Christian Unger Talk

Hi, I am Christian Unger. I met Nick in 2015 on a climate related event we organised with activists at the University of Sheffield.

My personal climate awareness started a few years before I started working at the University of Sheffield, and I was shocked by the situation our climate was in. When I became aware of this I was trying to act – starting at my work place, the University. I am a co-founder of the Carbon Neutral University Network (CNU, www.carbonneutraluniversity.org) , which we started in 2014 with just a few concerned people and grew to over 300 members in 2017.

We were surprised the University of Sheffield didn’t have any specific goals to go zero carbon and failed to act although their years of research on this topic, and hence knowing the seriousness. So, there was an immediate need for action.

In 2014, we published a white paper to raise awareness and explain why this was untenable for a leading University. (http://www.carbonneutraluniversity.org/the-case-for-a-carbon-neutral-university.html ) We organised events to present and discuss the issue, which led to the official launch of CNU.

While doing the research, networking and organizing events we identified that there wasn’t any effective communication between University management and the aware climate researchers. So, we wanted to bring the University community together to share expertise and enable action through better communication. Here, Nick came in to make a massive difference.

Nick was just a wonderful person and an expert communicator, who joined our network and helped to organise and run events to enable that communication. Together, we researched, listened, answered questions the university had, and brought the University together to finally commit to a net zero approach. Nick was already climate aware and was fully aligned with our vision, and his ability to listen and ask questions helped us to spearhead our actions.

Nick was always helpful and keen to do more. His ability to listen and focus on the wider climate challenges and our personal issues made a very significant difference to me personally. Over the years of our work together, he helped me when I lost my job and helped me change my career from medical science to an environmental angle that I wanted to do more on. He would always give his full attention. He was a friend that always made you feel better, smarter and richer in every sense.

Professionally, Nick organized multiple events with CNU specifically focused on communication. He created work on several projects, including the Climate Communications Hub (http://www.carbonneutraluniversity.org/communications.html ) and had a lasting positive impact on all of us, the climate community in Sheffield and the wider UK.

He has been my friend and teacher, and I will miss him. His teachings and his warmth will be with me for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately, climate change is still a massive challenge and is worse than ever.

So, we need more people to take up action and push things forward, as Nick always wanted. Hence, we would ask you to talk to your neighbour about what you can do. And please get involved in collective organisations locally and nationally against the climate catastophe.