Category Archives: Climate

Reducing energy demand and improving efficiency will help prevent the next gas crisis

marketlan/Shutterstock Louis Fletcher, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick Gas prices have relaxed, Europe has come out of the winter with record gas storage levels and a surfeit of liquefied natural gas is set to reach the shores of Europe … Continue reading

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Plastic is climate change in a bottle – so let’s put a cap on it

Hedgehog94/Shutterstock Jack Marley, The Conversation Plastic pollution and climate change have common culprits – and similar solutions. The penultimate round of negotiations for a global pact on plastic ended yesterday in Ottawa. Nearly 200 countries have agreed that a treaty … Continue reading

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The UK’s Climate Change Act, once the envy of the world, faces a stress test

Rebecca Willis, Lancaster University The Scottish government’s decision to row back on its 2030 climate pledge illustrates the crux of any target: it’s easy to set one with a big political flourish, but harder to follow through with a careful … Continue reading

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A global plastics treaty is being negotiated in Ottawa this week – here’s the latest

MOHAMED ABDULRAHEEM / shutterstock Antaya March, University of Portsmouth; Cressida Bowyer, University of Portsmouth, and Steve Fletcher, University of Portsmouth Plastic pollution spans the globe, yet national policies are generally not effective enough, and have so far focused primarily on … Continue reading

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Scotland is ditching its flagship 2030 climate goal – why legally binding targets really matter

Sam Fankhauser, University of Oxford The Scottish government has rescinded its 2030 target of a 75% emissions cut to greenhouse gas emissions, relative to 1990. The target was statutory, meaning it had been set in law in the Emissions Reduction … Continue reading

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Survey reveals UK butterfly winners and losers in the wake of record high temperatures

Marbled white butterfly. Iain H Leach/Butterfly Conservation, CC BY-ND Marcus Rhodes, University of Exeter Butterflies are important bellwethers of environmental change. Highly sensitive to climatic conditions and undergoing large fluctuations in abundance from year to year due to vagaries of … Continue reading

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Only 57 producers are responsible for 80% of all fossil fuel and cement CO2 emissions since 2016 – new report

StockStudio Aerials Matthew Carl Ives, University of Oxford; Belinda Wade, The University of Queensland, and Saphira Rekker, The University of Queensland Just 57 companies and nation states were responsible for generating 80% of the world’s CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels … Continue reading

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Four ways to eat less meat that are better for the planet, your health and your bank balance

Making a few simple eco-friendly food choices can be healthy and cost-effective too. Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock Katherine Appleton, Bournemouth University and Danielle Guy, Bournemouth University Do I choose the meat in my local store or drive out of town for … Continue reading

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Climate change is warping the seasons

Shawnwil23/Shutterstock Jack Marley, The Conversation The seasons aren’t what they used to be. People who live in Earth’s middle latitudes are accustomed to a spring, summer, autumn and winter. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, you may have noticed plants … Continue reading

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Six innovative ways to float skyscraper-sized wind turbines

A large floating wind turbine is installed in France, October 2023. Obatala-photography Emma C. Edwards, University of Oxford Yes, you read that right – float. You may have seen a wind turbine in the sea before, but chances are you … Continue reading

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