Thursday 31 May 2012; 16:00.
SSEE Visiting Fellow, Dr Robert Burke, will look at the ways we can learn from the futures, in an upcoming seminar at the Smith School.
Seminar Summary: Essentially futures thinking and strategy development is about organisational and societal transformation. It involves an emphasis by individuals and organisations to think about the future and [...]
Radically transforming transport systems over the coming decades is both a necessity and a challenge, particularly in relation to their energy needs and environmental impact.
This is the conclusion of Energy, Transport & the Environment, the most comprehensive publication to date on the current mobility challenges. Edited by Professor Sir David King and Dr Oliver Inderwildi [...]
A new briefing paper on Water Security, Risk and Society has been published.
The briefing, by Dr Angela Wilkinson and Aisling O’Sullivan Darcy of the Smith School, set outs the critical challenges around water stress and how the drivers are diverse and interconnected.
Water Security, Risk and Society briefing
WFEE2011 Report
The international business and finance community must take the lead in solving increasing water, food and energy scarcity around the world as population growth and economic development puts greater strains on the planet’s resources.
The call to action was issued today (Monday 23 April 2012) by Re|Source 2012, a new initiative created by the University of [...]
Dr Juan Añel (Research Fellow, SSEE) will host a seminar series in Trinity term 2012, on climate change risks.
Speakers will include: Professor Ricardo Garcia Herrera (Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the Department of Earth Physics II, in the Complutense University in Madrid) and Dr Valery Masson (Senior Scientist from MeteoFrance, Toulouse).
All seminars are open to all and [...]
This three part seminar series, exploring the latest on how sustainability challenges affect the private sector, and how business is responding, took place in May 2012. The series drew upon the 2011-2013 research and publications of Dr Michael ‘Mick’ Blowfield, Senior Research Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
Seminars:
Seminar 1: Business in society: past, present, [...]
The Smith School welcomed Dr Simon Roberts (Associate Director, Arup) to give a talk on Arup’s 4see model.
Dr Simon Roberts Seminar Slides
Seminar Summary: Dr Roberts’ will introduce the innovative 4see modelling framework, which combines socio, economic and energy aspects of a country in order to formulate physically consistent scenarios 20 years or more into the future. A [...]
A project running almost 10,000 climate simulations on volunteers’ home computers has found that a global warming of 3 degrees Celsius by 2050 is ‘equally plausible’ as a rise of 1.4 degrees.
The study, the first to run so many simulations using a complex atmosphere-ocean climate model, addresses some of the uncertainties that previous forecasts, using [...]
Smith School Visiting Fellow, Professor Linda Cohen, gave a talk on Climate Change Technology during her stay in Oxford in May 2012.
Seminar Summary: While innovation is critical to respond to climate challenges, relying on patents to provide incentives to invest in research may be inadequate. This seminar discussed political and legal problems in using intellectual property [...]
Wednesday 23 May 2012; 16:00.
Upcoming Smith School Visiting Fellow, Professor Laszlo Zsolnai, will be talking about ecological sustainability.
Seminar Summary: Ecological sustainability cannot be achieved via the competitiveness-oriented business model which promotes self-interest and measures success in monetary terms only. The collaborative business model fits better in ecological sustainability. In this new model, economic agents aim to [...]
Smith School Visiting Fellow, Peter Lund-Thomsen, gave a talk on the rise of China and India, during his stay in May 2012.
Seminar Summary: The rise of multinational corporations based in India and China is challenging our current models of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) as “Indian” and “Chinese” approaches to SSCM are formulated in different regulatory, institutional, [...]
An urgent remodelling of the UK’s energy infrastructure is vital if the country wants to decarbonise without “the lights going out” and not be reliant on imported energy supplies, says a new report by the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE) at the University of Oxford.
“Towards a low carbon pathway for the UK” [...]
Together with the Centre for Corporate Reputation at the Said Business School, the Smith School welcomed David Vogel (Professor, Haas School of Business and Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley) to Oxford.
Based on his book, of the same name, David Vogel’s presentation examined the trends in the politics of consumer and environmental risk regulation [...]
Wednesday 30 May 2012; 16:00.
Smith School Visiting Fellow, Professor Stephen Gardiner, will be giving a talk here at the Smith School in May.
