2021: A crucial year for action on climate change

As the world emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, attention will return to the global climate change and biodiversity emergencies. 2021 is a pivotal year for action on these urgent challenges, with the hosting of two crucial global UN summits this autumn on biodiversity and climate change.

At national level, the strengthened Climate Action Bill commits Ireland to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest and will mandate a halving of greenhouse gas emission by 2030. This is at the same time extremely challenging and arguably not sufficient for Ireland to do its global fair share. DCU is taking important steps to address the climate and biodiversity emergencies, though much remains to be done.

Environmental sustainability is an increasingly prominent dimension of our teaching delivery. In 2018, DCU launched Ireland’s first social science- focused master’s programme on climate change. Since then, the MSc in Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society has quickly established itself as one of the leading climate change master’s programmes in Ireland.

This autumn, we will launch a range of exciting new undergraduate programmes, including a BA in Climate and Environmental Sustainability, a BEng in Sustainable Systems and Energy, and a BSc in
Global Challenges. An important next step will be to ensure that all DCU graduates – not just those choosing these specialised courses – are equipped with a robust understanding of sustainability.

Responding to the climate change and biodiversity emergencies also features increasingly prominently in the university’s research and innovation activities across all five faculties – from science, technology and business, to education, social sciences and humanities.

Later this year we will launch the DCU Centre for Climate and Society, Ireland’s first climate change research centre with a core focus on humanities and social science perspectives. Drawing on a diverse range of expertise across the university, this Centre will be uniquely positioned to drive societal responses to climate change in Ireland.

DCU continues to engage with a wide range of external stakeholders across industry, policy, and civil society. For example, we are working closely with the Climate Action Regional Office for Dublin to ensure that our research on climate change and environment is translated into concrete solutions for policy and society.

Underpinning all of these activities is an ambitious new DCU Climate Action Plan, set to be unveiled later this year. It will be crucial for everyone in DCU – staff and students alike – to walk the walk as well as talking the talk. This will require strong leadership from the senior management team as well as buy-in from across the DCU community.

The most important thing now is to get on with the urgent task of responding to the climate change and biodiversity emergencies. Time is not on our side. When it comes to climate the best time to start was decades ago. The second best time to start is now.