Between 10 and 23 February, the Environmental Sustainability Team supported the Students’ Union’s Climate Justice Fortnight.

During this period there were a wide-ranging series of events, talks, and workshops exploring how we can tackle climate injustice and make the changes needed to address this. The daily events ranged from climate activism and plastics to gender justice and tree planting.

The Environmental Sustainability Team contributed to this extensive programme events with the latest in our sustainability seminar series, Zero Carbon. We were joined by Pete Bradshaw (Head of Sustainability at Manchester City Football Club) who outlined the industry-leading sustainability work being done at Manchester City, with their state-of-the-art integrated water management system epitomised by creation of their ‘Raining Champions’ beer, made using rain water collected from the Etihad stadium. Our second speaker, John Broderick (Lecturer in Climate Change, University of Manchester), outlined the opportunities and challenges faced in achieving Manchester’s ambitious carbon targets. This aligns with the continuing development of a pathway of initiatives and interventions to support the University’s commitment to achieve zero carbon by 2038.

Climate Change ‘is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment’ (UN report). In order to adapt to and avert the worst effects of climate change, including significant threats to food production, ‘catastrophic flooding’ and potentially irreversible damage to life support systems we must act now.

As part of the University of Manchester Students’ Union’s ‘Climate Justice Fortnight’, we are inviting academics and students to work together, and collaborate on projects to raise awareness of these issues by using their lecture time. If you are interested in getting involved in the fortnight by delivering some lectures on the climate emergency or global justice (and anything in between), or by giving up your existing lecture time to students eager to deliver material, please fill out this form and the Students’ Union be in touch with you as soon as possible.