Between 25 October-19 November, the CSC Alumni Team hosted 12 webinars as part of the CSC Climate Action webinar series. The series provided an opportunity for Commonwealth Alumni to share their work, research, and contributions to tackling climate crises in different parts of the world. Speakers presented on a range of climate-related issues including climate finance, public health, clean and green energy, smart technologies, climate change governance, higher education collaboration, and water resource management.

Open to all Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni, the series brought together Scholars and alumni working across sectors and countries to learn more about ways to tackle climate change-related challenges and share their thoughts and ideas through interactive Q&A sessions.

Insights from the series

The CSC Alumni Team would like to thank all the speakers who volunteered their time to talk about their work during the series. Below you can find some highlights and lessons learned from the series.

You watch the webinars on the CSC’s YouTube through the Climate Action playlist.

  • Private sector investment is failing to meet the shortfall in finance for climate adaptation measures in the Eastern Caribbean

Courtnae Bailey (2017 Scholar from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) provided insights on her PhD research into the need for private sector companies to increase their contributions towards climate finance investments supporting Small Island Developing States (SIDS) with their climate resilient projects.

Watch the webinar: The key to achieving climate ambitions in the Eastern Caribbean

  • Universities globally are collaborating on three climate change missions – research, learning, and service

Ian Rowlands (1987 Scholar from Canada) discussed the importance of national and international universities working together to build networks and collaborations to tackle climate change challenges.

Watch the webinar: International, inter-university collaboration on global climate change

  • Are energy clocks the much-needed smart technology for cleaner cities?

Olamide Oguntoye (2014 Shared Scholar from Nigeria) explained the concept of energy clocks and why cities around the globe should implement this smart technology to reduce emissions.

Webinar available soon

  • Living in thermally inefficient homes can pose a risk to public health in Australia

Toby Cumming (2001 Scholar from Australia) presented his work on the Victorian Healthy Homes Program and discussed the need to implement basic home upgrades, such as insulation, draught sealing, and efficient heating systems, to increase indoor temperatures and meet the World Health Organisation’s 18-degree indoor temperature recommendation while at the same time reducing energy use.

Webinar available soon

  • An Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) is helping to tackle water scarcity in India

Meesha Tandon (2006 Shared Scholar from India) explored the ways in which communities can adapt to an IWRM to overcome water scarcity, providing examples from on-field visits and research studies conducted in different parts of India.

Webinar available soon

  • Reflections on attending COP26 and representing the Climate Vulnerability Forum (CVF)

Sirazoom Munira (2015 Shared Scholar from Bangladesh) discussed the role of the Bangladesh Government’s Presidency of the CVF in strengthening climate action and shared first-hand experience of attending the COP26 conference in Glasgow.

Webinar available soon

Upcoming webinar

To conclude the series, a webinar on ‘Green House Gas reduction in Canada’ will be hosted on Monday 6 December. This webinar will be presented by Commonwealth Alumnus Kevin Goheen.

All Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni registered to join this webinar will receive their confirmation details in early December.