Just before she was presented with The Edinburgh Medal Christina Figueres took part in a roundtable discussion about climate change. This is something she is particularly well-versed in. Miss Figueres was former Executive Secretary at the UN Convention on Climate Change from 2010-16. In that role she drove through the Paris climate change agreement.
Those involved in the discussion included leading academics and representatives from business and charity organisations in Scotland.
Dr Simon Gage OBE the CEO of Edinburgh Science chaired the meeting and Dr Martin Valenti Head of Strategic Partnership at SEPA was the facilitator.
Ms Figueres observed Scotland is in a great position to transform our way of life and deliver a better world, one that works with the environment and not against it. She emphasized the need to inject optimism into the narrative of tackling climate change and spoke of the outrage of young people we are currently witnessing and how the older generation need to respond to it with energy and determination. Ms Figueres impressed upon the group the need to accept no more than 1.5°C temperature increase which means getting to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 or earlier.
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