Speaker Biography: Stephen M. Gardiner is Professor of Philosophy and Ben Rabinowitz Professor of Human Dimensions of the Environment at the University of Washington, Seattle. His main areas of interest are ethical theory, [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment together with UBS has hosted its first “Smith in the City” evening seminar. The series will profile leading thinkers from around the globe looking at some of the major issues and challenges facing the world’s economies and people.
The series launched on Wednesday 22nd February 2012 and was introduced [...]
The Arctic is a region undergoing significant changes through a combination of economic and political developments, as well as climatic and other environmental changes.
Often perceived as an outpost or frontier in a world of ever expanding human activity, the next 20 years are estimated to see an increase in economic activity with shipping, oil and [...]
SSEE Visiting Fellow, Tae-hyeong Kwon (Associate Professor, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, Korea), gave a talk on his work in April 2012.
Seminar Summary: Two popular market support policies of renewable energy sources for electricity (RES-E) are: RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) and FIT (Feed-In-Tariffs). These policies intervene in RES-E markets by regulating price (FIT) or quantity (RPS) of RES-E. [...]
The heat wave that struck western Russia in summer 2010, causing 55,000 deaths, was caused by a combination of manmade and natural factors. However, the frequency of occurrence of such heat waves has increased by a factor of three over recent decades, new research suggests.
A study, led by Oxford University scientists including Neil Massey of [...]
Professor Gordon Clark FBA, Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at Oxford University, has been appointed as the next director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. He will take up the new position in January 2013 succeeding the founding director, Professor Sir David King.
Professor Clark is an economic geographer with an interest in [...]
The very cold weather we have recently been experiencing across parts of the UK and Europe raises the question if this is normal, or if it is in fact part of a wider pattern of changing climate.
Dr Patrick McSharry was interviewed on China Central TV on this issue and commented: “We expect cold conditions at [...]
The Smith School welcomed Professor Dr Alex Bradshaw (Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Garching/Greifswald, Germany and Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany), who gave a talk in March 2012 on the depletion of the Earth’s mineral resources.
Seminar Summary: Several times during the 20th century scientists and economists have expressed concern about the depletion (partial, or even total) of the Earth’s [...]
This year’s Environmental Law Discussion Group series, co-hosted by the Faculty of Law, will take place across both Hilary and Trinity terms 2012.
Please rsvp to dhvani.mehta [at] magd.ox.ac.uk if you would like to attend.
All seminars will be held at SSEE, Hayes House, 75 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2BQ. Please arrive ten minutes ahead of the [...]
Dr Mick Blowfield, Research Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, has won the CMI (Chartered Management Institute) Management Book of the Year award with co-author Alan Murray.
Corporate Responsibility was up against competition in the Management and Leadership Textbook category of the competition and was shortlisted from a collection of over 250 [...]
Professor Sir David King has published an analysis of the oil market in Nature this week with Professor James Murray of the University of Washington, which demonstrates that since 2005 oil supply has reached a ceiling of economically affordable rates.
The resulting unheralded oil price spikes, ranging between $40 and $140 per barrel, act as a [...]
With 90% of transport fuels being oil-derived, uncertainty around depletion levels of conventional oil reserves combined with rising car ownership and climate change concerns, there remains a mammoth challenge to transform our oil-dependent transport industry.
Writing in the journal – Oxford Energy Forum, Tara Shirvani and Dr Oliver Inderwildi explore the interest in synthetic fuel production [...]
In collaboration with 20 leading experts, investors, NGOs and universities, the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has contributed to an open letter to the Bank of England urging the Governor, Sir Mervyn King, to investigate how Britain’s exposure to polluting and environmentally damaging investments might pose a systemic risk to the UK financial [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and UBS are delighted to announce the “Smith in the City” evening seminar series.
The series will profile leading thinkers from around the globe looking at some of the major issues and challenges facing the world’s economies and people.
The series launched on Wednesday 22nd February, 2012, when Professor Charles [...]
In spring 2012 the Smith School will publish a report that focuses on developing a pathway for how the UK can and must maximise its nuclear assets and opportunities, and produce a holistic approach to nuclear power for 2050 and beyond.
Our formal consultation period is now closed, however more information on the consultation can [...]
