Guest essay by Eric Worrall

h/t Dr. Willie Soon; According to “Nobel prize co-winner” Michael Mann and other authors, universities should be ranked and staff should be promoted based on how strongly they support climate action.

Why universities need to declare an ecological and climate emergency

Universities have a responsibility to prepare students for an uncertain future, 11 scholars from around the world argue

September 27, 2019

By Jean S. Renouf, Michael E. Mann , John Cook , Christopher Wright , Will Steffen , Patrick Nunn, Pauline Dube, Jean Jouzel , Stephan Lewandowsky, Anne Poelina and Katherine Richardson

Twitter: @Drjsrenouf, @MichaelEMann, @johnfocook, @ChristopherWr11, @PatrickNunn3, @STWorg and @KRichardsonC

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Through the voices of Greta Thunberg, the School Strikes for Climate and the Fridays For Future, youth everywhere are loud and clear in calling for societies to change. Placards at protests around the world read: “Why should anyone study for a future when no one is doing enough to save our future?”; “Climate change is worse than homework”; “If you don’t act like adults, we will”; and “The climate is changing, why aren’t we?”.

Universities have a particular role to play when it comes to acting for the planet. As large institutions, universities’ carbon and environmental footprints are significant, and this alone should be a strong enough incentive to act. But, universities also have the responsibility to be honest with their students and prepare them for a changing climate because whatever jobs they seek after graduation will be fundamentally reshaped by an increasingly variable climate and frequent and unprecedented climate extremes.

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Mainstreaming ecological and climate action across all disciplines. Universities would ensure that all students, regardless of the discipline and level of study, understand specific climate impacts and possible remedial action in their line of work.

This would be reflected in curricula, university rankings, graduate attributes, as well as in staff performance measurements, including those of high executives.

Interdisciplinary teaching and research activities on global environmental challenges, resilience and solutions would be prioritised and invested in. Collective action, community engagement, partnerships, sharing best practices, and open platforms for innovation would be promoted.

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