The Edinburgh Medal

The Edinburgh Medal was instituted by the City of Edinburgh Council in 1988. Each year this prestigious award is given to men and women of science and technology whose professional achievements are judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding and well-being of humanity. The Medalist then delivers a lecture at the Edinburgh Science Festival.

Edinburgh Medal 2019

The 2019 Edinburgh Medal is awarded to Christiana Figueres, for her work as a recognised world leader on global climate change and her efforts in bringing nations together to jointly deliver an unprecedented climate change agreement.

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was instrumental in the successful conclusion of the Paris talks. The Summit saw all of the world’s nations agree for the first time to a binding commitment to avoid dangerous levels of global warming. Figueres served as the UN’s Climate Chief from 2010 until July 2016.

Join Figueres as she discusses the international picture in respect of action to halt climate change. The 2015 Paris Agreement was a historic achievement of international cooperation that charted a course toward addressing global climate change. Since then, some political events have called that international cooperation into question. Click here to book tickets.

The 2018 Edinburgh Medal was awarded to Prof Cordelia Fine, author and Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Melbourne, for her work on the understanding of gender stereotypes, challenging gender perceptions and for her contributions to public discourse to close the gender gap.