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Highlights of Misum’s climate work

Half-way through the first week of COP26 negotiations, we take a moment to reflect on how Misum, as a research center grounded in sustainability work, is contributing to the broad and urgent goal of tackling the climate crisis.

CO2 Lock-In exhibition at Stockholm School of Economics by the Stockholm-based artist duo Bigert & Bergström, October 2020, SSE Art Initiative. Image by Jean-Baptiste Béranger.

The 26th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP26), the United Nations Climate Change conference, is underway in Glasgow this week, gathering government delegations (though with notable exceptions this year) as well as non-governmental actors like business and finance representatives, research institutes, youth groups, NGOs, activist groups, artists, civil society under one roof. What is the goal of the COP26 conference? To get countries to increase the commitments they made in Paris back in 2015, when they agreed to work towards reaching net zero emissions by 2050 and limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Other goals of the summit include making progress on climate finance, phasing out coal, and advancing nature-based solutions.

Climate science sits at the basis of the goals set during COPs, through landmark reports as the ones from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). As a research center grounded in interdisciplinary sustainability work, Misum’s entry point into climate research is cross-disciplinary, aiming to look at the interconnections between the climate crisis as well as other global social sustainability challenges.

At Misum, we contribute to the body of knowledge on climate-related issues via the work of several of our affiliated researchers, and we engage with local and international stakeholders on translating climate research into climate action through our outreach work. Below you find some highlights in recent climate work from Misum.

A snapshot of some of our policy reports and ongoing research projects

A few examples of our outreach and stakeholder engagements related to climate impact

  • On October 8, Misum hosted the second Misum Annual Forum and this year the theme was 'Responding to climate change - challenges and possible solutions'. We were honoured to have notable speakers including Nobel laureate Prof. Joseph Stiglitz, Prof. Elke Weber and Prof. Laura Starks sharing their expert insights on climate-focused topics. Forum highlights and recordings are available here
  • In May 2021 we hosted the high-level webinar Bending the global emissions curve, exploring Sweden’s climate policy opportunities and responsibilities with Swedish and international government representatives (e.g. Jytte Guteland and Anders Ygeman) as well as academics (Prof. John Hassler) and practitioners (Dr Elina Scheja). The webinar recordings are available here.
  • On November 18 Misum will participate in the Bright Green Summit, a high-stake event organised by AmCham Sweden as a rapid response to COP26. Misum Affiliated Researcher Laszlo Sajtos is moderating one of the panels. You can register for a free digital ticket (select AmCham member – Sweden in the form).

Climate research and engagement is not work done in silos, rather often based on inter- and trans- disciplinary projects involving academics, practitioners, students, the civil society. We would like to celebrate the climate work done at the Stockholm School of Economics by Misumers as well as other departments and research institutes, and to encourage SSE students to engage with climate research as a basis for much-needed climate action.

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