sadiq_1920x830

Events

In Conversation with Sadiq Khan | LSE Festival

Hosted by LSE Festival: People and Change

In-person and online public event (Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building)

Speaker

Sadiq Khan

Chair

Baroness Shafik

Baroness Shafik

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, discusses his first book Breathe: Tackling the Climate Emergency with LSE's President and Vice Chancellor Minouche Shafik. 

For many years, Sadiq wasn't fully aware of the dangers posed by air pollution, nor its connection with climate change. Then, aged 43, he was unexpectedly diagnosed with adult-onset asthma - brought on by the polluted London air he had been breathing for decades. Scandalised, Sadiq underwent a political transformation that would see him become one of the most prominent global politicians fighting (and winning) elections on green issues. Since becoming Mayor of London in 2016, he has declared a climate emergency, introduced the world's first Ultra-Low Emission Zone, and turned London into the first-ever 'National Park City'.

Now, Sadiq draws on his experiences to reveal the seven ways environmental action gets blown off course - and how to get it back on track. Whether by building coalitions across the political spectrum, putting social justice at the heart of green politics, or showing that the climate crisis is a health crisis too, he offers a playbook for anyone - voter, activist, or politician - who wants to win the argument on the environment. It will help create a world where we can all breathe again.

Meet our speaker and chair

Sadiq Khan is the Mayor of London. Born and raised in Tooting, he began his career as a human rights lawyer before being elected to parliament in 2005. He was elected Mayor in 2016, and was re-elected in 2021 with a record number of votes for any sitting Mayor. Sadiq became passionate about air pollution and climate change after developing asthma while training for the 2014 London Marathon. Since then, he has been on a mission to make London greener. Today, London is recognised around the world for its pioneering climate policies. He still lives in Tooting, which he maintains is the best bit of the best city in the world.

Minouche Shafik is President and Vice Chancellor of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She was previously a senior leader of the Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. She is an alumna of LSE. Her book, What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract, is out now.

You can pre-order the book Breathe: Tackling the Climate Emergency (UK delivery only) rom our official LSE Events independent book shop, Pages of Hackney.

More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: People and Change running from Monday 12 to Saturday 17 June 2023, with a series of events exploring how change affects people and how people effect change. Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 15 May. 

LSE Cities (@LSECities) is an international centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science that carries out research, graduate and executive education and outreach activities in London and abroad. Its mission is to study how people and cities interact in a rapidly urbanising world, focussing on how the design of cities impacts on society, culture and the environment. 

Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival

Podcast and video

A podcast of this event is available to download from In Conversation with Sadiq Khan.

A video of this event is available to watch at In Conversation with Sadiq Khan.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.

LSE Blogs

Many speakers at LSE events also write for LSE Blogs, which present research and critical commentary accessibly for a public audience. Follow British Politics and Policy, the Business Review, the Impact BlogEuropean Politics and Policy and the LSE Review of Books to learn more about the debates our events series present.

Live captions

Automated live captions will be available at this webinar. Please note that this feature uses Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology, or machine generated transcription, and is not 100% accurate.

Photography

Photographs taken on behalf of LSE are often used on our social media accounts, website and publications. At events, photographs could include broad shots of the audience and lecture theatre, of speakers during the talk, and of audience members as they participate in the Q&A.

If you are photographed participating in an event Q&A but would not like your photograph to be stored for future use, please contact events@lse.ac.uk.

Podcasts

We aim to make all LSE events available as a podcast subject to receiving permission from the speaker/s to do this, and subject to no technical problems with the recording of the event. Podcasts are normally available 1-2 working days after the event. Podcasts and videos of past events can be found online.

Social Media

Follow LSE public events on Twitter for notification on the availability of an event podcast, the posting of transcripts and videos, the announcement of new events and other important event updates. Event updates and other information about what’s happening at LSE can be found on the LSE's Facebook page and for live photos from events and around campus, follow us on Instagram. For live webcasts and archive video of lectures, follow us on YouTube.

Accessibility

If you are planning to attend this event and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, as well as on accessibility and special requirements, please refer to LSE Events FAQ.  LSE aims to ensure that people have equal access to these public events, but please contact the events organiser as far as possible in advance if you have any access requirements so that arrangements, where possible, can be made. If the event is ticketed, please ensure you get in touch in advance of the ticket release date. Access Guides to all our venues can be viewed online.

WIFI Access

LSE has now introduced wireless for guests and visitors in association with 'The Cloud', also in use at many other locations across the UK. If you are on campus visiting for the day or attending a conference or event, you can connect your device to wireless. See more information and create an account at Join the Cloud.
Visitors from other participating institutions are encouraged to use eduroam. If you are having trouble connecting to eduroam, please contact your home institution for assistance.
The Cloud is only intended for guest and visitor access to wifi. Existing LSE staff and students are encouraged to use eduroam instead.

From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend that if you plan to attend this event you check back on this listing on the day of the event.