New lecture and dialogue with Dr Ngozi Iweala-Okonjo, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Laurie Bristow, Hughes Hall President, and College climate law experts.
Following the University of Cambridge’s annual Globalisation, Sustainability and the Power of Ideas (GSPI) lecture on Friday 19th July, opened by Hughes Hall President Laurie Bristow, a video capturing the knowledge and expertise shared by the international speakers is now available to watch online.
The event explored how trade law and policy is evolving to address some of the world’s biggest and most complex challenges, underlining that the WTO can and must be part of an urgent socio-economic re-globalisation towards sustainability, building on its poverty-eradication potential and green comparative advantage.
As a global thought-leader and knowledge hub in addressing the climate crisis, Hughes Hall, through its climate impact Centres and law initiatives, is reaching current and future law and policy leaders worldwide, especially in highly climate-vulnerable countries, to share best practice. And, also effectively connecting climate research with boardrooms around the world, equipping decision-makers to prioritise climate change, and translating academic excellence into organisational change.
Trade and investment flows are often criticised for their sustainability impacts, yet, if harnessed properly through cutting-edge international law and governance, trade can help rather than hinder the global sustainable development goals. Event discussions benefitted from insights from Dr Markus Gehring, Fellow and Director of Studies in Law at Hughes Hall, and Dr Jellie Molino, Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Hughes Hall Centre for Climate Change Engagement..
Laurie Bristow, said: “It is especially important that institutions like ours and the people working in them are thinking seriously about how to build bridges between deep expertise and the formulation and execution of policy.”
The global expertise and speakers involved in the lecture on 19th July included:
- Democratising Education for Global Sustainability and Justice programme which provides courses on sustainable development law and policy and how they can be harnessed to further the SDGs and the Global Biodiversity Framework or linked with Trade Rules.
- Women and Leadership, Real Lives, Real Lessons, a book written by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Julia Gillard, Australia’s first female Prime Minister, which presents a lively analysis of the influence of gender on women’s access to positions of leadership.
- The World Trade Organization’s most recent report (2023), and also Re-globalization for a secure, inclusive and sustainable future, on how increased international cooperation – could address major challenges facing our world: security, poverty eradication and environmental sustainability.
- Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger’s insightful volume on Crafting Trade and Investment Accords for Sustainable Development: Athena’s Treaties.
- Professor Meredith Crowley’s incredible contributions through the World Bank Report on the The Value of Deep Trade Agreements.
- Dr Gillian Tett’s weekly columns in the Financial Times, including her most recent piece “What the Dutch central bank tells us about Bidenomics” and her most recent book Anthro-Vision, a new way to see in business and life.
- Professor James Bacchus’ cutting-edge book Trade Links: New Rules for a New World.
- Professor Damilola Olawuyi’s highly incisive book Environmental Law in Arab States.
- In addition to insights and recommendations, organisers also recommend exploring CISDL’s work on trade and sustainability, which features pioneering research and analysis by CISDL law and governance specialists, experts and leaders.
For more information on climate leadership at Hughes Hall:
- Centre for Climate Engagement: building a bridge from academic insight to boardroom action to help companies reach net zero emissions and build climate resilience.
- Climate Governance Initiative: empowering board directors on every continent to take climate action by enhancing their knowledge and skills in climate governance. The rapidly-growing network of Chapters in over 70 countries worldwide reaches more than 100,000 board directors.
- Chapter Zero: The UK Directors’ Climate Forum, working with NEDs and chairs to embed climate into business strategy to equip and inspire their leadership on climate from the boardroom.
About the University of Cambridge Lecture Series on Globalisation, Sustainability and the Power of Ideas
Since 2019, the University of Cambridge has hosted a lecture series on Globalisation, Sustainability and the Power of Ideas. Its aim is to bring together international students, researchers and the wider community to consider emerging international policy, law and scientific trends and innovative solutions related to sustainability and globalisation, and to debate how such ideas emerge, are shared, and can change the world. Previous lecturers have included Lord Nicholas Stern (2019) and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (2022).
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