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Flooded farmland close to the North Sea, Bawdsey, Suffolk, UK.
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Climate Emergency: The facts, friction and action we need (spring webinars)

How is the global climate emergency impacting land use in Britain? How will it shape our landscapes? And what do we need – from policy, politicians, scientists and campaigners – to meet the challenge and prepare for the future?

2026 is CPRE’s 100th birthday, and this new webinar series gets right to the truth: climate change is the greatest threat to the English countryside. Join key international and UK experts in a series of thought-provoking webinars to unpack the issues, learn about the changes we desperately need, and understand how to turn public knowledge into citizen action.

Speakers include Sir Dieter Helm (Professor of Economic Policy at Oxford University), Jim Skea, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chair and Rachael Orr, Chief Exec of Climate Outreach. Hosted by broadcaster & CPRE President, Mary-Ann Ochota.

Free to register, watch live or watch later, open to both CPRE members and non-members.

Webinar 1 – Big facts: global impacts of the climate emergency

Thursday 26 March 2026, 6.30-8pm on Zoom

A big picture overview of impacts of the climate emergency on the environment and the global economy.

Speakers:

Dr Rob Larter, Marine geophysicist working at British Antarctic Survey, will explain the science behind the changes we’re already seeing and what we can expect.

Sir Dieter Helm CBE, Professor of Economic Policy at Oxford University, will talk about how these impacts will affect the global economy with consequences wherever you live.

Hosted by Mary-Ann Ochota, broadcaster & CPRE President.

This event is ticketed, free and held on Zoom. This event is lecture style with time for questions with one of the speakers Rob Larter.  

Register here
The parched landscape of Bromley, South London, during the 2022 heatwave.

Webinar 2 – Responding to the challenge of climate change

Wednesday 8 April, 6.30-8pm on Zoom.

Solutions and the actions we can take as a society and in our lives.

Speakers:

Jim Skea, IPCC chair.

Hosted by Mary-Ann Ochota, broadcaster & CPRE President

This event is ticketed, free and held on Zoom. This event is a talk with time for audience questions.

Register here
Photovoltaic panels on buildings in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, England, UK.

Webinar 3 – Making climate change a ‘people’ story

Thursday 30 April, 6.30-8pm on Zoom.

The evidence and art of telling powerful stories that inspire action and change for climate and nature.

Speakers:

Rachael Orr, CEO of Climate Outreach.

Further speakers to be announced.

Hosted by Mary-Ann Ochota, broadcaster & CPRE President.

This event is ticketed, free and held on Zoom. This event is a panel discussion with time for audience questions.

Register here
Volunteers planting trees on open moorland Blorenge Wales UK

About the speakers

Dieter Helm

Dieter Helm is Professor of Economic Policy at Oxford and Fellow in Economics at New College. He chaired the Natural Capital Committee (2012–2020), advising government on sustainable resource use, and led the 2017 Cost of Energy Review on achieving net zero while maintaining energy security.

Professor Helm’s latest book Climate Realism: How Not to Waste Another 25 Years (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press) develops the themes he explored in Legacy: How to Build the Sustainable Economy (CUP, 2024, available via Open Access, https://is.gd/legacybook). For the lecture series on Climate Realism, visit: https://dieterhelm.co.uk/books/climate-realism/.

Rachel Orr

Rachael is the CEO of Climate Outreach, who help people and organisations tell new climate stories to inspire greater climate action and protect hard won progress.

Rachael joined Climate Outreach from PlaceShapers, the national network for community-based housing associations. Previously, she was Head of Oxfam’s UK programme and held various senior policy and campaigning roles at Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity.

Rachael has been Chair of Angel Shed Theatre Company, a Non-Executive Director at Suffolk Housing Society and she currently serves as Chair of Trustees at the Refugee Council.

Dr Rob Larter

Dr Rob Larter is a marine geoscientist who has worked at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) since the late 1980s and has participated in more than two dozen polar research cruises. He is interim Science Leader of the Palaeoenvironments, Ice Sheets and Climate Change team at BAS and UK Science Lead in the Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration.

Jim Skea

Professor Sir Jim Skea was elected IPCC Chair for the Seventh Assessment cycle in July 2023, having previously served as Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III for the 6th Assessment Cycle. From 2009 to 2023, he was Professor of Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London, with research interests spanning energy, climate change and technological innovation. He was Research Director of the UK Energy Research Centre 2004–12 and Director of the Policy Studies Institute 1998–2004. A member of the UK Committee on Climate Change from 2008 to 2018, he also chaired Scotland’s Just Transition Commission from 2018 to 2023. He was awarded an OBE in 2004, a CBE in 2013, and a knighthood in 2024 for services to global leadership in climate science.