Sam Arie, Visiting Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, has looked at the Green Deal and outlines his concerns about the new scheme in which households will be encouraged to borrow money on easy terms to finance energy saving home improvements.
Writing in The Ecologist, Arie suggests that the Green Deal will create [...]
The Today Programme on Radio 4 featured a debate between Professor Sir David King and Jonathan Porritt who headed up the Sustainable Development Commission on what should replace the Kyoto Treaty when it expires next year.
Over the next two weeks scientists and politicians are gathering in Durban at the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to [...]
Professor Sir David King, Director of The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, has set our how a new process for a climate treaty could be developed, as the COP17 talks begin.
Writing in The Guardian, Sir David explains that is has been evident for some years now that the top-down approach to climate negotiations [...]
Rwanda Baseline Report
Agriculture Sector Working Paper
Cities and the Built Environment Sector Working Paper
Energy Sector Working Paper
Finance Sector Working Paper
Forests and Tree-based Systems Sector Working Paper
Land Sector Working Paper
Mining Sector Working Paper
Transport Sector Working Paper
Water Sector Working Paper
Rwanda’s Climate: Observations and Projections
Rwanda’s Centre for Climate Knowledge for Development: Proposal
Rwanda Thinkpiece
Health Review
Intern Reports
Climate Finance Toolkit
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has published a report in collaboration with the Government of Rwanda that sets out a framework for the country to move towards a low carbon economy.
Rwanda has a fast-growing economy, which is growing at eight percent per annum, and is particularly vulnerable to oil price spikes, population [...]
Dr Oliver Inderwildi and Professor Sir David King have edited a new book which will be published early next year by Springer. Energy, Transport & the Environment: Addressing the Sustainable Mobility Paradigm will tackle the highly complex problem of sustainable mobility – a challenge affected by the interactions between socio-economic, environmental, technological and political issues.
The [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has appointed Dr Oliver Inderwildi to lead its Low-Carbon Energy Centre, a newly formed research centre charged with addressing the challenges that depleting natural resources and environmental challenges pose to our energy sector.
The new team, led by Dr Inderwildi, will focus on energy and fuels modeling and [...]
Dr Mick Blowfield
Dr Mick Blowfield, Senior Research Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, has had his book, Corporate Responsibility, shortlisted for a CMI (Chartered Management Institute) Management Book of the Year award.
Corporate Responsibility will be up against competition in the Management and Leadership Textbook category of the competition. The CMI celebrates [...]
This was the third talk in the Smith School’s ‘The Economics of Biodiversity’ Seminar Series, and was given by Professor Laurent Mermet (SSEE Visiting Fellow), Tony Chappel (SSEE), Yann Laurans (EcoWhat, Paris) and Tiphaine Leménager (French Development Agency).
Seminar Summary: Tools for economic valuation of biodiversity and economic instruments for biodiversity management have been promoted for several decades now, [...]
Sam Arie, Visiting Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, has had an article published in the Guardian on the Green Deal, a piece of legislation which was passed as part of the coalition government’s Energy Bill last week.
The announcement will see private firms offer finance to householders, enabling energy efficiency improvements [...]
SSEE Research Fellow, Dr Robert Metcalfe, gave a talk on his recent work in November 2011.
Seminar Summary: There has been increasing attention in academic and political circles on how to reduce people’s energy consumption. There has been some evidence that other people’s energy consumption can impact on individual energy consumption. Dr Metcalfe has been using a [...]
Professor Robert Hahn, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, spoke at The Forum 2000 Conference on 10th October in Prague. The Forum convenes global leaders from politics, academia, religion, business and civil society to discuss key issues facing our civilisation.
This year’s event examined the relationship between the rule of law and [...]
This was the first talk in the Smith School’s ‘The Economics of Biodiversity’ Seminar Series, in Michaelmas Term 2011; and was given by
This was the second talk in the Smith School’s ‘The Economics of Biodiversity’ Seminar Series, in Michaelmas Term 2011; and was given by Professor Tim Swanson (André Hoffmann Chair of Environmental Economics, The Graduate Institute – Geneva).
