COP-26 & Collaborative lighthouse projects for Climate Action

University College Cork, through the President’s working group for COP-26, is organising an online event highlighting collaborative climate action projects around the world. This year, COP-26 is orientated around the central goal of securing global net-zero by mid-century and keeping 1.5 degrees within reach. Working together is seen as crucial to achieving this target with “collaboration between governments, businesses and civil society” outlined as the necessary approach.
This session seeks to highlight collaborative, multi-partner climate action initiatives from around the world. These multi-partner collaborations are expected to involve a diverse range of stakeholders (e.g. community groups, non-profit organisations, industry representatives, businesses, research bodies, local authorities, volunteer organisations, public bodies, etc.) working together to bring
about real change on the ground with relation to decarbonisation. One of the key elements we wish to highlight with the local projects, be they urban or rural, is how the collaboration across and between different organisations/groups has supported climate action.

Bringing together a wide range of exemplar climate projects this session will seek to address the following questions:

  •  How can we ensure the learnings from local case studies have a broader impact, informing
    national/ global policy?
  • How might top-down policy support the development of local networks?
  •  What is the role of intermediaries in facilitating the development of these networks?
  • What differences in approach are needed across continents and scale (urban city or rural
    region)?
  • What are the co-benefits / trade-offs between net-zero and other sustainability goals?

To register your project for attendance at the event, please fill in our survey which can be found here.

The Irish Times highlighted the event in a recent article by speaking to leading experts in the climate change field

“Climate change experts and campaigners, including participants in the Dublin climate dialogues, were asked what their COP26 expectations are, and whether they are optimistic about the summits ability to meet the climate threat.”

Features speakers included professor Andrew Keane, head of UCD’s Energy Institute and MaREI researcher Dr Hannah Daly along with many others.