Words by Dr Steve Westlake, CAST affiliate (prev. Knowledge Exchange Associate) The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has delivered another blunt assessment of the UK government’s climate track record, and it’s a very mixed picture. The CCC’s latest Progress Report states that “a coherent public engagement strategy on climate action is…
Last week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the final part of its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). The AR6 Synthesis Report underscores the escalating severity of the climate crisis but also highlights the broad range of available policy measures that could bring about deep emissions cuts and enhance climate resilience…
Audience travel is one of the biggest contributors to the carbon emissions of live music events. Along with Adam Corner and Chiara Badiali, we launched a project to provide the live music industry with recommendations for how to positively influence the travel choices of their audiences. Our report – From…
CAST is conducting an evidence review on the implications of behavioural science for effective climate policy. The review is commissioned by the UK Climate Change Committee (CCC). The evidence review will identify what current academic literature and government, third sector and business reports and polls state about what works to…
The Policy TerrainThis is a time in history that asks a great deal of us all. The IPCC’s (2021) “brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all” represents an uncompromising challenge at a policy level (Tollefson 2021), an organisational one (Nyberg &…
The takes on COP27 are out in full force – from relief that a Loss and Damage Fund was finally established after 30 years of developing country advocacy, to disappointment that the text failed to increase ambition on mitigation – especially on the phase out of fossil fuels. But you…
New data shows the UK public continue to support ‘net zero’ policies, despite the cost-of-living crisis. Polling undertaken by Ipsos and CAST in October 2022 find many climate policies actually enjoying higher levels of support than in August 2021. This was despite record levels of climate change concern recorded in…
A new report has revealed that a third of emission savings by 2035 must come from people changing their behaviours. The House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee report, In our hands: behaviour change for climate and environmental goals is the output of a committee inquiry which heard from…
Collectively, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make a significant contribution to carbon emissions. Transformative changes are needed to achieve Net Zero amongst the SME population, presenting policymakers and practitioners with a complex and largely unresolved set of challenges. Colleagues from Oxford University, Open University Business School, and CAST partner Climate…
The first-ever detailed study of climate anxiety among the UK adult population suggests that whilst rates are currently low, people’s fears about the future of the planet might be an important trigger for action when it comes to adapting our high-carbon lifestyles to become more environmentally friendly. Interest in climate…