Category Archives: Current Affairs

Renewables now generate more of Britain’s electricity than fossil fuels – but what happens next?

David Falconer / Shutterstock Will de Freitas, The Conversation At the start of 2016, in an article noting some exciting changes in British energy, The Conversation published the following paragraph: Wind, solar and hydro – the weather-dependent renewables – together … Continue reading

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Four good news climate stories from 2023

Will de Freitas, The Conversation We don’t want to give you the wrong idea: things are bad. Antarctic ice sheets are melting, the fossil fuel lobby was everywhere at the COP talks, and even solutions like electric cars have their … Continue reading

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A beginner’s guide to sustainable investing

A beginner’s guide to sustainable investing MEE KO DONG/Shutterstock Davina Bird, University of Lincoln and James Wright, University of Lincoln Humans have made drastic changes to the environment. We need to change our behaviour – and we need to do … Continue reading

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How to make your life greener in 2024

How to make your life greener in 2024 j.chizhe/Shutterstock Ian Williams, University of Southampton and Alice Brock, University of Southampton People all around the world traditionally use their new year to embark on a change in lifestyle. The People’s Climate Vote, … Continue reading

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Four good news climate stories from 2023

Four good news climate stories from 2023 Will de Freitas, The Conversation We don’t want to give you the wrong idea: things are bad. Antarctic ice sheets are melting, the fossil fuel lobby was everywhere at the COP talks, and even … Continue reading

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Climate summits are too big and key voices are being crowded out – here’s a better solution

Alix Dietzel, University of Bristol and Katharina Richter, University of Bristol Every year, the official UN climate summits are getting bigger. In 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow there were around 40,000 participants, COP27 in 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh had 50,000. … Continue reading

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Five major outcomes from the latest UN climate summit

Mark Maslin, UCL; Priti Parikh, UCL, and Simon Chin-Yee, UCL The latest UN climate summit, COP28, was always going to be controversial. It was held in a state whose economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas – the United … Continue reading

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Genetically modified crops aren’t a solution to climate change, despite what the biotech industry says

Anneleen Kenis, Brunel University London and Barbara Van Dyck, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) The European Commission launched a proposal in July 2023 to deregulate a large number of plants manufactured using new genetic techniques. Despite extraordinary attempts by the … Continue reading

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The COP28 climate agreement is a step backwards on fossil fuels

Alaa Al Khourdajie, Imperial College London; Chris Bataille, Columbia University, and Lars J Nilsson, Lund University The COP28 climate summit in Dubai has adjourned. The result is “The UAE consensus” on fossil fuels. This text, agreed upon by delegates from … Continue reading

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COP28: countries have pledged to cut emissions from cooling – here’s how to make it happen

Saikat Paul/Shutterstock Radhika Khosla, University of Oxford Cast your eyes over the statistics in a new report I helped author on staying cool in a warming climate and the urgency becomes clear: 1 billion people, mostly in Africa and Asia, … Continue reading

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