Human development is not only a matter of economic justice but also climate justice

Marta Baltruszewicz, Postgraduate Researcher, School of Earth and Environment at University of Leeds raises some important issues in an article on The Conversation website, showing that there is an important counter-intuitive finding showing that lower levels of deprivation were linked to lower levels of energy demand, not higher levels. Reducing poverty can actually lower … Continue reading Human development is not only a matter of economic justice but also climate justice →

Energy efficiency at heart of global push to net zero

This is a good summary from Energy in Buildings & Industry about the recent IEA report outlining the roadmap to net zero. Energy-efficiency measures are “front-loaded” in the IEA’s new roadmap to net zero The International Energy Agency’s new roadmap to net zero by 2050 has identified energy efficiency as its' first “key pillar … Continue reading Energy efficiency at heart of global push to net zero →

The day Big Oil discovered that the makeup of its board could be changed against its will

This appears to have been a David versus Goliath moment. An upstart environmentally-minded hedge fund outmanoeuvred the directors of ExxonMobil to gain seats on the board. Nils Pratley explains in an article on the Guardian website how they did it. How did a green, newbie hedge fund out-play Exxon so comprehensively? In the short … Continue reading The day Big Oil discovered that the makeup of its board could be changed against its will →

Our society has come to believe that technology is the solution to our climate crisis – it isn’t

With the climate crisis, Peter Sutoris argus this moment calls for humility – we cannot innovate ourselves out of this mess. The problem with believing technology is the solution is that it focuses on the symptoms, not the causes of environmental decay. Peter Sutoris, is an anthropologist of development and the environment, and the author … Continue reading Our society has come to believe that technology is the solution to our climate crisis – it isn’t →

“If we are really serious about overcoming climate change the next phase will be much harder than the last”

The first step is to recognise the challenges much more clearly and honestly. Pretending it will be easy risks making it impossible. It’ll take a rethink on taxes and investment of £50bn a year to hit their targets on emissions These are the messages of Paul Johnson, director of the UK’s Institute for Fiscal Studies … Continue reading “If we are really serious about overcoming climate change the next phase will be much harder than the last” →

Highlighting some of the problems related to financing adaptation to climate change

Jessica Omukuti, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of York discusses many of the problems related to financing adaptation to climate change in an article on the Conversation website. What are your views? Climate adaptation finance is ineffective and must be more transparent In 2019, an international climate fund approved a ten year US$9.3 million … Continue reading Highlighting some of the problems related to financing adaptation to climate change →

CEN and CENELEC held a webinar on Connecting European Sustainable Finance to Standardisation

On Tuesday 20 April, CEN (the European Committee on Standardization) and CENELEC (the European Committee on Electrotechnical Standardization) held an online webinar dedicated to exploring the role standards can play in scaling up the implementation of sustainable finance for the transition to a climate neutral economy and a more sustainable world. The desired outcome of … Continue reading CEN and CENELEC held a webinar on Connecting European Sustainable Finance to Standardisation →

Carbon performance a necessary complement to energy performance: EU buildings’ policy should address the carbon footprint of construction, says BPIE

The EU’s forthcoming revision of legislation for buildings and construction is a critical opportunity to create policy and investment certainty on how energy performance requirements will be supported by carbon performance rules, says BPIE. New research from BPIE shows that while some EU Member States have introduced comprehensive policy action to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings … Continue reading Carbon performance a necessary complement to energy performance: EU buildings’ policy should address the carbon footprint of construction, says BPIE →

Nasa is corralling companies to demonstrate improved ways to power aircraft via batteries rather than jet fuel

It is encouraging that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) in the US is organizing demonstration tests of electric propulsion. It turns out Nasa has been working on electric planes for the past decade and it is good to see the demonstrations now starting. Oliver Milman discusses latest developments in an article on the … Continue reading Nasa is corralling companies to demonstrate improved ways to power aircraft via batteries rather than jet fuel →