The buildings sector is essential for an economic recovery after the COVID-19 crisis

The construction sector is essential for an economic recovery after the COVID-19 crisis. It can rapidly create large amounts of jobs and involves far-reaching value chains of small and large businesses. At the same time, the building sector presents a massive – and largely unused – opportunity to respond to the climate crisis. Christiana Hageneder … Continue reading The buildings sector is essential for an economic recovery after the COVID-19 crisis →

The current coronavirus crisis shows us how ill prepared we are for the disruptive potential of climate change

The current coronavirus crisis is spurring a lot of thoughtful articles that make links to climate change and/or the low carbon energy transition. In this article on The Conversation website, Kate Guy, PhD Candidate and Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Oxford explains how unprepared we are for the security threat of climate … Continue reading The current coronavirus crisis shows us how ill prepared we are for the disruptive potential of climate change →

Story telling in the low-carbon energy transition

Derek Gladwin, Assistant Professor, Language & Literacy Education, and Sustainability Fellow at the University of British Columbia writes on The Conversation website that stories matter and those for the new energy transition will be different than those when fossil fuels dominated. Importantly he writes: “If we start to communicate and educate about energy transition through … Continue reading Story telling in the low-carbon energy transition →

Discussing “The Uninhabitable Earth” by David Wallace-Wells

EiD doesn’t know whether you have read this book yet. If not, you should. It really looks at what the future will look like if we do not make drastic changes to life. This is particularly important now as we try to get through the coronavirus crisis and then have to more seriously address climate … Continue reading Discussing “The Uninhabitable Earth” by David Wallace-Wells →

What will the coronavirus crisis mean for how we travel in the future?

There are many now commenting on what the future will bring to various aspects of our lives. Marcus Enoch, Professor in Transport Strategy at Loughborough University and James Warren, Senior Lecturer, Engineering and Innovation at The Open University look at the opportunities for reshaping travel once the coronavirus crisis is over in an article on … Continue reading What will the coronavirus crisis mean for how we travel in the future? →

Environmental racism exists and that the rhetoric of “conservation” and “saving the planet” does not only come from what is called the left

There appears to be “fake news” that is intentionally seeding confusion as we address the coronavirus while also needing to keep a long-term focus on addressing climate change. Marc Hudson, Researcher on Sociomaterial Transformations at Keele University, explains in an article on The Conversation website. Beware far-right arguments disguised as environmentalism Posters in the … Continue reading Environmental racism exists and that the rhetoric of “conservation” and “saving the planet” does not only come from what is called the left →

2020 is an iconic year and a tipping point for our low carbon energy transition

If we had to have a worldwide closedown, at least it is occurring during the tipping point year of 2020, argues Andrew Warren, chairman of the British Energy Efficiency Federation and a friend of EiD, in a column on the Business Green website. Coronavirus Response: 2020 has become a watershed year in more ways … Continue reading 2020 is an iconic year and a tipping point for our low carbon energy transition →

Airlines are demanding the rewriting of a global agreement designed to cut aviation carbon emissions in wake of coronavirus crisis

Should we be surprised? The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global trade association for airlines, claimed a scheme to offset any rise in emissions would place an “inappropriate economic burden” on operators already struggling with the impact of the worldwide Covid-19 lockdown. But climate campaigners have said any bailouts should come with environmental strings … Continue reading Airlines are demanding the rewriting of a global agreement designed to cut aviation carbon emissions in wake of coronavirus crisis →

There is every reason to expect that the virus crisis will strengthen and accelerate the imperative to transition to a low-carbon world by mid-century

John Hewson, Professor and Chair, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University writes in an article on The Conversation website that the coronavirus crisis strengths the argument that we urgently need to make the low-carbon transition. Sorry to disappoint climate deniers, but coronavirus makes the low-carbon … Continue reading There is every reason to expect that the virus crisis will strengthen and accelerate the imperative to transition to a low-carbon world by mid-century →

Governments seeking to protect their citizens medically and economically in the short term should also look to the long term and protect the environment

Economists at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) says efforts to counteract the Covid-19 pandemic create an opportunity to “tilt to green” the large-scale recovery spending being pledged, making it a key accelerator towards a low-carbon economy. Vanora Bennett explains in an article on the EBRD website. Spending to counteract coronavirus creates … Continue reading Governments seeking to protect their citizens medically and economically in the short term should also look to the long term and protect the environment →