Professor Swanson Presentation Slides
‘These Young Minds’ in collaboration with the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford, organized an event ‘Bridging the gap between Sustainability and the Board’ on October 20 2011. Business leaders and renowned academics participated in the event and shared their views on what makes a business environmentally sustainable and profitable. Speakers [...]
This was the second talk in the Smith School’s ‘Gorillas in our Midst’ Seminar Series, in Michaelmas Term 2011; and was given by Nick Robins (HSBC).
Speaker Biography: Nick Robins is Head of the Climate Change Centre of Excellence at HSBC in London. The goal of the Centre is to analyse the strategic implications of climate change for [...]
This was the third talk in the Smith School’s ‘Gorillas in our Midst’ Seminar Series, in Michaelmas Term 2011; and was given by the School’s Business Fellows Jeremy Bentham, Leo Johnson and Peter Lacy.
Seminar Summary:
This seminar focussed on the following areas:
The Arab Spring and Sustainability
From carbon constraint to social constraint?
Entrepreneurs in action: the challenges
Smith School Visiting Fellow, James Murray, gave a talk on Peak Oil in October.
Jim Murray Presentation Slides
Seminar Summary: The argument of Peak Oil is that production of oil, a finite non-renewable geological resource, will ultimately reach a maximum and then decline. There is no debate that this will happen, but there is disagreement about when it [...]
This was the final talk in the Smith School’s ‘Gorillas in our Midst’ Seminar Series, in Michaelmas Term 2011; and was given by Mike Peirce (University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership).
Mike Peirce Presentation Slides
Speaker Biography: Mike is Director of Strategy and Communications at CPSL. In his six years at CPSL, he has led a number of CPSL’s [...]
This was the last seminar in the The Economics of Biodiversity: Practical Solutions or Esoteric Diversions? Series, which took place in Michaelmas Term 2011.
Speaker: Dr Laura Rival (University Lecturer, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford).
Laura Rival Presentation Slides
Seminar Summary: The design of economic instruments for the protection of ecological wealth in Latin American countries [...]
This was the first talk in the Smith School’s ‘Gorillas in our Midst’ Seminar Series, in Michaelmas Term 2011; and was given by Mark Campanale (Carbon Tracker) on Wednesday 12 October 2011.
Mark Campanale Seminar Slides
Unburnable Carbon Report July 2011
Seminar Summary: Rockefeller Brothers, Growald Family Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust have funded research to investigate whether [...]
Algae-derived biodiesel could significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and deliver a high financial return, whilst also providing a sustainable and realistic alternative to conventional oil according to new analysis from the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment.
Microalgae can grow in waste water or sea water, and therefore does not have the land use and [...]
A new report from the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment identifies significant advantages of using agave plants, such as those used in the production of tequila and sisal, to derive biofuels. Unlike other biofuel feedstocks, agave has the potential to grow on marginal agricultural land and so would have limited impact on global [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford has today, (18th July) published a report that recommends that individual governments must take more action to curb their own emissions and put pressure on other governments to do the same.
The ‘International Climate Change Negotiations: Key Lessons and Next Steps’ report, a detailed [...]
Dr Chukwumerije Okereke has been published in the Nigerian Guardian, writing on the important role that African nations have to play in the climate talks taking place in Durban, South Africa later this year.
In his article, he argues that the countries of Africa, the continent most vulnerable to the changes that rising temperatures and extremes of [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) co-hosted a series of seminars during Michaelmas Term 2011, that will discuss the economics of biodiversity. They were chaired by SSEE Visiting Fellow, Professor Laurent Mermet and Research Assistant, Tony Chappel.
Series Summary: Though they have been around for most of the twentieth century, [...]
SSEE Senior Research Fellow, Dr Mick Blowfield, hosted a series of four seminars during Michaelmas Term 2011 discussing inconvenient questions relating to businesses and climate change.
Series Summary: Here’s a dilemma. The most beautiful creature in the room has bad breath. Do you reach for the Listerine or do you kiss them anyway? In the climate [...]
The impact of a changing climate on human health has the potential to be the biggest global health threat of the 21st century, jeopardising the lives and wellbeing of billions of people. From extreme weather and heatwaves having a direct impact on morbidity and mortality to the indirect effect of climate change many regions face [...]
