Oxford in Westminster seminar
Previous events
Confronting climate risk: what the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit should deliver
Houses of Parliament, London
Tuesday 3 September 2019 at 6pm
The University of Oxford hosted its third ‘Oxford in Westminster’ seminar in September 2019, this focused on how to develop global capabilities for resilience and adaptation to climate change.
The forthcoming UN Climate Action Summit marks an acceleration in efforts to coordinate international action on climate change. The UK is leading the Summit’s work on resilience and adaptation, with the aim of delivering a strong political signal from world leaders in support of the transformation societies and economies need to better cope with a changing environment. At the national level, the Committee on Climate Change’s latest report on preparing for the impacts here in the UK underscores the need for government and industry to prioritise risk reduction.
This seminar, part of the University’s ‘True Planet’ campaign on sustainability and environmental research, brings together a team of Oxford climate scientists to delve into these challenges. They will offer their insights into how we can become more adaptable, create resilient systems, and achieve the goal of net zero emissions.
The panel featured:
- Nick Bridge: Special Representative for Climate Change, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Professor Myles Allen: Leader of the Climate Dynamics Group at the Department of Physics and Professor of Geosystem Science at the School of Geography and the Environment
- Professor Sir David Hendry: Co-director of the Climate Econometrics project, Institute for New Economic Thinking, Oxford Martin School
- Dr Friederike Otto: Acting Director of the University’s Environmental Change Institute
- Dr Marco Springmann: Senior Researcher, Nuffield Department of Population Health and Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food
You can find out more about the University’s ‘True Planet’ campaign, covering its research in everything from agriculture, to climate conflict, to the future of energy generation, here: www.ox.ac.uk/trueplanet
Leading researchers explore the implications of the quantum computing revolution
Houses of Parliament, London
Tuesday 19 March 2019
Three researchers at the forefront of the quantum revolution addressed a group of MPs, Peers and civil servants about the UK’s progress with creating the world’s first scalable quantum computer, a challenge which the University of Oxford is spearheading.
The University of Oxford’s Marina Jirotka, Professor of Human-Centred Computing in the Department of Computer Science, and Simon Benjamin, Professor of Quantum Technologies in the Department of Materials, were joined by Professor Iain Walmsley, head of the Networked Quantum Information Technologies Hub (NQIT) and Provost of Imperial College London, to discuss the profound implications quantum computers will have in areas as diverse as health, finance and defence. They also examined how values of responsible innovation are underpinning this pioneering science.
This was the second in a series of 'Oxford in Westminster' seminars hosted by Lord Wood of Anfield in partnership with the University of Oxford.