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A University of Plymouth researcher has played a critical role in a groundbreaking United Nations report that calls for the global climate and sustainable development crises to be tackled in tandem.
Dr Souran Chatterjee, Lecturer in Energy Transitions – Environmental Management & Sustainability, was among the core research team invited to develop the first global report on climate and Sustainable Development Goal synergies.
The report, published in September 2023, outlines the steps governments should take to maximise the impact of their policies and actions by creating such synergies.
It demonstrates that aggressively acting on climate and development in an integrated and synergistic way is an important opportunity to achieve the course correction needed to protect our planet now and in the future.
It also highlights some of the challenges, but also the opportunities, if the international community is seriously committed to enhancing these synergies and thereby addressing these challenges.
Dr Chatterjee, who joined the University in December 2022, was approached by the report’s coordinators earlier this year as a result of his previous research.
This has included specific projects focussed on energy demand modelling, modelling the socio-economic impacts and sustainable development goals, and the energy transition towards a net-zero energy system.
He formed part of the core team conducting the research and drafting the report, while his research is also cited extensively within it.

It was a real privilege to be a part of this report and I hope its contents will be significant for our planet. We also know that action to address the causes and effects of climate change has not been happening as quickly as we would like, or as is needed. We also know that tackling climate change is not solely about reducing global warming and protecting the environment. If we are to properly address it, we need to identify the synergies between the environment, society, behaviours and global development, and this report will hopefully support world leaders in the best ways to do that.

Souran ChatterjeeSouran Chatterjee
Lecturer in Energy Transitions – Environmental Management & Sustainability

This is the latest international climate change report that Dr Chatterjee has been involved in over the past few years, having also been involved in a project coordinated by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).
His work with the United Nations will continue alongside his research and teaching at the University, where he lectures undergraduates and postgraduates on a range of environment and sustainability modules.