Students have been challenged to
take a lead in Newcastle’s efforts to decarbonise the city by 2030.
More than 130 young people attended the virtual Newcastle Student
Climate Change Summit, to discuss ideas for tackling global warming and find
out more about the opportunities that come with rising to that challenge.
Lucy Winskell,
Pro-Vice-Chancellor for employability and partnerships at Northumbria
University, said: "We are committed to researching and tackling the net
zero challenge and working closely with our partners in Newcastle, as well as
around the world, to make a positive
difference.
"This event
further showcased the importance of partnership and the power that students can
have by exploring the carbon challenge, reflecting on their influence now and
in their future careers, and by working together to develop innovative,
sustainable routes to net zero."
Newcastle City
Council leader, Cllr Nick Forbes, told summit attendees that “the future of our
city is in your hands.”
“We have a proud
industrial heritage, but in the Industrial Revolution we carbonised the globe’s
economy,” Cllr Forbes said: “We now have a moral duty to decarbonise it.
“But more than that
we know climate change is already affecting everyone here in Newcastle – 20 of
our warmest years have been since 1995 and we’ve seen what were supposed to be
once in 100 year flood events happen multiple times in the last five years.
“So we need to act
now and draw on the best brains we have available to us.
“Innovation,
creativity and inventiveness are the hallmarks of cities with great
universities and we know that the leaders of the future, those who will go on
to great things and who will tackle climate change, are here, and they have
ideas of what we can do that will have the greatest impact in the shortest
amount of time – We must tap into that.”
Speakers at the summit, which was held virtually due to ongoing Covid
restrictions, included representatives of Northumbria and Newcastle universities who talked about both institutions’ commitment to climate action.
Professor Julie Sanders, Deputy
Vice-Chancellor and Provost of Newcastle University, said: “Young people’s
voices and student activism has been generative of so much positive action
around the climate emergency so it is truly wonderful to have this event taking
place.
“Through our
students’ ideas, learning and group work, there is the opportunity to coproduce
tangible, solutions-led thinking to make Newcastle and the region a
sustainable, just and inclusive place to live, work and study for the long
term."
Officers of the
city’s two students' unions, along with sustainability specialists, then
covered the existing work and opportunities for young people who are studying
to help tackle the climate emergency.
Invest Newcastle
offered an overview of potential careers in the new green economy, and how, as
a major centre for the renewable, offshore and subsea energy industries, with
world-leading research and development facilities, and over 5,000 energy
related businesses, employing around 30,000 people, this is one of the best
places to be to capitalise on that.
And there were
contributions from staff at NE1, Newcastle Hospitals Trust, utility company
Engie, and global financial institution The International Finance Corporation.
Cllr Clare Penny-Evans,
Cabinet member for communities and climate change, who led a discussion of how
“every action helps” said: “What we need is for everyone in our city to accept
that it is our collective responsibility to tackle this, get involved, see the
bigger picture, and aim high.
“But that doesn’t
have to be all in one go - Taking that first step is the most important.
“Make clear, positive
change – Start small, build from there and together we can really start to
solve this problem for the benefit of everyone.”
Following the summit,
many of those who attended are taking part in the week long Net Zero Innovation
Challenge, which sees teams of students with a range of knowledge develop ideas
for pragmatic, achievable measures that can have both meaningful impact on our
carbon output, and be delivered in Newcastle.
Press release
courtesy of Newcastle City Council
