This year’s Burntwood Lecture, delivered by Professor Sir Ian Boyd, former Chief Scientific Adviser at Defra, attracted over 200 environmental professionals looking to further engage in some of the key environmental challenges we face on a global scale. Throughout his lecture, Sir Ian set out three alternative visions of the environment and discussed the impact each would have on the wellbeing of both people and the planet. 

Sir Ian shared a high-level view of the challenges we face which he built from his seven years service at Defra and explained that the environmental challenges we face extend further than climate change, a ‘symptom of a wider systematic problem that we have’. 

Effective response to these challenges requires more persuasive and compelling policy and increased sophistication of our technical capabilities to enhance our carbon reduction technologies and ensure we are not simply exporting our carbon impacts.

Sir Ian’s full lecture has been recorded and is now available for you to view on our YouTube channel. Listen back to hear some of the proposed solutions he suggests which are required for the UK to tackle these issues and engage with the questions which were put to Sir Ian by members of the audience during the Q&A.