News

Science, Policy & a Green Recovery: A Blueprint for a Green Future

10 November 2020

Share

The Cambridge Zero Policy Forum, a collaboration of Cambridge Zero and the Centre for Science and Policy, has released an ambitious new report: A Blueprint for a Green Future. This report brings together ideas from senior academics across the University of Cambridge to present a multidisciplinary perspective and series of recommendations for policymakers and industry.

How we choose to prioritise an economic and societal recovery will dramatically affect the outcomes of both for future generations. This report explores how we can creating the conditions and incentives for a green recovery, while supporting society in the zero-carbon transition. Throughout this report, the authors also explore how we can kickstart investment in zero-carbon technologies and undergo a zero-carbon industrial transition, while highlighting pathways to the development of resilient and sustainable infrastructure with the help of a whole-system, whole-life view of infrastructure and the built environment. Moreover, their blueprint for a green future also describes how we can harness the power of nature to remove greenhouse gases and help people adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Getting a green recovery will provide the UK with a plethora of opportunities to assume an international leadership role in the sustainability arena, building on key global events to respond to the climate, biodiversity, and health crises. while promoting international cooperation on the pathway to a green recovery and leveraging pandemic recovery investments to implement the Paris Agreement and the global Sustainable Development Goals. This report outlines the key opportunities for the UK in assuming this leadership role, both domestically and on the international stage.

You can read the report here.

In advance of the report's launch, CSaP Executive Director Dr Rob Doubleday chaired an event with Cambridge Zero as part of the Cambridge Climate Chance Festival, in which chapter authors gave an overview of the report's findings and addressed topics ranging from nature based solutions and creating metrics to help us lower carbon emissions, to electrification and green infrastructure.

Throughout the discussion, Dimitri Zenghelis of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership emphasized that the current moment is a unique chance for the introspection and greater awareness of resilience, sustainability and inclusivity which can help build the momentum needed to get a green recovery. Meanwhile, Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger stressed that the funding made available for a green recovery is a crucial opportunity for us to meet our binding commitments to the sustainable development goals. She suggests that this is an opportunity for the UK to demonstrate international leadership, mobilizing all channels and stakeholders to mobilise a green recovery.

You can listen to a recording of the event, which was released as part of CSaP: The Science and Policy Podcast's series on Science, Policy and a Green Recovery, here:


The Cambridge Zero Policy Forum is an initative of the Centre for Science and Policy and Cambridge Zero. The Policy Forum facilitates opportunities for stakeholders from academia, industry, civil society, and government to contribute their expertise to roundtable conversations and other engagement events. These dialogues seek to apply evidence and expertise from across a variety of disciplines and sectors which can inform approaches for a just transition to a zero carbon future.