��Ī - Jane Goodall

The climate crisis: towards zero carbon

lw355 — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 07:35:22 +0000

If we are to avoid climate disaster we must sharply reduce our carbon dioxide emissions starting today – but how?

In a new film, ��Ī researchers describe their work on generating and storing renewable energy, reducing energy consumption, understanding the impact of climate policies, and probing how we can each reduce our environmental impact. Alumni Sir David Attenborough and Dr Jane Goodall DBE speak about the climate crisis and reasons for hope.

We hear about the ambitious new programme ��Ī Zero bringing together ideas and innovations to tackle the global challenge of climate catastrophe – and inspiring a generation of future leaders – and how the University is looking at its own operations to develop a zero carbon pathway for the future.

Explore more:

Visit our spotlight on Sustainable Earth

Read our Horizons magazine: download a pdf; view on Issuu

Sir David Attenborough, Dr Jane Goodall DBE and leading ��Ī University researchers talk about the urgency of climate crisis – and some of the solutions that will take us towards zero carbon.

There are huge opportunities to getting things right – the only way to operate is to believe we can do something about it – and I truly think we can.

Sir David Attenborough

The Climate Crisis: Towards Zero Carbon

NASA

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Dr Jane Goodall on the environment: "My greatest hope is our young people"

lw355 — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 12:18:30 +0000

At the age of 26, Jane Goodall travelled from England to what is now Tanzania, Africa, and ventured into the little-known world of wild chimpanzees. Among her many discoveries, perhaps the greatest was that chimpanzees make and use tools. She completed a PhD at Newnham College in ��Ī in 1966, and subsequently founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 to continue her conservation work and the youth service programme Roots & Shoots in 1991. She is an Honorary Fellow of Darwin College, ��Ī. Dr Goodall now travels the world as a UN Messenger of Peace.

Her words below (from the latest issue of Horizons magazine) continue our focus on Sustainable Earth, looking at how we transition to a carbon zero future, protect the planet's resources, reduce waste and build resilience. See also the newly released film.

“In 1986, I helped organise a conference on how chimpanzee behaviour differed according to the environment. There was a session on conservation and one on conditions in captivity – in both cases, it was utterly shocking. I went to the conference as a scientist, and I left as an activist.

"Since then, I’ve been travelling the world raising awareness not only of chimpanzee conservation and welfare, but also of wider environmental issues.

"We have just one home, one planet, and we’re destroying it very, very fast. The human population is growing, but on a planet with finite natural resources, and we’re using up these resources faster than nature can replenish them. We’re polluting the air, the water and the land. We’re recklessly pumping out CO₂ into the atmosphere and, at the same time, we’re destroying our forests and oceans – the two great lungs of the world. If we carry on with business as usual, in 20 years’ time, we may have a planet that’s virtually unliveable.

"We must not give up hope. Every single day that we live, we make some impact on the planet. We have a choice as to what kind of impact that is.

"I see reasons to be optimistic. Nature is resilient. If we work to restore those places that we have destroyed, if we give them time, they will recover. A bleak, destroyed area can become beautiful again as the insects and birds and other animals come back. Animals on the very brink of extinction can be given another chance.

"I truly believe we have a window of time during which we can begin to heal some of the damage we’ve inflicted and at least slow down the climate crisis. But we have to act now.

"My greatest hope is our young people. There’s a saying, ‘We haven’t inherited this planet from our parents, we’ve borrowed it from our children’. But we haven’t borrowed our children’s future – we’ve stolen it. In my travels, I have met so many young people who seemed depressed, angry or just apathetic, feeling that their future has been compromised and that there’s nothing they can do about it. That was why we started our Roots & Shoots education programme in 1991, to empower young people to make the world a better place.

"��Ī, like all universities and schools, can play a role in shaping the attitudes of young people. We need to educate and inspire them, to teach them to respect each other and to respect other living organisms. We need environmental concerns to be taught not just in science, but in every discipline.

"We are finally beginning to use our intellect to come up with technological solutions that will enable us to live in greater harmony with our planet – electric cars and renewable energy, for instance – and to think about our own ecological footprints. We need the scientific endeavour for which institutions such as ��Ī are famous to be directed towards doing something about the mess that we’ve made of our planet.

"The human spirit is indomitable. Throughout my life, I’ve met so many incredible people – men and women who tackle what seems impossible and won’t give up until they succeed. With our intellect and our determined spirit, and with the tools that we have now, we can find a way to a better future.

"But do we have time? I don’t know.”

Read more about our research linked with Sustainable Earth in the University's research magazine, download a pdf or view on Issuu.

In a new film, Dr Jane Goodall DBE talks about the environmental crisis and her reasons for hope.

Every single day that we live, we make some impact on the planet. We have a choice as to what kind of impact that is.

Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall - Finding our way to a better future

Dr Jane Goodall DBE

Yes

��Ī confers 2019 honorary degrees

plc32 — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 14:15:01 +0000

The day is a ‘scarlet day’, on which doctors wear scarlet instead of their traditional black gowns, and the University’s Chancellor, The Lord Sainsbury of Turville, was present to preside over the Congregation, which was attended by more than four hundred and fifty staff, students, alumni and Civic Guests.

Those graduating on this occasion were:

The Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon, a campaigner for racial justice, police reform and strengthened community relations who founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust in memory of her son murdered in a racist attack, to work with disadvantaged young people. (Doctor of Law)

Dame Rosemary Cramp, a renowned archaeologist and Anglo-Saxonist who was the first female Professor in the University of Durham and was President of the Society of Antiquaries. (Doctor of Science)

Dr Jane Goodall (Newnham College) an ethologist and conservationist and a world expert on the behaviour of chimpanzees. The founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, a wildlife and environmental conservation organisation, she is a United Nations Messenger of Peace. (Doctor of Science)

Professor Michael Levitt (Peterhouse and Gonville and Caius College) a Nobel Laureate and pioneering biophysicist who has researched the molecular structure of biological compounds and made outstanding contributions to the study of proteins. (Doctor of Science)

Professor Sir Angus Deaton (Fitzwilliam College) a Nobel Laureate, economist and academic whose research focuses on poverty, inequality, health and wellbeing. (Doctor of Letters)

Professor Marilynne Robinson (Clare Hall) a Pulitzer Prize-winner who is a novelist and essayist noted for her depictions of rural life and faith and for her contributions to public debate. (Doctor of Letters)

Sir Mark Elder (Corpus Christi College) a renowned conductor who has been Music Director of the Hallé Orchestra for the last nineteen years and has worked with many of the world’s leading orchestras and opera houses. (Doctor of Music)

Flags were flown and the bells of Great St Mary’s, the University Church, rang out as the Chancellor’s procession approached the Senate-House today for the annual conferment of Honorary Doctorates, the highest accolade the University can bestow, on recipients recognised for their outstanding contributions.

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