{"id":4053,"date":"2019-09-27T10:55:53","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T10:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/?p=4053"},"modified":"2019-10-11T14:11:34","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T14:11:34","slug":"school-of-anthropology-and-conservation-declares-climate-and-environmental-emergency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/2019\/09\/27\/school-of-anthropology-and-conservation-declares-climate-and-environmental-emergency\/","title":{"rendered":"School of Anthropology and Conservation declares Climate and Environmental Emergency"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday 25th<\/sup> September, the School of Anthropology and Conservation held a Climate and Environmental Emergency event, to begin to examine and discuss the way forward to reduce the School\u2019s emissions and broader environmental impact relating to operations, research and teaching.<\/p>\n

Humanity and the environment that supports it face a historically unparalleled existential threat from human-induced climate change and environmental degradation following a global reliance on fossil fuels and the entrenchment of unsustainable forms and levels of production and consumption of consumer goods.<\/p>\n

The climate and environmental crisis presents both a stark warning and a threat to life and civilisation. Global emissions must decline by 45% by 2030 (from 2010 levels) and reach net-zero by around 2050 to limit the most catastrophic consequences of climate change. To achieve this, there must be rapid and far-reaching transitions in energy, land-use, buildings and infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Academic schools have a unique mandate and responsibility to generate the necessary knowledge and human capacities to transition to an ecologically, socially and economically regenerative economy at emergency speed.<\/p>\n

The event was hosted by Gwili Gibbon<\/a>, a PhD student in Biodiversity Management working on participatory conservation in Mount Kenya, and Dr Miguel Alexiades<\/a>, Senior Lecturer in Ethnobotany and Environmental Anthropology, whose area of research and teaching interest focuses on the Anthropocene and planetary crisis<\/a>, who also gave an opening presentation. The event also featured a talk by Dr Charlie Gardner<\/a>, Lecturer in Conservation Biology, on the relationship between science, academia and activism, which he has recently discussed in op-eds written for The Guardian<\/em><\/a> and The Globe Post<\/em><\/a>, and Tom Bell<\/a>, PhD student in Social Anthropology, who is conducting fieldwork in the US on climate change activism<\/a>. Undergraduate students spoke about the work that climate change activist groups Extinction Rebellion and Youth Strike 4 Climate are doing locally and nationally, Kent Union<\/a> described the ongoing work they are doing to address the environmental emergency, and there was a talk from the University\u2019s own sustainability team and their Futureproof<\/a> programme.<\/p>\n

\"Professor<\/p>\n

The event pivoted on Professor Tracy Kivell<\/a> declaring a climate emergency on behalf of the School. This declaration publicly and fully acknowledges the findings and recommendations of the international scientific community, pledging, among other things, to:<\/p>\n