“Leadership is an understanding of your own being, being dependent on the being of others, and always respecting their being in the world”.

On June 17, 2021, the POP movement had the honor to receive Sir David King who is the UK Government’s former Chief Scientific Advisor. He has founded the ‘Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge’, a global research and development hub in order to realize the goal of moving beyond decarbonization by researching and funding technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Sir David King served as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Special Representative for Climate Change from 2013 until 2017. Prior to that, he was the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office of Science from October 2000 to December 2007. During his time, he raised the profile of the need for governments worldwide to act on climate change and was instrumental in creating the new £1bn Energy Technologies Institute.

Dr. Ash Pachauri asked Sir David what leadership meant to him within the realm of climate repair strategy. He spoke about the qualities of leadership. He said that it’s primarily about the ability to listen to others and added that “If they know we listen, they will trust us”. Then he told us that the second most important quality of a leader is integrity. He considers that it is key to keep the trust of people and governments. Briefly speaking “integrity and trust go hand in hand”. Finally, he pointed out that talking to local people and governments leaves you in a position of leadership.

Nahid Perez Ayala from Mexico wanted to know what is needed to see ourselves as part of the natural world and what would be the effects of such a transition. He answered that when one looks to history one can see the stress of the environment and the importance of our role and how we adapted. He emphasized on the respect to the natural world. He highlighted that we didn’t get to this point by ourselves, we co-evolved. He pointed out that the temperatures and amounts of carbon dioxide were perfect for development enabling us to thrive and survive but we have now destabilized this, “We have treated the atmosphere as a dust bin for the atmosphere”. He urges us to take actions to repair our world and culture.

Cherry from South Korea asked Sir David what is needed to keep the temperature below 1.5°C degrees. He urged us all to take action as we only have five years to manage the transition. What we do over the next five years will determine the future of humanity for the next millenia. He added that we have learned how to work from a distance and we can work more globally. We need government leaders to understand that this is the greatest challenge they have had to face. Finally he talked to us about solutions and mentioned that if we put small amounts of sea water in the clouds they become very bright. White Cloud Cover in the Arctic Circle can be achieved in this way allowing the layer of ice  to be maintained.

Komal Mittal from India wanted to know if a global climate alliance could be formed and Sir David spoke about Mission Innovation, an initiative where, in order to join, countries must promise to spend jointly with other nations $30 bn USD per year in new green technologies. They managed to get 25 countries to join. “If you can get nations to work together we can get the future we want”.

Lastly, Ana Hanhausen from Mexico wanted to know about the expected goals of the upcoming COP. Sir David shared with us that he was much more optimistic for this than for the past COPs because Biden takes it much more seriously. He reflected on the massive impact that a leadership program set out by the United States together with China, India, and the European Union could have for the future of the world. He added that there are reasons for more optimism regarding the COP16. But the process of negotiation is too slow and can undermine the outcomes.

About our guest speakers

Sir David King is the UK Government’s Former Chief Scientific Advisor. He has founded the ‘Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge’, a global research and development hub in order to realize the goal of moving beyond decarbonization by researching and funding technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Sir David King served as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Special Representative for Climate Change from 2013 until 2017. Prior to that, he was the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office of Science from October 2000 to December 2007. During his time, he raised the profile of the need for governments worldwide to act on climate change and was instrumental in creating the new £1 bn Energy Technologies Institute.