Ask the Experts: Can people power drive environmental action?

From the air we breathe, to the water we drink, and the energy we rely on to heat our homes, environmental breakdown can impact our daily lives in immediate and personal ways, yet many feel powerless to act and find the solutions out of reach. What stands in the way of action? And what would it take to build the conditions where we can feel empowered and involved in the response?

This is your opportunity to put questions to our expert panel as they answer your questions about overcoming the barriers to change and building community power. From policy and infrastructure to public engagement and local action, we’ll explore what it takes to build environmental agency and ensure that no one is left behind in the fight to protect our planet.

Speakers

Professor Nick Pidgeon MBE, FBA

Nick Pidgeon is a Professor of environmental psychology and risk at Cardiff University working on human dimensions of and public engagement with climate change and sustainability solutions. A member of the DESNZ Science and Technology Advisory Council, he is also co-investigator in the ESRC's Behavioural Research Hub (BR-UK). Awarded an MBE in 2014 for services to climate change and energy security awareness. Nick became a Fellow of the Academy in 2023.

Rachel Coxcoon

Rachel Coxcoon is Director of Climate Guide, providing climate strategy, training and leadership support to local government and academia. She is also a Doctoral Researcher at Lancaster University, as part of the Climate Citizens project, where she is researching the effect of political ideology on democratic engagement with climate policy making. Alongside this, Rachel brings additional insight through her former role as Councillor and Cabinet Member for Climate Change & Forward Planning, at Cotswold District Council.

Scarlett Westbrook

Scarlett Westbrook is a 21-year-old leading climate justice activist and journalist, and the youngest person in the world to attain an A level in Government and Politics, which she self-taught at age 13. She is also the youngest parliamentary policy writer, most known for her work on climate education, and for being a lead organiser of the British School Climate Strikes. In 2022, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of London for her work on climate justice. She is a co-founder of Teach the Future.

Chair

Hetan Shah

Hetan Shah is Chief Executive at the British Academy, the UK’s national academy for humanities and social sciences. He is Chair of Our World in Data, which brings together research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems. Hetan was appointed in 2024 by the UK Parliament to the board of the National Audit Office, the UK’s independent spending watchdog. He is Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, Kings College London and a Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. Hetan serves on a number of advisory boards including the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, the UCL Policy Lab and the Resolution Foundation.

Event schedule

• Doors and bar open: 18:00
• Event starts: 18:30
• Event ends: 19:45

Further information

This event will take place both in-person at the British Academy's home at 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, St James, London, SW1Y 5AH and online via Vimeo.

As tickets are free, people sometimes book and don't attend, so we have to issue more tickets than there are seats available to allow for this. Entry into this event is on a first-come, first-served basis and we recommend arriving in good time to avoid any disappointment.

Registering for a ticket does not guarantee you entrance to the SHAPE Room. If the SHAPE Room reaches capacity, you will be directed to the Wohl Gallery next door to watch a live stream of the event.

This event will have live subtitles delivered by 121 Captions.

To find out about the accessibility of our venue, please visit this link: https://10-11cht.com/the-venue/accessibility

If you have any questions about this event, please refer to our Public Events FAQs. If your question is not answered, please email events@thebritishacademy.ac.uk or call the Events Team on +44(0)20 7969 5210.

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