Exeter’s Stuart Brocklehurst, Deputy-Vice Chancellor (Business Engagement and Innovation), celebrates the launch of a new publication for policymakers on climate change and the solutions that can bring about a safe and sustainable future
Politicians are busy people with lots of voices clamouring for their attention.
So it can be difficult to get heard, especially if what you’re wanting to be heard is science, which can be complex, sometimes a bit dry, but it’s important that those who make our laws have access to the facts and the latest evidence before they do so.
Just over a year ago, Peers for the Planet and the University of Exeter produced a guide to climate change, which was given to every British MP and active member of the House of Lords.
It set out, in simple terms, the key facts, the key evidence and was designed to be authoritative, accessible, and apolitical, providing peer-reviewed science for our lawmakers.
It proved to be an incredible success, and the guides travelled far and wide. It’s been translated into other languages, used in other parliaments.
So during COP30 we have launched the Parliamentarians’ Global Guide to Climate Change and Climate Solutions, produced jointly with Arizona State University, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and a host of other bodies.
The new guide is aimed at a broader audience rather than being specific to the UK.
It will be made available to lawmakers in congresses, parliaments, assemblies across the world, targeting that issue of disinformation by providing them with the evidence base so that they can consider their political decisions with the scientific facts before them.