Global climate policy in focus for visiting professors
This year, for the first time, two professors were invited to be Visiting Professors of Climate Change Leadership at Uppsala University: Aarti Gupta and Frank Biermann. Photo: Erica Magnusson
Promoting common interests in global climate policy and governance, including issues of accountability and climate justice, is the focus of Aarti Gupta and Frank Biermann, visiting professors in climate leadership at Uppsala University. Their work emphasises that researchers need to engage more actively in public debate and that political systems must change if we are to effectively address and manage the major climate challenges we face.
Uppsala University invites a professor to a visiting professorship in climate leadership every one or two years. This year was the first time that two professors shared the visiting professorship: Aarti Gupta and Frank Biermann. They began their appointments on 1 March 2025, and in July the time had come for them to return to the Netherlands.
Aarti Gupta is Professor of Global Environmental Governance at Wageningen University. Her goal during the visiting professorship has been to engage in research, teaching and external collaboration at Uppsala University, as well as to connect with researchers at other universities in Sweden. Her focus is to promote common interests within global climate policy and governance, including issues of accountability and climate justice.
Satisfied with her six months as visiting professor
The visiting professorship at Uppsala University is hosted by the Climate Leadership research group at the Department of Earth Sciences, in collaboration with CCL, Climate Change Leadership. Gupta is very satisfied with her six months as visiting professor.
“I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I arrived here, but my time has exceeded all expectations! It has been very rewarding, from our collaboration with CCL to meetings with other researchers and external partners,” says Gupta.
Aarti Gupta is a prominent researcher in issues at the intersections of science, technology and politics, especially in climate matters. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
One of Gupta’s key focuses is to ensure that research takes a more prominent role and becomes an important factor in society. She lectures on the researcher’s role in public debate, the importance of communicating research results, and sometimes taking a stand as a researcher. During her visiting professorship, she has also lectured and engaged in discussions with other researchers about the importance of involving politics in future decisions regarding technological development.
“We cannot predict how, when or where problems with new technology might arise, so we must be prepared and have policies in place for how to handle potential issues on a global level. We cannot wait until problems occur,” says Gupta.
Sustainable common policies
The focus is on the need for politicians to understand that sustainable common policies are essential to steer the world toward a safe and secure future.
One example is solar engineering, a new technology that is not yet fully developed or evaluated but can be described in simple terms as influencing the Earth’s atmosphere. Gupta argues that since we do not yet know how this and other new technologies will affect the climate, current decision-making structures must change – especially regarding these new technologies.
“The technologies don’t exist yet, but we need to talk about them anyway,” Gupta explains. “My research focuses on how to engage political leaders worldwide, how to get them to understand and commit to developing common policies that guide research and development in the right direction to avoid future dangers.”
Global politics needs to change
Frank Biermann is Professor of Global Sustainability Governance at Utrecht University. During his time as a visiting professor, his goals have included participating in research, teaching and external collaboration, as well as writing a book on global politics and the need for a reorientation within it.
Frank Biermann was an early pioneer in studying how planetary and political systems can be coordinated and strengthened to achieve global sustainability goals. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
The book will focus on how we can collaborate in new ways – both on climate issues and on human rights and other rights-related matters.
“I believe that global politics needs to change, and in my book, I want to reflect on the idea that we are all part of the same Earth, and that this needs to be reflected in how we govern our world. In the 1990s, we had the idea that everything would get better. I want to develop a theory on how to build plurilateral systems where several countries cooperate,” he explains.
Trump having a major impact
Frank Biermann’s theme during his time as a visiting professor was “Planetary crisis in the time of Trump,” and parallel to his stay in Uppsala, the situation in the US has changed dramatically, with Trump’s decisions having a major impact both on democracy in the country and the rest of the world.
“His attacks on the parliament are anything but positive for democracy, and we will have to see how this develops over time. The fact that the US has withdrawn much of its development aid to WHO has a big impact on the Global South, which will cause suffering for many people. What we can do is find alternative means of finance, for example by imposing higher taxes on air travel and shipping. By taxing things that are bad for the environment and negatively affect the climate, we can help the Global South adapt to climate change,” says Biermann, adding that “all movements towards the good contribute to changes in the world.”
UUniCORN serves an important purpose
Aarti Gupta and Frank Biermann participated in the inauguration of the Uppsala University Conflicting Objectives Research Nexus (UUniCORN).
They both say that UUniCORN serves an important purpose in promoting interdisciplinary research and collaboration with external parties.
“It is very important to understand that conflicts of objectives do exist! I like the focus that UUniCORN has, making it easier for researchers to collaborate and acknowledging that conflicts of objectives exist and that we have to make choices. Society always has winners and losers – and not all goals can be met,” Gupta points out.
Continued cooperation with IPO and Uppsala University
Beginning this year, the international organisation Earth System Governance (ESG) has its headquarters (IPO) at CCL, making continued collaboration with the research group at Uppsala University a given. Frank Biermann founded Earth System Governance, and both he and Aarti Gupta are active within ESG.
“Our collaboration with Uppsala University, and especially with the CCL group, has been so fruitful and rewarding – we will stay in contact with them and the PhD students we’ve met,” says Gupta.
“We will continue to write articles together, and there are also plans to host an international conference in 2027,” says Biermann.
Erica Magnusson
Zennström Professors of Climate Change Leadership
- For the past ten years, Uppsala University has had a visiting professorship, inviting a new professor every one or two years. The visiting professorship is funded by an earlier donation to the University from entrepreneur Niklas Zennström and his wife Catherine Zennström.
- This year, for the first time, two professors were invited to be Visiting Professors of Climate Change Leadership at Uppsala University. Aarti Gupta is Professor of Global Environmental Governance at Wageningen University. Frank Biermann is Professor of Global Sustainability Governance at Utrecht University.