Thursday 8 March 2012, 6:00pm
The Royal Institution of Great Britain, London
Transformations reshaping global politics, economics and environment
Sussex's 50th anniversary celebrations present an opportunity to reflect on its tradition of using interdisciplinary research to address the major transformations shaping social, economic, political, cultural and environmental relations at a global scale. They also prompt us to look forward to the next 50 years of global change, identify the main drivers and consider the implications, especially for the world's poorest people.
Some of the key questions include:
- How will the global economy be reshaped and what are the implications for 'development'?
- What will be the respective roles of technological solution and social adaptation in dealing with climate change?
- How will global migration patterns change and what are the implications for human rights?
This conversation hinges around these drivers, including the shift in the balance of world economic power towards China and South Asia, ideas and practices of development, climate change and human mobility.
Chair:
Sarah Montague is a British Journalist. She began her journalistic career with Channel Television in 1991 before moving onto Reuters and Sky News. In 1997, she began her BBC career as a presenter on News 24 and has since presented current affairs programmes such as Newsnight, Breakfast with Frost, and BBC World's Hardtalk. She is best known for her work on BBC Radio 4 as one of the regular presenters of the Today programme.
Speakers:
Dr Alison Evans is an economist with over 25 years of experience working in international development and is Director of the Overseas Development Institute. Alison joined ODI, the UK’s leading international development think tank, in 2006 as a Director of Programmes for Poverty and Public Policy, and became Director in May 2009. She has a BA (Hons) in Economics from the University of Sussex, an MPhil in Economics and Politics of Development from Cambridge University and a PhD in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies.
Sir Harry Kroto FRS is an eminent chemist and one of three recipients to share the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of C60 Buckminsterfullerene, a new form of carbon. He is currently Professor of Chemistry at Florida State University.
Clare Short is former MP for Birmingham Ladywood and Secretary of State for International Development, a new Ministry created after the 1997 general election to promote policies for sustainable development and eliminating poverty.
Sussex Respondents:
L Alan Winters is Professor of Economics. His research interests include the empirical and policy analysis of international trade, migration and development. He was formerly Director of Research at The World Bank and Chief Economist at the Department for International Development (DFID). He is a Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research and Chair of the Board of the Global Development Network.
Martin Todd is Professor of Climate Change. An internationally-renowned climate scientist with over 20 years’ experience, his research interests include the hydrological cycle, atmospheric aerosols and climate change impacts. His work aims to improve understanding of key climate processes and their representation in models. He has previously guest-edited the Journal of Hydrology and co-authored a UK government report on the African climate for the G8 summit.
Richard Black is Head of the School of Global Studies and CEO of the Migrating out of Poverty research consortium. From 2009–11, he was Chair of the Lead Expert Group for a Foresight project on Migration and Global Environmental Change within the Government Office for Science. His latest book, A Continent Moving West? (2010), focuses on migration within the European Union after the 2004 enlargement.