formas’ new programme, Fairtrans

Moderator:

Catarina Rolfsdotter-Jansson, Chair of the independent think tank Global Utmaning

Part 2. Climate in focus – how do we accelerate the Swedish transition?

29 October 08:00–09:00

The latest IPCC report left a distinctly bitter aftertaste. However, leading research shows that the trend can be reversed. The Mistra Carbon Exit research programme is analysing technical, economic and political challenges that arise as Sweden progresses towards its target of net zero emissions of greenhouse gases. The focus is on supply chains, and in several industrial case studies Mistra Carbon Exit is investigating the supply chains for buildings, transport infrastructure and transports that together comprise an estimated 75 per cent of Sweden’s total carbon emissions.

In this breakfast webinar, focusing on knowledge and discussion, we hear more about the technical solutions available to reach close to zero emissions and the corporate alliances formed along the value chain for development of and trade in climate-smart technology. We also find out how Skellefteå Municipality is tackling the challenges and what type of policies and policy instruments are requirement to boost the transition.

See the whole webinar afterwards here:

Participants:

Lars Zetterberg, Programme Director of Mistra Carbon Exit

Filip Johnsson, Deputy Programme Director of Mistra Carbon Exit and Programme Director of Mistra Electrification

Ola Alterå, Head of the Secretariat of the Swedish Climate Policy Council and Executive Committee Chairman of Mistra REES

Kristina Sundin Jonsson, Chief Executive Officer of Skellefteå Municipality

Lars Lundström, Head of Sustainability, H2 Green Steel

Moderator:

Linda Bell, Programmes Director, Mistra

 

Part 3. Climate adaptation – From COP26 to Sweden’s municipalities

17 November 08:00–09:00

Heavy downpours, forest fires and floods. Extreme weather events and a changed climate are no longer a threat on the horizon but are happening here and now. In parallel with reductions in emissions, there is a need for research, preparation and focused work to adapt our societies, at both global and local level.

This breakfast webinar focuses on climate adaptation – from the IPCC report and the global negotiations during COP26 to Swedish municipalities’ actual work, sustainable urban planning and what research is required to underpin the work.

Register here!

Participants:

Björn-Ola Linnér, Programme Director of Mistra Geopolitics

Jens Thoms Ivarsson, Creative Director of the Sustainable Waste and Water Department at the City of Gothenburg

Helena Bjarnegård, National Architect at Boverket – the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning

Lars Marklund, Programme Director of Mistra InfraMaint

Moderator:

Linda Bell, Programmes Director, Mistra