Events
The UN Climate Change Secretariat’s 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) is less than a year away - it'll be held in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021.
Both the city of Glasgow and the Scottish Government have committed to ambitious climate goals, including pledging to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. Considerable progress has already been made – for instance, Scotland meets 76% of its energy needs using renewable sources like solar and wind.
As we look ahead toward COP26, join us for this event with key government and environmental leaders as they share the world-leading work being done in Scotland on climate, and how Glasgow is working with other cities around the world, including New York City, and global networks like C40, to share best practices and collaborate on exciting projects to reduce emissions and ensure a just transition to a greener future.
This discussion is hosted in partnership with the Just Transition Commission of Scotland, the Scottish Government, RSA Scotland, St. Andrew’s Society of New York, and Penn 's Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.
Sign up for this virtual event, and details of how to take part will be in your order confirmation email.
SPEAKERS
Kersti Berge is the Director of Energy and Climate Change for the Scottish Government. In this role, she is responsible for energy including the energy industries, energy consents and low carbon issues, climate change, the water industry, drinking water quality and consumer issues. Prior to joining the Scottish Government, Ms. Berge was a director at Ofgem where she held a number of senior roles including on network regulation, consumer and competition issues, and energy security. Ms. Berge was also Head of Ofgem in Scotland with responsibility for liaising with key Scottish stakeholders and managing Ofgem’s office in Glasgow. Before joining Ofgem, Ms. Berge was a senior economic advisor at HM Treasury where she was responsible for the UK’s medium term growth forecast and worked on European economic issues. Prior to that she was a lecturer in economics at Oxford University.
Duncan Booker is COP26 Stakeholder Manager for Glasgow City Council. He has worked on policy development in local government for more than twenty years in a range of areas. He drafted the Council’s report and recommendations on the climate emergency last year, which led to the city committing to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Mr. Booker is currently working on arrangements for Glasgow to welcome the world to COP26 in November 2021. He is a graduate of the universities of Oxford and Glasgow.
Roseanna Cunningham, MSP is Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform. She was appointed in May 2016, having previously served as Minister for the Environment and Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training. Born in Glasgow in 1951, she moved to Australia in 1960 with her family and subsequently completed her schooling in Fremantle, Western Australia. She became interested in politics while still a teenager and first joined the SNP in 1969 as an overseas member. Ms. Cunningham returned to Scotland in 1976 and in 1980 returned to university in Edinburgh obtaining a Law Degree followed by a Diploma in Legal Practice from Aberdeen University. She represented Perth and Kinross in the House of Commons from 1995 to 2000. She has been elected to the Scottish Parliament since 1999 serving on the Justice, Health and Rural Affairs committees. Please note that Ms. Cunningham will provide taped remarks.
David Miller is the Director of International Diplomacy for C40 Cities. Mr. Miller was Mayor of Toronto from 2003 to 2010, and served as Chair of C40 Cities from 2008 until 2010. Under his leadership, Toronto became widely admired internationally for its environmental leadership, economic strength and social integration. He is a leading advocate for the creation of sustainable urban economies, and a strong and forceful champion for the next generation of jobs through sustainability. Mr. Miller has held a variety of public and private positions and served as Future of Cities Global Fellow at Polytechnic Institute of New York University from 2011 to 2014, was an Adjunct Professor at York University in Toronto and has an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Waterloo in Environmental Studies. Prior to joining the C40, Mr. Miller served as the President and CEO of World Wildlife Fund-Canada, Canada’s foremost conservation organization. David Miller is a Harvard trained economist and professionally a lawyer. He and his wife, lawyer Jill Arthur, are the parents of two children. He is the author of Solved: How the World's Great Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis.
Tom Shields is a commissioner with Scotland’s Just Transition Commission and is part of a group advising the Scottish Government on a sustainable recovery from the COVID pandemic. He is Chief Executive of Spring Rise, a consultancy providing support to chemical processing, waste recycling and renewable energy industries. He was previously the Managing Director of KemFine UK Ltd., a specialty chemicals business, and has served as the Chair of the Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley Board.
MODERATOR
Lolita Jackson is the Special Advisor for Climate Policy & Programs in the NYC Mayor’s Office. She is the climate diplomat for NYC, and is also lead for the administration regarding global work on divestment and climate finance. Prior to her appointment to this role, she held numerous positions within the NYC Mayor’s Office over the past 14 years, including the Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency, lead for operational city agencies on Second Avenue Subway, and Manhattan Director of Community Affairs. Prior to her tenure in the NYC Mayor’s Office, Ms. Jackson worked for Morgan Stanley Investment Management for 12 years. She is a 1989 alumna of the Penn School of Engineering and Applied Science, majoring in Applied Science with a concentration in Chemical Engineering, is co-President of the Penn Class of 1989, and is a 2007 winner of the Penn Alumni Award of Merit.
