UK public willing to take significant action to tackle climate change
In time for Earth Day 2021 – a critical year for international environmental policy, with major deals in progress on climate, biodiversity, food and oceans – a new poll shows strong support from the UK public for climate action by the government, business and individuals. Consistent with recent research by…
People want a carrot (not stick) approach to low carbon food
This piece was originally published by Business Green and is reproduced here with their permission. Recent headlines that the UK government might slap a carbon tax on burgers and the great British banger have reignited controversy about what tackling the climate will mean for our food. The rumours of an…
Tracking the human cost of climate change: The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change
The Lancet is a heavyweight medical journal – one of the world’s most influential and highly cited. It uses its political heft to make global challenges part of the remit of medical science. In recent years, it has published scientific reviews (called ‘Commissions’) on Migration, on Sexual and Reproductive Rights,…
How has Covid-19 affected low-carbon behaviours and climate attitudes?
Measures to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic are probably the most significant disruption to lifestyles in living memory. And while the pandemic has impacted lives and livelihoods globally, it has also created an unprecedented and perhaps unique ‘moment of change’ during which many climate-relevant behaviours have been upended almost overnight….
SYNIAD 2020: Have you got an idea that could change the world?
“Knowledge alone is not enough.” Study shows that climate scientists fly more than other researchers
Climate change researchers, especially professors, fly more than other researchers – but are also more likely to have taken steps to reduce or offset their flying. The large-scale study – the first of its kind to survey climate academics about their travel for conferences, fieldwork and meetings – was carried…
Why the NHS holds the key to action on climate change
England’s National Health Service (NHS) is the world’s first health system to commit to becoming ‘net zero’ [i]. This means cutting emissions of the gases driving climate change to as close to zero as possible and offsetting the rest, for example by planting forests and investing in emission-removing technologies. The…
The transition to a post-carbon economy must uphold social justice
Why the UK needs a diverse leadership team for COP26
By Lorraine Whitmarsh, Sam Fankhauser, Katharine Steentjes, Candice Howarth – CAST & the Place Based Climate Action Network (PCAN) Last week, the UK government announced the team of politicians and negotiators who will host the UN COP26 climate negotiations in Glasgow next year – and they are all men. This…