Ref: LD-11-007
Grade 8 (£36,862-£44,016)
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, of the University of Oxford, seeks to appoint a Research Fellow to develop a programme of research in the quantitative assessment of climate- and weather-related risk. The Smith School is a global interdisciplinary hub conducting research on public and private sector solutions to [...]
by Michael Evans, 30th June 2011
The third and final day of the 2011 World Forum has drawn to a close with a strategy for action set out by Sir David King, Director of the Smith School.
King closed the Third World Forum and thanked the 120 leaders who attended for helping to create a real and [...]
The World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment 2011 is now well underway, and you can get full coverage here, including video of every session, interviews with key speakers, and blogs from our guest social media commentators.
You can also follow @TheSmithSchool for updates, reminders and highlights, and join the discussion using hashtag #SSWFEE.
This year’s theme is Valuing Ecosystem Services: From [...]
The Third Annual World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment has started (June 28th 2011) with the former Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King, calling on governments around the world to do more to protect the natural environment.
This year’s World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment (WFEE11) will focus on Valuing Ecosystem Services, and explore the key challenges [...]
The Third Annual World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment has started (June 28th 2011) with the former Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King, calling on governments around the world to do more to protect the natural environment.
This year’s World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment (WFEE11) will focus on Valuing Ecosystem Services, and explore [...]
The World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment 2011 (28th-30th June) will be addressed by over 50 respected leaders from business, government, NGOs and academia, including:
The Rt. Hon. Simon Upton, Director at OECD (left), will be speaking on “International/National Policy Commitments” within the context of “Building Blocks for Change”. He will be joined by Ms [...]
The Tech Tour Cleantech Summit, the leading biannual fundraising event for the European cleantech sector to be held in Geneva on July 6 and 7, will feature a keynote speech from Professor Sir David King.
Paul Clements Hunt, head of the UNEP Finance Unit, will also lead a panel discussion on European cleantech companies breaking into [...]
Rapid environmental change, resource depletion, climate change and population growth are all seen as negative byproducts of our desire for economic growth and prosperity. But have we often overlooked these forces of constraint as opportunities to innovate, grow and create sustainable competitive advantage?
This is the argument outlined in a new paper by the 2Degrees network [...]
Demand for oil will start to outstrip supply by the middle of the decade, and reserves have been exaggerated by at least 250 billion barrels, Dr Oliver Inderwildi told MPs and peers at the House of Commons last night (June 14th). Please see his presentation slides below.
Peak Oil Risk Presentation
Dr Inderwildi, Head of the Low [...]
Balliol College’s Senior Research Associate and SBS lecturer, Dr Ted Piepenbrock, recently came to the Smith School to talk on the evolution of business ecosystems.
Seminar Summary: How do human systems organise for sustainability? How do they balance growth and stability? We shed light on these important questions by investigating another set of classic questions in evolutionary economics, [...]
Professor of Economics, Sir David Hendry, gave a talk at the Smith School on ‘Climate Change: Lessons for our Future from the Distant Past’ in September 2011.
Sir David Hendry Seminar Slides
Seminar Summary: We consider information from many sciences bearing on the causes and consequences of climate change, focusing on lessons from past mass extinctions of life [...]
Former SSEE Research Assistant, Alex Teytelboym, gave a talk recently at the Smith School on his recent co-authored Chapter about Low Carbon Transition, in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Alex Teytelboym
Alex Teytelboym Presentation Slides
Seminar Summary: We argue that the problem climate change mitigation policy can be modelled by interaction of veto players (we present Russia [...]
As part of the World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment: Valuing Ecosystem Services, the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment is working with the Guardian in launching a display of photographs from readers that capture the greatest moments of nature and biodiversity.
The loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services is a worldwide problem that is [...]
The Times Eureka has published an article by Professor Sir David King ahead of the debate on 12 June at the tenth Cheltenham Science Festival.
Sir David argued that there has been a massive step change in both our understanding of climate change and the need to address the challenges we face as a result of [...]
Professor Sir David King was interviewed on Newsnight about the future of nuclear power in the UK following Germany’s decision to shut down nuclear power generation by 2022.
During the interview, Sir David spoke about the need to defossilise our energy sector and that energy efficiency measures alone would not bring about the reductions in CO2 [...]
