COP26 & climate change: SFU experts available

The 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), a global event to unite the world in tackling climate change, is being held in Glasgow, Scotland from Oct. 31 – Nov. 12. 

SFU is among institutions committed to the UN’s Race to Zero campaign, a global alliance launched in advance of the conference and dedicated to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The following conference participants from SFU’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, and SFU climate change experts, are available. 

MORRIS J. WOSK CENTRE FOR DIALOGUE PARTICIPANTS 

For more on participants, their schedules and events in Glasgow visit this page, or contact Stephanie Hall, slhall@sfu.ca, or Claire Patterson, media coordinator (in Glasgow) clairep@sfu.ca. Participants include: 

SHAUNA SYLVESTER, executive director, Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue (In Glasgow Oct 30 – Nov 11)
shauna_sylvester@sfu.ca 

• The role of cities and their major 'asks' in order to achieve international climate goals
• Climate action and the need to combine resident support, government strategy, multi-stakeholder collaboration in a sustained effort over time
  

ROBIN PREST, program director, Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue (In Glasgow Nov 5 – 12)
rjprest@sfu.ca

• The role of climate engagement in accelerating climate action 
• The need for a more participatory relationship between governments and the communities they serve to accelerate the shift to net-zero emissions

CLIMATE CHANGE EXPERTS: IMPACTS & ISSUES

EDUCATION & COMMUNICATION

KAMYAR RAZAVI, PhD candidate, communication
krazavi@sfu.ca

• The importance of communicating climate change effectively 
• How to engage members of the public, governments, civil society on climate through storytelling
• The role of journalism in engaging audiences on the climate emergency 
  

DAVID ZANDVLIET, professor, education 
david_zandvliet@sfu.ca

• Zandvliet is the first United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair in Bio-Cultural Diversity and Education to improve environmental education
• Environmental education and climate change education, ocean literacy issues, science and environmental communication
  

HEALTH

MAYA GISLASON, professor,  health sciences, Planetary Health Research Group
maya_gislason@sfu.ca

• Planetary health, climate change, intergenerational climate equity, cumulative impacts of intensive resource extraction, climate change, mental health and children, climate change communication 
  

ECONOMICS & POLITICS

RADOSLAV DIMITROV, associate professor, political science
rdimitro@sfu.ca

• Participated in UN climate talks for more than 10 years as a government diplomat on the European Union delegation; helped negotiate the Paris Agreement and redesign the EU negotiating strategy in 2018, and was co-chair of the EU Task Force on Climate Communication.
• Climate change negotiations, UN diplomacy, international institutions and global environmental politics
  

MARK JACCARD, professor, resource and environmental management
mark_jaccard@sfu.ca

• Lead author of the IPCC Working Group III, which focuses on GHG reduction policy 
• Challenges of global action - global diplomacy, the necessity of carbon tariffs  
• Canada’s national effort (2030 target, new Liberal government, specific policies, 2050 net-zero target)
• Canada’s relationship to the US Biden administration

GEOFF MANN, director, Centre for Global Political Economy
geoffm@sfu.ca

• Author of Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future (2018)
  

SETH KLEIN, adjunct professor, urban studies
seth_klein@sfu.ca

• Climate emergency and climate policy; author of A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency (2020)

HERIBERT ADAM, professor emeritus, sociology 
heribert_adam@sfu.ca

• Previous German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s track record on energy and the environment
• The compromise to be reached among the two ideological opposed junior parties (the Greens and the FDP) of the likely three-party coalition government in Germany

CHRIS BATAILLE, associate researcher IDDRI, Canadian Energy and Emissions Data Centre
cbataill@gmail.com

• Net-zero emissions and economy-wide deep decarbonization
• Industrial decarbonization
• Climate policy

THOMAS GUNTON, professor, founding director of SFU’s resource and environmental management planning program
gunton@sfu.ca

• Op-Ed: Canada at COP26: A time for leadership
• Evaluating Canada’s climate strategy

MERRAN SMITH, executive director, Clean Energy Canada
Contact Keri McNamara at keri@cleanenergycanada.org

• Clean economy, energy policy, B.C. climate policy, federal climate policy, climate advocacy
• Clean energy, clean tech, clean investment, clean transport, climate advocacy
• EVs, ZEV mandate, COVID-19 economic recovery, Buy Clean
  

SCIENCE & INNOVATION

KIRSTEN ZICKFELD, professor of climate science and director of SFU’s Climate Research Lab, geography
kzickfel@sfu.ca

• Lead author of the special report on the Global Warming of 1.5 Degrees for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2018 and an author of the IPCC’s sixth assessment report (2021)
• Climate science, carbon budgets and net zero

TACO NIET, assistant professor, sustainable energy engineering
taco_niet@sfu.ca

• Works with UN member states to train them how to use CLEWs, a climate, land-use, energy and water systems model to help develop policies to meet UN SDGs;Working with UN to help nations reach their Paris Agreement goals - news story

STEVE HOLDCROFT, Canada Research Chair in electrochemical materials, professor, chemistry  
holdcroft@sfu.ca

• Leading authority on advanced materials for electrochemical energy conversion and storage—materials vital to the creation of sustainable energy sources such as fuel cells, green hydrogen and CO2 reclamation

JOHN CLAGUE, professor emeritus, earth sciences
jclague@sfu.ca

• Climate-caused natural hazards, changes in risk related to climate change and global population demographics

SUSTAINABILITY

MAJID BAHRAMI, professor, mechatronic systems engineering 
mbahrami@sfu.ca

• Sustainable clean energy systems, Heat on Wheels news story
  

SAMI KHAN, assistant professor, sustainable energy engineering
s_khan@sfu.ca

• Carbon capture and conversion system to reduce CO2 emissions 
• Action Canada Fellow – looking into policy and sustainability

DEBORAH HARFORD, senior adviser, Action on Climate Team
adapt@sfu.ca

• Exploring policy options and developing resources for adaptation to a range of climate change impact areas, including water, food, health, biodiversity, energy, infrastructure, and population displacement
• Responses to the Paris Agreement and sustainable development goals (SDGs)

ZAFAR ADEEL, professor, sustainable energy engineering
zadeel@sfu.ca

• Global water security and management 
• Climate change adaptation and responses to the Paris Agreement and sustainable development goals (SDGs) in relation to the 2030 agenda for sustainable development

TAMMARA SOMA, assistant professor, resource and environmental management
tammara_soma@sfu.ca

• Food security, food system planning, waste management 
  

ALEX BOSTON, executive director, Renewable Cities
a_boston@sfu.ca, or contact Andrea Hedley, communications specialist at andrea_hedley@sfu.ca

• Community energy planning, climate policy, urban sustainability and climate change adaptation
• Sustainable energy, green cities issues (energy, buildings, transport)
• Can also speak to BC’s new Roadmap to 2030 and the City of Vancouver Making Home proposal

RON WAKKARY, professor, interactive arts and technology, founder, SFU’s Everyday Design Studio
ron_wakkary@sfu.ca (currently in Europe)

• Author of a newly published book (Fall 2021), Things We Could Design for More Than Human-Centered Worlds, MIT Press
• The changing nature of interactive design in response to sustainability

URBAN PLANNING

ANDREANNE DOYON, assistant professor, resource and environmental management 
andreanne_doyon@sfu.ca

• Issues related to urban planning, sustainability and climate change, equity and justice considerations regarding climate change

CONTACT

MELISSA SHAW, SFU  Communications & Marketing 
236.880.3297 | melissa_shaw@sfu.ca

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