Thought Leadership Stage: Jim Skea (UK) on climate leadership
From doomsday scenarios to concrete solutions. As chairman of the IPCC, Jim Skea is the man who must turn plans into action in the global fight against climate change.
"Our message for action is clear: We have the technologies, the know-how and the money to tackle climate change. We need to put them to work. Now." – Jim Skea, speech at Climate Week, New York, 2023.
In The Black Diamond, Jim Skea, professor of sustainable energy at Imperial College London and since 2023 chairman of the UN climate panel IPCC, will talk with editor-in-chief at Information, Rune Lykkeberg, about what the necessary changes to prevent the consequences of climate change will mean concretely. Because what does the world look like when our current systems have been converted to the new systems that will ensure continued progress and political stability worldwide - now within the planetary boundaries?
Thought Leadership Stage
On the Thought Leadership Stage, the Royal Danish Library addresses the state of the world and puts the philosophical and educational questions in relation to leadership and development in a broad sense on the agenda.
The event series consists of conversations with a selection of the world's leading profiles in the intersection between economics, politics, philosophy and management.
Climate leadership across sectors
"The challenges are great, but the most important thing is that we don't let despair paralyse us." – Jim Skea in interview with Climatica, 2023.
The world needs effective global climate leadership. A leadership that everyone collaborates on and contributes to. Solution-pointing research, a committed business community, and the right decisions at the political level must play together to kick-start the necessary transition. That message is echoed across business organisations, the political sphere and among leading climate scientists. According to Jim Skea, the time is now for the IPCC to turn its gaze away from the doomsday scenarios and instead look towards the solutions.
The big dilemma
The world is in a dilemma between the need for more energy to create growth to raise the living standards of people in many countries and the need to reduce global energy consumption.
With that dilemma as a background, the conversation will examine how a global model for a future that is sustainable, when it comes to climate, politics and global equality can become reality.
Participants
Jim Skea
Jim Skea (b. 1954) is a renowned British climate scientist. Since 2023, he has been chairman of the UN Climate Panel IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and has played a key role in the development of international guidelines for sustainable development and climate measures. Skea has a solid career in energy policy and research behind him, e.g. as professor of sustainable energy at Imperial College in London from 2009-2023.
Rune Lykkeberg
Rune Lykkeberg is educated in literature and philosophy from the University of Copenhagen and has had a long career as a journalist. Since 2016, he has served as editor-in-chief for Dagbladet Information.
