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Chaired by Professor Emily Shuckburgh, Director of Cambridge Zero, the 17th annual Pembroke College William Pitt Seminar will be Introduced by the Master Lord Chris Smith and asks the question – ‘Who’s in charge?’.

There is uncertainty, crisis and disaster at every turn. Governments in the most powerful economies seem to be failing in their basic duty, not only in tackling the climate emergency, but also fiscally, in international relations and in addressing increasing inequalities that have been exacerbated by COVID. We face a period of governmental turmoil in the UK, a war in Europe, threats to true democracy and a cost of living crisis among many other significant challenges, all of which are diverting attention from what is the most vital matter at hand – our stricken planet. COP26 last year was supposed to be the turning point, a moment when the world joined together and agreed a plan to tackle climate change. This summer, the effects of our changing climate have been keenly felt worldwide and also very close to home. In the UK new record high temperatures were broken daily resulting in devastating consequences for those who lost their homes and livelihoods from fire.

With politicians balancing conflicts between restoring the economy, dealing with geopolitics, helping people facing a huge dent in their finances, and rescuing our climate, and with the world still feeling the effects of the pandemic, the seventeenth William Pitt Seminar asks: ‘Who’s in charge?’. The climate crisis is real and present – who will step up if governments cannot or will not?

Our Chair will be Professor Emily Shuckburgh, Director of Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge’s major climate change initiative and Professor of Environmental Data Science at the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University. Professor Anil Madhavapeddy, Professor of Planetary Computing and Pembroke Fellow will also be on the panel. Professor Madhavapeddy recently founded the Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits (4C) which aims to scale up the supply of deforestation avoidance carbon credits using satellite imagery and algorithms. Our second speaker is Pembroke Alum Mr Greg Jackson, CEO and Founder of Octopus Energy. And our final speaker is Professor David Cope, former Director of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (1998 - 2012) and a Foundation Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge.

William Pitt Seminar 2022 (Virtual Event)