Oxford Martin School: Public Lectures and Seminars

After a summer of extreme heatwaves, devastating wildfires and deadly flooding across the world, all made worse by climate change, the Rt Hon Sir Alok Sharma, President of COP26 in Glasgow 2021, will discuss the ongoing climate crisis. In the run up to COP28, Sir Alok will describe his hopes for the summit and his views on the future of the COP process, as well as the role of the UK in internation...

Join Nathalie Seddon and Cameron Hepburn as they discuss the need for increased investment combined with rigorous evaluation of activities undertaken, using metrics which consider the complex, long-term benefits that nature-based solutions provide. Nature-based solutions (NbS) can contribute to the fight against climate change up to the end of our century. But the world must invest now in nature-b...

Professor Dame Henrietta L. Moore and Professor Sir Charles Godfray discuss how we can rebuild new economies in a way that ensures global prosperity. The recently published Dasgupta Review has made a strong call for the fundamental rebuilding of economic models in ways that inherently value Nature. These are welcome findings, coming at a time when existing economic structures, extractive systems a...

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, speaks to the implications of the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity, and how we can begin the journey to re-shape our economies, working with nature, not against it. Even as we seek to overcome the global pandemic, humanity faces three planetary crisis that threaten our future - the climate crisis, the biodiversity...

In the book launch for Rescue: From Global Crisis to a Better World, Ian Goldin, Author, and Nik Gowing, Founder at Thinking the Unthinkable, will discuss how the pandemic provides a unique opportunity to tackle today’s challenges. We are at a crossroads. Covid-19 has wreaked havoc but also offers the potential for radical change. Ian Goldin explains why bouncing back to business as usual would be...

Join Professor Chris Dye, author of The Great Health Dilemma, and Professor Salim Abdool Karim, Director of CAPRISA, as they discuss ways to invest more money and effort in health promotion and prevention around the world today.

Join us for a conversation between the author of the Economics of Biodiversity Review, Sir Partha Dasgupta, and Professor Cameron Hepburn, where they will discuss the important messages from the review and the road ahead.

Sadie Creese and Jamie Saunders discuss the steps that need to be taken by technologists, businesses, government and the international community to ensure that our digital infrastructure continues to provide the level of resilience and security we need. The pandemic has accelerated digitisation across many sectors of the economy and society. It is hard to imagine how many countries could have impl...

in most countries conservation of leopards is dependent on trans-boundary collaboration. In this talk, Dr Mohammad Farhadinia explores the critical role of mountains for biodiversity conservation amidst international political concerns.

Ian Goldin, Kristalina Georgieva discuss how we can bring the Sustainable Development Goals in reach by 2030 The global pandemic has derailed progress toward the SDGs as developing countries now balance long-term investments in health, education, roads, electricity, and water with spending to protect lives and livelihoods. Bringing the SDGs within reach by 2030 will take a global effort from all s...

The speakers explore the various approaches being proposed to store and preserve CO2 in the ocean, many inspired by mechanisms known to function naturally in the past, and assess the challenges and research hurdles for their implementation in the future. The modern ocean contains an enormous (38000 GtC) reservoir of carbon in dissolved form. Recent geological history shows that the oceans have rep...

Net zero targets are proliferating across the world, covering not only countries but also business, investors, cities, states and provinces, universities, and many others. But are these targets credible? And how can we ensure they lead to change? A new report sheds light on both the scope and, critically, the quality of the groundswell of net zero targets globally. Join Professor Thomas Hale, Blav...

The cycle of carbon between the Earth’s surface and its deep interior is a key component of our goldilocks planet. In this discussion Professor Mike Kendall, Professor Joe Cartwright and Dr Tom Kettlety will discuss CO2 storage in geologic reservoirs.

In this conversation, Sir John Armitt, who is chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, joins Professor Jim Hall to explore the vision and practicalities of providing infrastructure systems that meets society’s goals.

What are the different ways to remove carbon dioxide from air? How much potential do they have, and how can we scale them up? Perhaps most importantly, will negative emissions be a vital addition to action on emissions or a costly distraction? Join Tim Kruger, Programme Manager of the Oxford Geoegineering Programme, in discussion with Dr Steve Smith, Executive Director of Oxford Net Zero, in this...

In this presentation, Professor John Vucetich & Professor David MacDonald, will examine how the terms “ecosystem health” and “endangered species” are underdetermined to the point of being increasingly problematic for advancing real-world conservation Many real-world conservation issues are also treated as negotiations between those who are for and against conservation, where the effort is eith...

In conversation with Chris Dye, Sally Davies will explore the major challenge of anti-microbial resistance and discuss whether people’s greater appreciation of medical risk due to the pandemic will help the development of effective countermeasures. Date 11 February 2021, 5:00pm - 6:00pm Location Online Event Recording: Since their widespread deployment in the mid-20th century, effective antibiotic...

In conversation with Charles Godfray, Martin Rees will explore how the global experience of the COVID-19 pandemic might change the way societies and policymakers grapple with the major challenges of the 21st century.

Economists Paul Collier and John Kay discuss their book, Greed is Dead, with Sir Charles Godfray Throughout history, successful societies have created institutions which channel both competition and co-operation to achieve complex goals of general benefit. These institutions make the difference between societies that thrive and those paralysed by discord, the difference between prosperous and poor...

Join Nick Eyre and Steve Smith for a discussion on a renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon emissions. The combustion of fossil fuels is responsible for the most greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in industrialised countries. Systemic change in energy systems is therefore a critical component of any net-zero agenda. It is a huge global challenge, but recent developments give cause for...

The first discussion in the Oxford Net Zero Series, hosted by the Oxford Martin School, hones in on the fundamental motivation of the research programme: ‘Why net zero? Join the Oxford Net Zero Initiative’s Research Director, Professor Sam Fankhauser; Director, Professor Myles Allen; Net Zero Policy Engagement Fellow, Kaya Axelsson as they discuss with the Chair, Executive Director. Dr Steve Smith...

Professor Gina Neff discusses artificial intelligence and data work, and the ethical and social implications of integrating these tools into organisations. What happens when new artificial intelligence (AI) tools are integrated into organisations around the world? For example, digital medicine promises to combine emerging and novel sources of data and new analysis techniques like AI and machine le...

Prof Susan Jebb and Sir Charles Godfray discuss the possible implications of the pandemic on health policy and tackling obesity. The current covid-19 pandemic has focussed attention on the variability in personal risk of serious illness. After age and ethnicity, one of the most important factors associated with developing serious covid complications, requiring admission to hospital or ICU, is bein...

Professor Jeff Sachs discusses his new book 'The Ages of Globalization' with Professor Ian Goldin. We are justified to say that we are living through a new age of globalisation, which Professor Jeff Sachs calls the Digital Age. The hugely disruptive changes were already with us before Covid-19, but now we’ve been hurled head-first into the new age. It is marked by enormous geopolitical, technologi...

Christophe Fraser of Oxford’s Big Data Institute, who advises the UK’s NHS COVID-19 Tracing app, and Prof Oliver Pybus discuss the opportunities and challenges of successfully applying new technologies to pandemics past, present, and future. The COVID-19 pandemic has become a defining event of the 21st century. New technologies such as ubiquitous smartphones and virus genome sequencing offer power...