Welcome to the final Walker Update of 2024.
As the Festive Season begins, the Walker Institute team brings you a roundup of another busy year. We have continued to build our body of work: strengthening longstanding relationships and forging new collaborations around the world. We are ending this year with our latest edition on COP29 Events. We hope it’s an enjoyable read and wish you all a healthy and peaceful break.
Addressing transboundary climate risks through shared adaptation actions is often overlooked, especially in conflict-affected areas. The COP28 Declaration stressed the need for more adaptation investments in fragile countries and highlighted the importance of cooperative strategies
These 2 twin events were led by the Walker Institute at the University of Reading, and Integrated Research & Action for Development (IRADe), supported by the UNEP, as part of a unique collaboration across transboundary, regional and national adaptation planners in South Asia and the Middle East.
These events brought together political leaders, scientists, civil society and non-state actors to reflect on the transboundary climate risks in this area South Asia and Middle East region. They highlighted the importance of transboundary cooperation in identifying durable, mutually beneficial adaptation solutions. And demonstrated, using specific cases, how such transboundary cooperation is currently being mobilised – including in conflict-affected regions, to accelerate cooperative adaptation action and policy making. Read more.
Reading Students Live at COP29, with the Walker Institute
This Green Festival event created a great environment where student and academics from across the university could come together to discuss everything that happened at COP29. The event was chaired by Prof. Ros Cornforth and participants were able to chat to students who had recently returned from Baku, but also to students live in Baku and the studio. Read more.
COPCAS Climate Action Studio 2024
Prof. Parveen Yaqoob visited the Climate Action Studio.
The studio was another buzzing success this year! To read the blogs produced by this year’s COPCAS cohort go to our website.
We wanted to give a special thanks to the academics, staff and students that made this COPCAS another success. This year we were joined by several academics including Vice Chancellor, Prof. Robert Van de Noort, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Parveen Yaqoob, Prof. Bernd Vogel from Henley Business School, Prof Alexander Mihailov from the Department of Economics, Dr Deepa Senapathi from the Department of Sustainable Land management. Together with the students, they participated in in-depth discussion surrounding the COP29 events.
COPCAS students also got to participate in several media appearance including Radio and Video productions:
Theo Keeping on LBC with Matt Frei- watch here
Lynn de Miranda on BBC Radio Berks & Oxford- watch here
Prof. Rosalind Cornforth Video- watch here
Dr Emmanuel Essah Video- watch here
What happened across the world this week?
Prof Virginia Murray and her team at Public Health England have produced the weekly Global Hazards Weekly Bulletin, archived by Prof Richard Allan.
All the best!
The Walker Institute Team