Ask the Experts: Global climate equality - is a fair future possible?

International climate conference often set ambitious goals, but translating them into real action remains complex and challenging. This event brings together leading thinkers from the humanities and social sciences to answer your questions about the state of global climate politics.

Join our expert panel as they help us unpack the systemic causes of climate inequality, assess the current situation, and explore the realistic prospects for change.

Together, they will offer a candid appraisal of global climate efforts: Who has the power? Who bears the cost? And what will it take to realise a fairer future, given the economic systems, geopolitical forces, power imbalances and uncertainties that govern our world?

Speakers

Dr Giovanna Frisso

Giovanna Frisso is a Senior Lecturer at the Lincoln Law School, University of Lincoln. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Brasilia, a Master degree from the University of Uppsala, and a PhD degree from the University of Nottingham.

She is interested in exploring the inclusivity of law: which voices are silenced by law and legal research; what we can learn from such voices and the challenges we face to do so.

In international environmental law, she focuses on the voices of developing countries and indigenous peoples alongside debates concerning the legal representation of animals.

She was awarded a British Academy ODA Innovation Fellowship in 2025.

Dr Jaya Gajparia

Jaya Gajparia is an interdisciplinary social scientist, with research focused on social justice and environmental issues and a PhD from London South Bank University.

Her work is about supporting efforts to build a fairer, more sustainable world by focusing on how power, inequality and structural injustice play out in everyday life. She started her career in the third sector, where she worked closely with marginalised communities affected by poverty, racism and exclusion which has informed her academic work.

She takes a decolonial feminist ethnographic approach that carefully considers power, positionality, accountability, and responsibility throughout the research process. She is currently focusing on building new partnerships and collaborating with research teams, higher education institutions, and organisations that are committed to asking difficult questions and developing impactful solutions to pressing global challenges.

She received a British Academy 'Shared Understandings of Sustainable Future' Research Award in 2022.

Professor Chukwumerije Okereke

Chukwumerije Okereke is Professor of Global Governance and Public Policy at the University of Bristol, and also CO-Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Development at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike.

He is a globally recognized leading scholar on global climate governance and international development with expertise in climate justice, national green growth transition in Africa, climate adaptation and business climate strategies. Over the last 20 years, he has worked closely with national governments, businesses, and NGOs in Africa and led on several high-profile international projects on climate change policy.

He received a British Academy Knowledge Frontiers research award in 2025 for a project investing the global political economy of just transitions for and in Africa.

Chair

Professor Sarah Birch FBA

Sarah Birch is a comparative political scientist and Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Economy at King's College London. Her current research focuses on the impact of climate change on political processes. She is a Fellow of the British Academy (2013), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2016), and the Academy of Social Sciences (2018).

Further information

Free, booking required.

Please submit your questions to the panel upon ticket purchase.

As tickets are free, people sometimes book and don't attend, so we have to issue more tickets than there are seats available to allow for this. Entry into this event is on a first-come, first-served basis and we recommend arriving in good time to avoid any disappointment.

Registering for a ticket does not guarantee you entrance to the SHAPE Room. If the SHAPE Room reaches capacity, you will be directed to the Wohl Gallery next door to watch a live stream of the event.

This event will also be live-streamed online.

This event has live subtitles delivered by 121 Captions.

See information about the accessibility of the venue.

If you have any questions about this event, please refer to our Public Events FAQs. If your question is not answered, please email [email protected]

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