Climate Commission Student News & Opportunities

Student experience opportunities

  • COP26 are seeking volunteers for event support.
  • Greenpeace are looking for individuals aged 18-25 to deliver inspiring talks about the environment and Greenpeace campaigns! More information here.
  • 2050 Climate Group (Scotland only) will shortly be opening applications for young people aged 18 - 35 to take part in the next Young Leaders Development Programme. More information here.
  • Enactus UK supports students & young people across the UK to engage in social action and social enterprise, supporting the development of the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders and social innovators. Their university programme now operates in over 60 institutions across the UK. More information here.
  • Want to know more about climate change science, or develop campaigning and communicating skills? 350.org has eight free online knowledge and skills development modules. Check them out here.


Student Commissioner News​​​

October 2021 Updates


September 2021 Updates

  • The Student Climate Commissioners published their COY16 Student Statement (22nd September). With input and feedback from student focus groups, the statement is available until the 10th October for students to sign their support before submission to the COY16 Youth Delegates.
  • Climate Commission Commissioners and Steering Group members joined two workshops (FE - 1st September; HE - 13th September) facilitated by Department for Education to support development of their new strategy.
  • Student Climate Commissioner Manveer Gill is speaking at University of Warwick's ‘Careers in Not-for-profit’ Sector event (27th October) on his experience on the Climate Commission and continued professional development.


August 2021 Updates

  • Climate Commission Commissioners and Steering Group met with the Department for Education Sustainability Unit with view to support development of DoE strategy.
  • Student Climate Commissioners facilitated a COY16 Statement Student Focus Group in partnership with Enactus UK (5th August). The Student Climate Commissioners are expected to publish their COY16 statement in September.


July 2021 Updates

  • Student Climate Commissioners have been developing a Climate Commission Student COY16 Statement to feed-in to COY16 ahead of COP26. Focus Groups to develop the statement are planned for the 29th July (University of Leeds), 5th August (Enactus UK) and 19th August (FE student focus).

June 2021 Updates

  • Climate Commissioner Katie Major and Climate Commission Manager Matt Woodthorpe facilitated a session on Universities, Sustainability, and Student Leadership at Enactus UK's Leadership Summit (29th June).
  • Climate Commissioners Amy Brazier and Manveer Gill spoke about the Climate Commission's work at Purpose's coalition meeting (22nd June).

May 2021 Updates

  • Climate Commissioner Katie Major and EAUC CEO Ian Patton presented at the GuildHE Spring Conference 2021 on Environmental and Sustainability Panel for Practitioners (26th-27th May).


April 2021 Updates

  • Climate Commissioner Marta Crispo is working with UUK on their MadeAtUni campaign.
  • Student Commissioners have been awarded honorary fellowships by EAUC in recognition of their commitment to tackling the climate crisis and their time and contribution to the Climate Commission's work. Read more about the student Commissioners and the honorary fellowships here

March 2021 Updates


February 2021 Updates


December 2020 Updates

  • The Climate Commission released a statement on the HEPI Debate Paper - Beyond Business as Normal - Higher Education in the era of climate change
  • The Climate Commission released a statement on the Ofsted Annual Report Launch


November 2020 Updates

  • We held the Climate Commission - One Year On event. The event included a Keynote Speech from The Rt. Hon. The Lord Deben, Chair of the Committee on Climate Change, a student panel and breakout rooms to discuss priorities for the next year running up to COP26.
  • The Climate Commission released a support statement for Mock COP26


October 2020 Updates

  • The Climate Commission Podcast, Climate Chats with Students released 2 new podcasts chatting students from the University of Surrey and Reading University  

September 2020 Updates

  • The Climate Commission Podcast, Climate Chats with Students released 4 new podcasts chatting students from the University of Edinburgh and Keele University.  
  • The Climate Commission Secretariat has released the 2nd blog post in its series. This post covers priority 2: research and innovation and offers insights from Climate Commissioners Judith Petts and Marta Crispo. Read the post here. 

 
August 2020 Updates

  • The Commission has released a document outlining its findings to date.


June 2020 Updates  

  • Student Commissioners have been awarded honorary fellowships by EAUC in recognition of their commitment to tackling the climate crisis and their time and contribution to the Climate Commission's work. Read more about the honorary fellowships here.
  • Student Commissioners launched a survey to better engage with students. 


May 2020 Updates

  • Student Commissioners facilitated focus groups for UNESCO's Futures of Education to ensure students on the Commission can contribute and impact global education policy. Read more about the initiative and report here.  


April 2020 Updates

  • The Climate Commission drafted a response to the postponement of COP26 due to COVID-19 pandemic, acknowledging the importance of reducing the severity of the outbreak and emphasising its continued commitment to tackling the climate crisis.


March 2020 Updates

  • The Climate Commissioners have been consulting with the Council on a draft statement on offsetting for the sector. The Climate Commission will develop additional guidance for institutions on offsetting taking on the comments from the Council. This will be shared with the Council in due course. Using the statement, the Climate Commission partner organisations (AoC, EAUC, GuildHE & UUK) will now continue this dialogue and consensus building with their memberships.
  • Offsetting Statement: "The Climate Commission believes offsetting should be seen as a last resort for residual emissions where all other possible action has been taken using the principles of the Carbon Management Hierarchy of avoid, reduce, replace and offset. The Climate Commission foresee that offsetting will have a role as the sector moves towards net-zero emissions. The Climate Commission consider that offsetting may be higher in the early stages where institutions have ambitious targets but would expect these to scale down as measures are implemented and institutions move from net zero to zero emissions”


February 2020 Updates

  • The Climate Commissioners had a planning meeting on 11th February. Along with the Institutional Commissioners we welcomed the Student Commissioners to the group. Each partner organisation as a Student Commissioner as well as an Institutional Commissioner. This is to ensure that the student voice is at the heart of the Climate Commission.

Our Student Commissioners are:

  • Amy Brazier & Joshua Setford, Students, Portsmouth College, AoC representatives
  • Manveer Gill, Undergraduate, University of Warwick & EAUC representative
  • Florence Barrett, Undergraduate, Plymouth Marjon University, GuildHE representative
  • Marta Crispo, PhD Researcher, Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, University of Sheffield, UUK representative  
  • Manveer says, “The Climate Commission has the potential to spark a collaborative sector-wide response to the climate emergency. By including students at every step, the Commission can create a strategy that unites all major stakeholders in our efforts to mitigate climate change.” 


​January 2020 Updates

  • Student Commissioners have been appointed to work alongside the institutional Commissioners. This reflects equality within the Climate Commission and the determination to listen to students and ensure we have clear and cohesive actions.  
  • We have provided free Carbon Literacy training to students from the Council. They are now empowered and equipped to influence their fellow students as well as senior management within their institution.
  • Climate Commissioners Judith Petts and Manveer Gill attended the recent launch of the UN Climate Change Summit (COP26) that the UK are hosting in Glasgow in November
Delivered by EAUC