Ref: LD-11-009
University of Oxford – Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment
Fixed term contract for 4 to 5 months, or by secondment or similar arrangement
Grade 6 (£25,854 – £30,870 p.a. pro-rata)
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford is looking to appoint a Research Assistant with immediate start to work [...]
Smith School Visiting Fellow, Professor Lavanya Rajamani, gave a special follow-up talk on the Cancun Climate Agreements, to that she did with Professor Dan Bodansky last July.
Lavanya Rajamani Seminar Slides
Seminar Summary: The Cancun Climate Agreements reached by states at COP-16, Cancun, 11 December 2010, launch, in the words of the Mexican hosts, ‘a new era of climate [...]
Who are you? My name is Lavanya Rajamani. I am a Professor in International Law at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.
Where have you joined the Smith School from? I have joined the Smith School from the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. The Centre for Policy Research is one of the leading [...]
Mr Peter Lawrence (Senior Lecturer, Law Faculty, University of Tasmania, Australia) recently came to SSEE to give a talk on Human Rights, Future Generations and Climate Change, with Research Fellow Dr Chuks Okereke acting as chair.
Peter Lawrence Seminar Slides
Seminar Summary: Climate change imperils the rights of future unborn generations particularly the poor. But how can such generations have [...]
Who are you? My name is Bob Hahn. I’m a Senior Fellow at the Georgetown Centre for Business and Public Policy.
Where have you joined the Smith School from? I co-founded the AEI-Brookings Joint Centre for Regulatory Studies, which I ran for a decade.
What is your area of research? Regulation, Innovation, Energy and Environment, Internet.
How did [...]
The “Concertation, Decision and Environment” research programme (CDE Programme) was launched in 1999, by the research department of the French Ministry of the Environment. Its aim is to address the stakes of the massive development of citizens’ participation in environmental decision-making, to analyse how (highly diverse) participation processes work. Like all Environmental Ministry funded research, [...]
Professor Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment was interviewed on The World This Weekend yesterday (10th April) on the economics of nuclear power. Sir David argued that in order to meet our challenging emissions targets, coupled with the need to invest heavily in energy infrastructure over the [...]
News Release
29 March 2011
NUCLEAR POWER INVESTMENT MUST NOT BE DELAYED AS REPORT HIGHLIGHTS MULTI BILLION POUND OPPORTUNITY FOR UK
The UK can realise a £10bn economic opportunity through adopting a new, holistic approach to nuclear energy that would tackle concerns over security of energy supply, rising oil prices and safety issues, a new report by [...]
NUCLEAR POWER INVESTMENT MUST NOT BE DELAYED AS REPORT HIGHLIGHTS MULTI BILLION POUND OPPORTUNITY FOR UK
The UK can realise a £10bn economic opportunity through adopting a new, holistic approach to nuclear energy that would tackle concerns over security of energy supply, rising oil prices and safety issues, a new report by the Smith School of [...]
Monday 16 May 2011
09:00-10:00: Registration and Welcome
10:00-11:00: Opening Guest Lecture
11:00-11:30: Coffee Break
11:30-12:30: Course 1
12:30-13:30: Lunch
13:30-14:30: Course 1
14:30-15:30: Course 3a
15:30-16:00: Tea Break
16:00-17:00: Activity 1
18:30-19:30: Dinner
Tuesday 17 May 2011
09:00-10:00: Course 1
10:00-11:00: Course 2
11:00-11:30: Coffee Break
11:30-12:30: Course 2
12:30-13:30: Lunch
13:30-14:30: Guest Lecture
14:30-15:30: Round Table
15:30-16:00: Tea Break
16:00-17:00: Activity 2
18:30-19:30: Dinner
Wednesday 18 May 2011
09:00-11:00: Course 2
11:00-11:30: Coffee Break
11:30-12:30: Course 2
12:30-13:30: Lunch
13:30-14:30: Guest Lecture
14:30-15:30: Round [...]
Who are you? Thomas L. Brewer, Acting Research Director, Climate Strategies
Where have you joined the Smith School from?
Climate Strategies, an international network of leading scholars on economic and policy issues concerning climate change.
What is your area of research?
International transfers of climate-friendly technologies – and more generally the political economy of US responses to climate change.
How [...]
Speaker: Dr Patrick McSharry, Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment
This course will give an introduction to time series analysis and forecasting. It will describe how to undertake an empirical study of a data set, focusing on the construction, selection and estimate of appropriate models. The models will include linear and nonlinear specifications and will [...]
Speakers: Milan Simic, John Alarcon, Shane Latchman, AIR Worldwide
Session 1 – Basics of Catastrophe modelling
The background of catastrophe modelling is introduced in this session. This includes a brief history of AIR as the first catastrophe modeller, how risk transfer is carried out through catastrophe bonds and through traditional insurance/re-insurance mechanisms, the role and use of [...]
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, today (23rd March) Professor Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has outlined the key lessons to be learned from the recent disaster in Japan.
Sir David highlighted three key issues to consider when managing natural physical hazards:
1. A mechanism by which scientific advice can be translated [...]
Global food prices hit an all time high in January 2011 and food systems are changing fast…the era of cheap and easy food is over. Appreciating this and the complex challenges and changes associated with the food sector in a more globally interconnected and environmentally aware world will benefit from learning with futures and seeking [...]
Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government, Sir John Beddington, highlighted the scientific challenges for the future including climate change, food and water security and energy provision for a growing global population. Sir John was speaking at the sixth annual Earthwatch Oxford lecture on 3 March at the Said Business School, University of Oxford.
Entitled The Big Science [...]
Map and directions for all Course venues
The Course itself will take place in the Seminar Room at:
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment
University of Oxford
Hayes House
75 George Street
Oxford
OX1 2BQ
Accommodation, breakfast and dinners (excluding the Banquet Dinner on Thursday 19 May 2011) will be at Rewley House:
University of Oxford
Department for Continuing Education
Rewley House
1 Wellington Square
Oxford
OX1 [...]
This course is for postgraduate students in core areas of mathematics.
Applications should be made using the registration form available on the Society’s website .
The closing date for applications is Friday 1 April 2011. Numbers will be limited and those interested are advised to make an early application. All applicants will be contacted approximately two weeks after [...]
John Alarcon
Research Associate, AIR Worldwide Ltd
Biography: Dr John E. Alarcon holds the position of Research Associate in AIR’s London office from where he leads research related matters in AIR London. He participates actively in different aspects within the development of the AIR earthquake and wind models for Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. Dr Alarcon has over eight years [...]
This section is part of the Climate Change Modelling & Catastrophe Risk Management Course, taking place from 16-20 May 2011.
Part A - Economic Modeling of Natural Disasters
Speaker: Leonardo Garrido, GEM
Summary: This part of the course (divided into 3 sessions) will summarize theoretical and empirical approaches used by mainstream and heterodox Economists and Social Scientists in general, to model social [...]
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED
This week long course is co-hosted by London Mathematical Society, EPSRC and the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
LMS-EPSRC Short Courses aim to provide training for postgraduate students in core areas of mathematics. Part of their success is the opportunity for students to meet other students working in related areas, as [...]
Smith School Associate Fellows, Roland Kupers and Diana Mangalagiu have been involved in a new report entitled ‘A New Growth Path for Europe: Creating New Prospects and Jobs in the Low Carbon Economy’. Roland talked about this report at the Smith School in March.
Roland Kupers Presentation
Seminar Summary: The ‘A New Growth Path for Europe’ report shows how a shift from 20 to 30% [...]
Reduced emissions mean green path of growth for Europe.
Increasing the EU’s 2020 greenhouse gas reduction target from 20% to 30% could help boost European investments from 18% to 22% of GDP, leading to a GDP increase of up to €620bn ($840bn) and the creation of up to 6 million additional jobs. These are the [...]
News Release
22 February 2011
REDUCED EMISSIONS MEAN GREEN PATH OF GROWTH FOR EUROPE
Increasing the EU’s 2020 greenhouse gas reduction target from 20% to 30% could help boost European investments from 18% to 22% of GDP, leading to a GDP increase of up to €620bn ($840bn) and the creation of up to 6 million additional jobs. [...]
Who are you? Jeremy Bentham
Where have you joined the Smith School from?
