Billed as the ‘Finance COP’, this episode explores the scale of climate finance needed, to understand how we can improve the quality of finance delivered and access more diverse financial instruments to ensure greater financial predictability.
Hosted by Dr Katherine Maxwell with guest Councillor Susan Aitken
Councillor Susan Aitken was elected as Leader of Glasgow City Council in 2017, forming Glasgow’s first ever SNP-led City Government. She was first elected as a councillor for the Langside ward in 2012, following a career in public policy and communications. Susan was reappointed to a second term as Council Leader following the 2022 Scottish Local Government elections.
Under her leadership, Glasgow has hosted the UN Climate Summit COP26 and will host the Commonwealth Games in 2026. She was awarded Scottish Local Politician of the Year in 2019 for her work to end historic gender pay discrimination and Scottish Council Leader of the Year in 2021 for her leadership on climate issues. Susan was selected as one of 40 global city leaders for the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative Class of 2023. In February 2024, Susan was announced as chair of the global Resilient Cities Network.
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk
https://glasgow.gov.uk/article/2389/Glasgow-s-Climate-Plan
Dr Katherine Maxwell is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation (GCHU) at Kellogg College, University of Oxford. She is also Technical Director - Net Zero Cities at Sweco UK. With over a decade of experience working with municipalities on their ambitious sustainability strategies, Dr Maxwell has worked with C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, LSE Cities, The University of Edinburgh, Cambridge ZERO and the Scottish Government.
https://www.gchu.org.uk
https://www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk
