Building a Cleaner Future

The forum’s third year sees its growth to an even bigger event, keeping up with the pressure of climate change itself.

Movements for equal rights over the years have been pushed forward by the vibrant culture of university, be they for women’s rights, gay rights or the battle against racism. In each case there have been huge steps towards change, so it seems only logical to approach students once again with the problem of climate change.

This was a point made by Michael Mathres, one of the many esteemed guest speakers who made their way down to the London Climate Forum at Imperial College London for an incredibly informative day that served to enlighten us on what exactly we could do to make a difference in what sometimes seems like a hopeless situation.

The day began with a keynote speech by Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Chair of the Grantham Institute, followed by talks emphasising the importance of design in innovation for sustainability. After a networking opportunity at lunch, the forum split off into two branches.

The UK Youth Climate Coalition held a workshop that boiled down to ‘telling your story’, a fundamental concept at the heart of every environmentalist, or aspiring one. People from all over the world shared their stories. A lake in a small community, their dependence on this lake, the lake’s part to play being washed away by climate change: all summed up in a moving speech from one voice in the room whose story of her own home left all in silence.

A bridge from the bustling discussion of climate change to the story of one person’s home was powerful enough to make a crowd listen intently and incite a meaningful discussion about change.

And that’s what is so special about the forum now. We are at a university which reaches out to every corner of the world for its students, so it is imperative to acknowledge this for such a worldwide issue.

Reaching across the world to Borneo, the concurrent event was a film screening of Sunset over Selungo. The film highlighted the issues faced by the Penan tribe and their struggles against the logging of their jungle home. With home swiftly becoming a recurring theme, I spoke to fellow Earth Science student Sarhan Abdul-Samat, from Borneo himself, who told me “I think that it is a very real reflection of how minority groups in Malaysia are usually treated and fuel the wealth gap between those in power and those who are victims of it.”

The afternoon talks in the Great hall commenced with Michael Mathres of World Climate Ltd who launched the hall into an active discussion via his global campaign to get students involved with Road to Paris 2015, an effort which he hopes will result in a global deal with businesses from the private and public sectors contributing positively to UN climate negotiations.

The series of talks to follow involved linking environmental law to the water rights of people in India, or working on improving the outlook of a very specific community such as Maputo, Mozambique using sustainable self development to make a difference, rather than from the perspective of ‘changing’ the entire world. Alex Kirby, a former BBC environmental correspondent who has now set up the Climate News Network, explored the media’s involvement which he believes is fading, and could possibly be reignited by a “benign catastrophe” to unite our generation, which is the last that can make a difference.

Talks such as these are essential at a science university like Imperial, and having the opportunity to hear these speakers give a very deep and specific insight into climate change puts our lives into perspective and provides us with the potential and attitude to actively make a change in the future.