By: Mai Poulsen, September 1st
On 21 June 2022, the meeting room was equipped with coffee, tea and water.. After a long period of preparation, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was ready to hold its first and founding meeting. University Director Thomas Buchvald Vind, chairman of the Climate Panel, took the floor and the meeting began.
- The first meeting was very constructive, and I feel that SDU was very open about the problems and challenges that SDU has in relation to the climate plan, says Kristof Tomej, Assistant Professor from the Department of Design and Communication, about the first meeting.
Kristof Tomej is one of the 10 members of the Climate Panel, which in addition to the chairman consists of three technical-administrative staff, three academic staff and three students.
Read more: Members of the Climate Panel
Kristof Tomej is very enthusiastic about the composition of the Climate Panel.
- The members from the Climate Panel hail from different departments and faculties and possess different skill sets and approaches to climate adaptation, which is an advantage.
Despite the differences among the members, they are passionate about the same cause.
‘"It's nice to meet people who are like-minded and passionate about the same cause [the climate],’says Jens Vormslev Lennert, one of the three students in the Climate Panel.
The climate panel is part of the solution
- The Climate Panel has an important role for the university's work with the climate plan, as it is the Panel that advises the university's management on the climate work at SDU. In this way, we can ensure that we put effort in the right places, says Thomas Buchvald Vind.
To this, Jens Vormslev Lennert adds:
- I see the Climate Panel as part of SDU’s path to being part of the solution for the climate rather than part of the problem.
Although the Climate Panel only held its founding meeting shortly before the summer holidays, the panel has an important deadline this winter. In
December the Climate Panel will present its first report on the status of the climate work to SDU’s Board of Directors. This is the main task of the Panel.
Three main tasks
Towards 2030 SDU must significantly reduce the University’s greenhouse gas emissions. SDU’s Board of Directors decided to establish the Climate Panel as part of the work with follow-up and ongoing revision of SDU’s climate plan for 2030. The main tasks of the Panel are set out in its terms of reference. In summary, the Panel will contribute through research and practical knowledge with independent advice to the University’s management on climate work so that SDU can become a low-carbon university.
See also: Terms of reference of the Climate Panel
- The Climate Panel has the following main tasks:
Assess the status of meeting the overall objective as well as goals and sub-goals in the climate area set out in SDU’s climate plan for 2030. - Assess the need for adaptation of the current portfolio of efforts in the ongoing wave of implementation, including the need for further efforts.
- Prepare recommendations for technological solutions and behavioural initiatives that can contribute to realising targets for reducing SDU’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
The Panel’s assessments and recommendations must be submitted annually as a report to the Board’s December meeting. The report will also be published on sdu.dk, so that everyone can see the Panel’s assessment and recommendation for SDU’s climate action.