For this year’s Sustainability Symposium we brought together a range of researchers, leaders and activists to discuss the key multidisciplinary sustainability issues of our time.
From air quality to decarbonising our homes – here is a summary of the fascinating discussions and debates from the event.
You can also watch a recording of the whole event here.
Are the homes built today going to help us reach our carbon emission targets? That was the focus of our first panel discussion of the day.
“To achieve near net zero by 2050 we need to retrofit roughly 330 homes a week, and that’s just South Yorkshire.” – Hadi Arbabi
The session was chaired by our Senior Research Fellow in Sustainability Policy, Richard Sulley. The panel included Danielle Densley Tingley and Hadi Arbabi, both lecturers in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering at The University of Sheffield, as well as Ceri Batchelder – Senior Development Manager – Retrofit , South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
Do we really need to fly? If so, how much? And how can we do it with the lowest carbon impacts?
This session, chaired by our Co-Director, Rachael Rothman, looked at the future of flight and the aviation sector. It raised concerns about the supposed economic benefits of flying. The panel also discussed ‘synthetic’ aviation fuels and questioned whether it is really a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
Speakers included; Matt Watson, Director of Research and Innovation at The University of Sheffield; Aimee Ambrose, Professor of Energy Policy at Sheffield Hallam University; Alex Chapman, Senior Economist at New Economics Foundation, and our Research Fellow in Sustainability Assessment, Stuart Walker.
“Air pollution kills people and clean air saves lives.” – Tom Hunt
In this moving and powerful conversation between Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Director of the Ella Roberta Foundation and Tom Hunt, Leader of Sheffield City Council, Rosamund told the story of how her daughter became the first person in the world to have air pollution listed as a cause on her death certificate.
You can read Now Then magazine’s article based on this conversation here: Sheffield’s toxic air is still killing thousands every year. How do we end avoidable deaths like Ella Roberta’s?
Should we be worried that scientists found microplastics in men’s testicles? How do our experts feel about the current ‘butterfly emergency’? Is the fact that most soft plastic collected at supermarkets for recycling is being burned cause for concern?
In our final session, chaired by Joanna Gavins, our audience and panel of experts took a look at the latest sensationalist climate and health headlines in the newspapers. They also voted on how concerned they are about the stories and considered if the academic community is doing enough research on the subject.
Our Co-Directors Tony Ryan and Rachael Rothman were joined on the panel by Greg Fell – Director of Public Health in Sheffield and Jill Edmondson, Senior Lecturer, School of Biosciences at the University of Sheffield.
You can read Now Then magazine’s article based on this conversation here: “Our broken news media makes it harder for us to take climate action – here’s how”
You can watch the full recording of the Sustainability Symposium 2024 here.
‘Decarbonising our homes’ (00:09:00)
‘Can flying be part of a sustainable future?’ (01:21:00)
‘Air pollution – In Conversation’ (02:33:00)
‘Not being distracted by (in)convenient truths’ (03:35:35)