UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre hosted Erik Solheim, Head of UN Environment, on his visit to Cambridge this week. Erik was in Cambridge to meet with staff at the Centre and to discuss global conservation priorities with leaders from the UK’s conservation capital.

As part of his visit, Erik also took participated in a panel discussion, along with Dame Barbara Stocking and Tony Juniper. The discussion, facilitated by Vivienne Parry, focused on the changing global policy landscape and its implications for the environment and sustainability. Panellists, and the audience, considered the contribution of science, advocacy and politics to environmental sustainability, and explored the challenges of fake news and changing political narratives for the environment.

A key outcome of the discussion was the importance of collaboration and communication. To make significant changes towards environmental sustainability we need strong political leadership and engagement with society and the private sector, as well as good science – and all of this needs to be communicated much more effectively!