Ljubomir Jankovic, Professor of Advanced Building Design at the University of Hertfordshire, in an article on The Conversation website, discusses the importance of accounting for embodied carbon in buildings if we are to fully come to grips with net zero emissions. Embodied carbon: why truly net zero buildings could still be decades away Carbon dioxide … Continue reading Not taking embodied emissions in buildings into account could mean overshooting carbon emissions targets by several decades
Category: net zero emissions
Often overlooked as an obstacle to climate action, lobbying has come into the spotlight at COP26
Lobbyists are pushing the climate to dangerous extremes by blocking or diluting policies that would reduce the burning of fossil fuels. Ajit Niranjan provides his views on lobbying in an article on the Deutsche Welle website. COP26: Lobbying threat to global climate action As world leaders meet for a landmark summit to cut carbon … Continue reading Often overlooked as an obstacle to climate action, lobbying has come into the spotlight at COP26
The new heat and buildings strategy boosts the UK’s credentials as a global leader yet it has ignored some critical actions
With much fanfare, the UK government announced its heat and buildings strategy last week. Ran Boydell, Visiting Lecturer in Sustainable Development at Heriot-Watt University discusses the strategy to see if it is fit for purpose to help Britain achieve its net-zero objectives in an article on The Conversation website. Heat and buildings strategy: the … Continue reading The new heat and buildings strategy boosts the UK’s credentials as a global leader yet it has ignored some critical actions
Blog from Nick Eyre: Re-thinking the zero-carbon energy transition
Delivering the energy transition at the rate needed to meet agreed climate targets will require changes much faster than we have achieved for decades. On that there is agreement. But what is the role of efficiency improvement and demand reduction in this? We know what the energy industry vested interests think. According to the Shell … Continue reading Blog from Nick Eyre: Re-thinking the zero-carbon energy transition
Calls for Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, to help the finance world do better to address climate change
Catherine Abreu writes on the National Observer website that Mark Carney has a key role in ensuring the financial community raise their efforts in addressing climate change as we head towards COP26 in Glasgow in a few weeks. Mark Carney needs to raise the bar on climate action for financial institutions Mark Carney is … Continue reading Calls for Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, to help the finance world do better to address climate change
New analysis shows the cost of achieving carbon neutrality in Germany
Germany wants to be carbon neutral by 2045. Restructuring its economy will cost trillions. But not investing the money would cost even more. Tim Schauenberg discusses the costs in an article on the Deutsche Welle website. This is obviously an area that the incoming Chancellor will have to deal with – urgently. What climate … Continue reading New analysis shows the cost of achieving carbon neutrality in Germany
What does net-zero emissions actually mean?
Amrou Awaysheh, Assistant Professor of Operations Management and Executive Director, Business Sustainability Lab at Indiana University explains in an article on The Conversation website what “net-zero” actually means and why it matters. More companies pledge ‘net-zero’ emissions to fight climate change, but what does that really mean? You’ll probably hear the term “net-zero emissions” a … Continue reading What does net-zero emissions actually mean?
What does it take to improve the energy performance of Britain’s homes?
When I worked at the International Energy Agency in the 1980s, we were discussing how Britain had to give more attention to improving the energy performance of its building stock, given how poor quality they were overall. In 1990, the then Department of Environment even published an excellent report of a survey on “Attitudes to … Continue reading What does it take to improve the energy performance of Britain’s homes?
While the decarbonisation challenges for buildings are significant, so are the opportunities
There are four crucial trends driving zero carbon buildings: decarbonisation, electrification, efficiency and digitalisation. Efficient, zero carbon buildings take advantage of available, cost-effective technology to reduce emissions while increasing health, equity and economic prosperity in local communities, thus presenting many opportunities. Clay Nesler, Global Lead, Buildings and Energy at the World Resources Institute; Khee Poh … Continue reading While the decarbonisation challenges for buildings are significant, so are the opportunities
To avert catastrophic warming, the global community must rapidly reduce how much of these fossil fuels it extracts and burns
Daniel Welsby, James Price and Steve Pye from University College London write on The Conversation website that their research found that nearly 60% of global oil and fossil gas reserves will need to remain in the ground in 2050. This supports Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA, who told The Guardian: “If governments are … Continue reading To avert catastrophic warming, the global community must rapidly reduce how much of these fossil fuels it extracts and burns
