COP26 Forum blog

From now until the end of the COP26 talks in Glasgow, Royal Holloway researchers are writing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), from ‘No poverty’ to ‘Partnerships for the goals’, and assessing why they matter to all of us.

From 27 October until the end of the COP26 talks, we are publishing a series of blog posts that relate to each of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We have asked Royal Holloway staff working on relevant topics to reflect on why these goals matter, and how they inform their own research and praxis. The blog posts offer an entry into our research and teaching worlds that by necessity are diverse in approach and interests.  

Recognising that the UN’s 2020 report on the SDGs warned that ‘progress’ towards those goals and targets is likely to be tougher post-pandemic, we wanted to take the opportunity to reassess why these goals matter and how universities like Royal Holloway can contribute.  

All 17 goals are wide-ranging in their own right. They demand an interdisciplinary approach and sensitivity to cultural, political, economic and financial differences. The relationship between the goals and communities also reveals important intersectional differences, as gender, ethnicity, citizenship, occupation and location shape our experiences, exposures and expectations. As we work our way through those goals, we ask the reader to keep in mind that there is an urgent need to scale-up and accelerate transformational change around the world. The SDGs are interlinked with one another, and as such they have to be considered synergistically.  

 Royal Holloway’s research community recognises that our underpinning research on the SDGs needs to be informed by respectful and creative partnerships, recognising the need for our own institutions to be committed to meaningful change. 

Our new research theme, Living Sustainably, will provide fresh opportunities for our staff and students to pursue with our partners and stakeholders collaborative research that is responding positively to the SDG targets.