cast.ac.uk

5 key messages from five years of CAST research: New report

5 key messages from five years of CAST research: New report

Read our latest CAST report: 'Catalysts of Change: People at the Heart of Climate Transformations', and watch our animation summarising 5 key messages from five years of CAST social science research on climate change and how we can achieve the social changes needed to tackle climate change.

Our Vision

The Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) is a global hub for understanding the systemic and society-wide transformations that are required to address climate change. At the core of our work is a fundamental question of enormous social significance: how can we as a society live differently - and better - in ways that meet the urgent need for rapid and far-reaching emission reductions?

People at the heart of transformations

We want to understand how people can participate in transformation in their multiple roles as citizens, consumers, parents, employees, business leaders, policy-makers. This means recognising that people can act both directly to reduce emissions – like driving less – but equally have the ability to shape wider structural change – like changing organisational practices and shaping policies.

A focus on values and co-benefits

We set out to align the positive outcomes of action on climate change with those in other domains like health and wellbeing. CAST seeks to identify low-carbon futures and actions that also provide other co-benefits - like cleaner air, lower bills, more resilient or fairer communities.

"We want to work closely with people and organisations to achieve positive low-carbon futures — transforming the way we live our lives, and reconfiguring organisations and cities."

Prof. Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE, CAST Director

Explore our four areas of focus

Find out why we are focusing on four key areas: Diet, Mobility, Material Consumption and Thermal Comfort.

Our resources include policy briefings, working papers, academic articles, reports and other resources exploring the science of climate action.

We believe effective change requires working with people to understand their values and needs.

News from CAST

Our latest report

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?

SYNIAD is a chance for students to shine a light on their sustainability idea and make a change to the world as we know it. SYNIAD (Welsh for idea – pronounced SUN-YAD in case you were wondering) is once again being launched this year to help students become innovators by…

“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…