Achieving net zero greenhouse gases emission by 2050, as the European Green Deal vows to do, will require action from all stakeholders and has far more cross-sectoral and all-society angles than is commonly understood. Most notably, getting to net zero will require an advanced and well-equipped education system, helping to equip students with the analytical skills they will need to make the right choices and shoring them up against the inevitable misinformation that opponents of change will surely bring. With that goal in mind, the Lisbon Council convened a group of high-level climate-science experts and education specialists designed to bring these transversal issues together around a “best-in- class” agenda at the High-Level Working Breakfast on Climate Science Education. Among the high-level speakers: Kornelis Blok, lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and professor at Delft University of Technology; Rimantas Dumčius, director for research and policy advice at the Public Policy and Management Institute (PPMI) in Lithuania; Marc Durando, executive director of European Schoolnet; Prof Sir Peter Gluckman, director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, president-elect of the International Science Council and former chief science adviser to the prime minister of New Zealand; Brigitte Hasewend, director for international sustainability partnerships at Graz University of Technology and founding director and member of the governing council of the European Sustainable Energy Innovation Alliance (ESEIA); Jessica Niewint Gori, climate researcher at the National Institute for Documentation, Innovation and Educational Research (INDIRE) in Italy; David Osimo, director of research at the Lisbon Council; Xavier Prats-Monné, former director-general for education at the European Commission and board member at Teach4all; Andreas Schleicher, director for education and skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); and Harry Verhaar, Europe chair of the Corporate Leaders Group and head of global public and government affairs at Signify.
The discussions will feed directly into the Getting to Net Zero Initiative, a high-level programme the Lisbon Council will lead to accompany Europe’s transition to a net-zero carbon emissions economy.