RSE COP 26 International Climate Change Network

The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) COP 26 International Climate Change Network project focuses University of Dundee-led research-led long-term capacity building in support of developing countries actively engaged in tackling the climate crisis.

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, offered a unique opportunity to demonstrate the advantages of knowledge exchange through collaborative networking to an international audience in Scotland that included representatives from the Global South. The project team was directly represented at COP26, where it engaged with government Ministers from both African and European countries. 

Working with partners at Durham University and internationally, the project addressed how initial experience in tackling climate change in Scotland and the rest of the UK may yield insights into the design of domestic laws and regulations on adaptation and resilience in the Global South in line with international legal requirements under the Paris Agreement and the Paris Rulebook.  Supporting targeted countries, the project facilitated the adaptation and energy transitions (elements of a ‘good’ nationally determined contribution on adaptation), on the design, implementation and building community support for action. 

Our collaboration with the Global South has depth by focusing initially on: four states, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Uganda, that have a considerable influence in their respective regions; and, more broadly, across the Commonwealth.  These states are influential and their laws on adaptation and energy transitions will set the standard for others. 

University of Dundee:

• professor Peter Cameron directed the project and was the lead author for the research paper “Moving Beyond Oil and Gas: What can we learn from States in the Commonwealth?”, the co-authors of which were Maroof Mittha, Susan Nakanwagi and Daniel Gilbert – colleagues on the project as listed below.
• research associate Daniel Gilbert, at the Nepalese embassy in London, met with their government at the “Investment Opportunities in Nepal” conference and continued engagement with the government right through to the Powering Past Coal Alliance’s Powering the World Past Coal event, held as part of COP26, where 10 countries, including Nepal, committed to phasing out coal.
• alumnus Maroof Mittha led engagement with Pakistan, including with respect to their updated COP26 Nationally Determined Contribution.  He undertook this partnership working with Pakistani Senator Faisal Javaid and the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, amongst others.
• alumna Susan Nakanwagi led with respect to Uganda, publishing a paper on clean cooking transitions in that country and presenting on her findings to the Nkumba University International Research Conference (2021), held in-country.  She also reported on the project, alongside Prof. Cameron, to meetings of the Network’s International Research Advisory Board.