4 November 2025 – With COP30 fast approaching, experts, policy leaders and academics from across the University of Cambridge gathered at CISL’s Entopia Building to discuss how the global climate negotiations in Belém, Brazil, present a pivotal opportunity for Cambridge to amplify its impact across education, innovation and the vital intersection of climate and nature.
Chaired by Beverley Cornaby, Director of the UK Corporate Leaders Group at CISL, the panel explored what’s at stake in the negotiations and how universities can help strengthen evidence-based decision-making in an era of misinformation and geopolitical uncertainty.
Cambridge at COP: A strategic imperative
Opening the event, Prof Bhaskar Vira, Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Cambridge, underscored the institution’s responsibility to contribute to international climate action:
“As a knowledge-based institution, we have a duty to show up. COPs bring together a community that cares about the future of the planet … Cambridge must be there with humility, and as part of that collective spirit.”
In the context of growing misinformation and a shifting geopolitical order, he said universities are uniquely positioned to enable high-quality, evidence-based decision-making.
Speakers from across the University reflected on the unique contribution higher education can make to climate progress.
Christine Ozden, Global Director, Climate Education at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, stressed the essential and often overlooked role of education at COP, saying of this year that: education is “an essential part of the system” and central to enabling a just transition through citizen engagement.
Melissa Leach, Executive Director of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, highlighted nature as a key focus for COP30, noting that nature-based solutions are indispensable for both mitigation and adaptation — especially given this year’s location in the Amazon basin.
From Cambridge Zero, Steve Davison framed COP as “a drumbeat but not an end in itself”, emphasising that universities must act as catalysts for systems change. CISL’s Beverly Cornaby agreed, calling COP “the only process we have where 194 countries come together to drive global ambition.”
UK government perspective
Rachel Kyte, the UK Government’s Special Representative for Climate, outlined the government’s priorities for COP30 — highlighting the defence of multilateralism and the Paris Agreement at a time when both are under pressure.
“The Paris Agreement is crucial but it’s not working for enough people,” she said. “Universities have a role to play in combating misinformation and strengthening the foundation of trust and knowledge that underpins effective climate action.”
She called on UK higher-education institutions to support the government’s climate agenda through research, convening power and global engagement.
The panel concluded by reflecting on Cambridge’s global convening capacity and the crucial role to play for higher-education institutions to effectively contribute knowledge and expertise to inform the multilateral climate process.
A marathon: not a sprint
Eliot Whittington, Chief Systems Change Officer, CISL highlighted the importance of doing so by aligning policy, capital and cultural systems to enable market transformation.
“Cambridge has enormous convening power,” summarised Eliot. “Now is the time to step up and bring people together — to join the dots between innovation, education and policy.”
CISL will demonstrate this convening power as an official sponsor of the UK's Pavilion through its UK Corporate Leaders Group (CLG UK), which will will lead high-level events, convene cross-sectoral experts and forge stronger business-government engagement
The message was clear: the transition ahead is a marathon, not a sprint. For Cambridge, COP30 represents both a challenge and an opportunity — to lead, to listen, and to help shape a just and sustainable future for all.