The Edinburgh Medal is a prestigious award given each year to men and women of science and technology who are judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding and wellbeing of humanity. The 2019 Edinburgh Medal is awarded to Christiana Figueres, for her work as a recognised world leader on global climate change and her efforts in bringing nations together to jointly deliver an unprecedented climate change agreement.
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was instrumental in the successful conclusion of the Paris talks. The Summit saw all of the world’s nations agree for the first time to a binding commitment to avoid dangerous levels of global warming. Figueres served as the UN’s Climate Chief from 2010 until July 2016.
Join Figueres as she discusses the international picture in respect of action to halt climate change. The 2015 Paris Agreement was a historic achievement of international cooperation that charted a course toward addressing global climate change. Since then, some political events have called that international cooperation into question.
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2018 Prof Cordelia Fine
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2016 Kevin Govender and the IAU
2015 Mary Midgley
2014 Prof Mary Abukutsa-Onyango
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2011 Prof Carl Djerassi
2010 Sir Alex Jefferies
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1998 Sir David Attenborough
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1995 Sir John Crofton
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1992 Prof Heinz Wolff
1991 Prof Jane Goodall
1990 Prof Stephen J Gould
1989 Prof Abdus Salam