Dr Karen Barrass, nominated as Head of the University of Cambridge delegation, will represent the Centre for Climate Engagement (CCE) at the Daring Cities 2025 conference in Bonn.
Senior Researcher at CCE, Dr Barrass will use this platform to share insights from CCE’s ongoing work on a Locally Determined Contributions (LDC) project. Funded by Innovate UK’s Net Zero Living Programme, the project aims to support local authorities in delivering net zero in ways that align with national targets.
Building on the Skidmore Review’s call for stronger local leadership, the LDC project is developing a guidance framework to enable local authorities develop deliverable climate plans that can tangibly contribute to the UK’s national commitments. By promoting greater consistency and transparency, this approach is designed to boost investor confidence and accelerate place-based climate action. The framework will be launched on the CCE website at the end of July 2025, followed by a dedicated web platform with open access later in the year.
The 17-month initiative was led by Cambridgeshire County Council working with a wide range of partners including Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Cambridge City Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, Huntingdonshire District Council, Peterborough City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, and Collaborate CIC.
Dr Barrass will participate in key events including an official reception hosted by the Mayor of Bonn. In addition to showcasing the LDC project, she will attend multiple events as part of the SB 62 negotiations and the Bonn Dialogues: Insights for Multilevel Action. Speaking with city and regional leaders from across the globe through high-impact initiatives such as the Local Government and Multilevel Action (LGMA) and the Coalition of High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP), will enable information on the latest good practice to be embedded into the final LDC framework.
“I’m pleased to represent the University of Cambridge and the Centre for Climate Engagement at SB 62 and the Daring Cities 2025 activities. This is an important opportunity to share what we’re learning through the LDC project as we look towards implementing and scaling up the project, particularly how stronger alignment between local and national climate action can unlock investment and accelerate delivery.”
Dr Karen Barrass
About Daring Cities
Created by ICLEI and the Federal City of Bonn, Daring Cities is an action-oriented initiative to recognise and empower courageous urban leaders – including mayors and other decision-makers, technical staff, researchers, private sector representatives, and community organisers – to disrupt business-as-usual and shift towards business-as-possible. Daring Cities showcases and catalyses exemplary local climate action to tackle the climate emergency, including ambitious resilience-building and climate mitigation efforts. Find out more here: https://daringcities.org
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