Release Date 01 December 2014

The University of Reading is taking a delegation to the international United Nations Climate Summit in Lima, Peru, for the international climate summit over the next fortnight.

Governments from across the world will try to agree a new global climate change deal at the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP), at which the University of Reading, together with the UK Met Office and Pennsylvania State University, will be briefing international government officials on the latest climate science.

Representatives from Reading will be discussing how scientists can work with governments to provide robust advice on climate change to aid decision making.

Dr Claudia Murray from the University's Henley Business School will be presenting case studies from rural Argentina to the urban megacities of Sao Paulo and Bogota, and raising issues such as what climate change means for local communities also dealing with poverty and overcrowding, and how regional politics affects decision-making.

Laura Daniels, an engineering researcher from the University's Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments Centre, who works with Marks & Spencer on energy management, will also be attending during the crucial final week of the summit.

Kathy Maskell, from the University's Walker Institute, said: "This is an absolutely fantastic opportunity for the University to build its international reputation in climate science and to engage with policymakers and business.

"I'm looking forward to experiencing the negotiations first hand and the arguments between different countries, and we'll be tweeting and blogging throughout the event.

"This is where international climate policy decision-making happens - even if the pace is sometimes excruciatingly slow. Attending the event means the University of Reading, which leads the world in climate science, also has eyes and ears at the top table of climate diplomacy."

This year's meeting, known as COP20, is being held in Lima, Peru from 1 to 12 Dec and is a crucial forerunner to the Climate Summit in Paris in 2015, when a new international climate deal needs to be agreed. Negotiators hope that a draft of that agreement can be pulled together in Lima, which could make agreement in Paris more likely.

The negotiations are going on as thousands of people from around the world begin the final stages of the University of Reading's free online course on climate change this week - which will include discussion of the international talks in Lima as they happen.