Ep. 201: Virginia Sentance, Chief of Staff for the UK COP26 Presidency

Today's guest is Virginia Sentance, Chief of Staff for the UK COP26 Presidency. Virginia Sentance is the Chief of Staff for the UK COP26 Presidency team based in the UK Government. The UK hosted the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) - the UN's annual climate change summit - in Glasgow on 31 October to 13 November 2021. As Chief of Staff Virginia works closely with the COP President and COP CEO to oversee all aspects of the COP26 Presidency, including the political strategy, negotiations, diplomatic engagement, and operational delivery of the summit. Prior to this, Virginia was an International Economist for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and HM Treasury - the UK's economic and finance ministry, focusing on a number of international finance issues including G7, G20 and the IMF, financial services, economic security, and trade. Virginia holds a BSc in Politics and Economics and MSc in Politics both from the London School of Economics. I was excited to have this conversation with Virginia and learn more about COP26. Virginia walks me through her climate journey, the role of COP in a clean future, and why we should pay attention to global carbon commitments. We also dive into the tensions between industry stakeholders and global leaders, COP26's goals and how this COP defined success, and the evolution of science since COP1. Virginia is a great guest with a unique insight into the climate crisis and collective global action. This is a fantastic episode if you want to learn more about the role COPs play in the clean transition. Enjoy the show! You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at [email protected], where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests. Episode recorded March 9th, 2022