From campuses to communities: Newcastle's fifth Climate Change Forum forges greener future for city

Newcastle's fifth Climate Change Forum drew a full house – and an energising conversation about the city's green ambitions. 

Earlier this month, over 100 civic leaders, academics, business professionals and members of the public congregated at Northumbria University for an evening that reflected the growing public and institutional commitments to climate action in the region.

Co-hosted by Newcastle City Council, Northumbria University and Newcastle University, and through the Collaborative Newcastle Universities Agreement (CNUA), the forum tackled solutions across energy, transport, biodiversity, and community engagement.

Councillor Juna Sathian, Cabinet Member for Climate and Transport, and David Trousdale, Principal Advisor for Climate Change, opened proceedings by detailing Newcastle's progress since declaring a climate emergency in 2019.

The city has cut its emissions by 11% since then and by 42% since 2005, with 68% of actions within the Net Zero 2030 Action Plan already completed or embedded into business-as-usual.

The forum heard from a range of experts including Dr Paul Steadman, Sustainability Manager at Northumbria University and Hannah Owens, Head of Sustainability at Newcastle University, who presented on the steps both institutions are taking to encourage biodiversity.

Dr Katherine Baldock and Dr Matthew Pound from the School of Geography and Natural Sciences at Northumbria University then made the case for urban biodiversity not as an environmental nicety, but as a climate necessity. They argued that a functioning ecosystem and a stable climate cannot exist without each other.

The evening concluded with 'One Planet, Many Plans: The Great Climate Debate', a panel that brought together a cross-section of civic, academic, and ecological expertise. Hosted by Professor Jane Robinson, Pro Vice-Chancellor at Newcastle University, the discussion featured Dr Katherine Baldock, Associate Professor in Ecology at Northumbria University; Professor Richard Dawson, Dean of Research and Innovation at Newcastle University; Dr Bonahis Oko, Newcastle University graduate and Sustainability Lead at Canon; and David Trousdale, Principal Advisor for Climate Change at Newcastle City Council.

Live polling from the evening found that 92% of attendees feel Newcastle is making at least some environmental progress, with audience ambitions for the city ranging from green roofs and car-free streets to social green space.

Many attendees said that forums like this one are exactly what is needed, and that having a public voice in policy is central to that engagement.

The forum reinforced that achieving net zero requires collective effort from policymakers, businesses, universities and residents alike. Collaboration was the defining theme of the night and of the wider CNUA partnership the forum represents, with one attendee stating: "None of this can be done alone. We need to collaborate."

Find out more about Northumbria and Newcastle Universities’ work together on joint projects that benefit the city through the Collaborative Newcastle Universities Agreement (CNUA)