NHM and Science Museum host event with Alok Sharma and 50 experts on climate change 7 Sep 2022

The Natural History Museum and Science Museum hosted a major meeting on 5th September to discuss ecosystem destruction and the climate emergency. There was participation from COP26 President Alok Sharma and around 50 influential people in biodiversity and climate change, including policymakers, industrialists and scientists. Held under Chatham House rules, the event assessed what has been achieved as the UK’s COP26 presidency comes to an end and what remains to be done. In an initial address, Sharma told the meeting “clearly we have to do more, we have to move faster, we need more countries to come forward with updated emission reduction targets, particularly the major emitters.” Topics discussed included growing the public understanding of biodiversity, and how it plays a major role in planetary resilience; resourcing and financing a green economy, including tightening definitions of what counts as sustainable; and data driven technology for a positive future, something NHM is working on through its PREDICTS project. The last discussion addressed the fact that big data has given us more insights than ever into ‘tipping points’ in ecosystem destruction, but is only useful if the world acts on the information. More positively, big data can help track ‘positive tipping points’ where effective action also achieves reinforcing feedbacks. The meeting ended with a tour of the Science Museum’s ‘Our Future Planet: Can Carbon Capture help us Address Climate Change.’ SMG blog, NHM (PREDICTS)