I’m from the international energy company, Royal Dutch Shell. My official title is Vice President Business Environment, although I’m probably better known as head of the Shell Scenario team. I guess the official title gives the impression that I’m responsible for the air-conditioning [...]
Michele de Nevers Presentation Slides
Summary: Many authors have written about the challenges facing climate finance: identifying new sources, raising large sums of money, transferring it efficiently and effectively and ensuring equitable and just decision-making processes. Despite these challenges, climate finance also brings opportunities to help achieve broader development objectives, such as catalyzing the transformation to low carbon and climate resilient [...]
National Climate and Low Carbon Development Strategy for Rwanda
Ref: LD-11-003
University of Oxford – Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment
Fixed term contract until 31 July 2011, or by secondment or similar arrangement
Grade 7 (£28,983-£38,951 p.a. pro-rata)
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford is looking to appoint a Research Assistant [...]
National Climate and Low Carbon Development Strategy for Rwanda
Ref: LD-11-002
University of Oxford – Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment
Fixed term contract until 31 July 2011, or by secondment or similar arrangement
Grade 7 (£28,983-£38,951 p.a. pro-rata)
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford is looking to appoint a Research Assistant [...]
National Climate and Low Carbon Development Strategy for Rwanda
Ref: LD-11-001
Fixed term until 29 July 2011, or by secondment or similar arrangement
Grade 7 (£28,983-£38,951 p.a. pro-rata)
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford is looking to appoint a Research Assistant with immediate start to work on a research project funded jointly [...]
Richard Sykes Presentation Slides
Seminar Summary: There is a lot of academic discussion around the subject of risk and resilience, but how is this applied, if at all, in practice? Richard Sykes, a partner at PwC who leads their focus on the wider governance , risk and compliance ( GRC) agenda, presented his perspective on how [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford has today announced that UBS is joining its Partnership Board. The global financial services company has made a three-year commitment to support the work of the Smith School as it develops solutions to address the major environmental challenges facing our planet. The partnership [...]
Who are you? Leo Johnson
Where have you joined the Smith School from? I come from Sustainable Finance, a business advisory on sustainability risks and opportunities, which I established and later sold to PricewaterhouseCoopers. I am now a Partner in their Sustainability and Climate Change team.
I have also spent 10 years working with the Environmental [...]
Dr Gero Michel presentation slides
Seminar Summary: The presentation concentrated on Catastrophe Risk and considered related opportunities for the insurance/reinsurance industry, discussing examples of emerging risks and related concerns and providing an overview of how PPP can help increasing resilience within our industry. The presentation walked the audience through strengths and weaknesses of the insurance market. It [...]
This seminar is part of the Risk and Resilience Seminar Series.
Professor Longstaff Presentation Slides
Seminar summary: Many observers have noted that we are entering a time of higher uncertainty, with fast and strong disruptions in many systems. This has been called the New Normal. This is affecting technical systems, biological systems, economic systems, and human organizations. This [...]
Seminar summary: Resilience is a buzzword often used, so far, however, the concept has been vague. This is a problem from an academic point of view. Without a clear definition of the concept of resilience, its analytical value as an independent or dependent variable is limited. In this talk Dr Matt Qvortrup (Academic Director at the [...]
Lord May of Oxford at the Smith School
Risk and Resilience Seminar Presentation Slides
Seminar summary: Given that natural selection acts on individual organisms in relation to their environmental setting, it is not surprising that we understand less about how evolutionary processes shape communities and ecosystems than about individual species. Darwin saw the evolution of cooperative behaviour in [...]
Speaker Biography: Professor Calestous Juma FRS, a national of Kenya, is an internally-recognized authority on the role of innovation in economic development. He is Professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project at Harvard Kennedy School. He is a former Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological [...]
An independent report on the Thames Estuary has been published by the Mayor of London’s Thames Estuary Steering Group, led by Professor Sir David King, Director of The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
The report has found that more research is needed to develop a long term plan for the Thames Estuary, which should encompass [...]
This seminar is part of the Risk and Resilience Seminar Series hosted at the Smith School in Hilary Term 2011.
Tom Downing Presentation Slides
Seminar summary: This presentation reported on the challenges at two levels where the Global Climate Adaptation Partnership has active engagements. At the regional and project level, the African Development Bank is implementing its [...]
General Meir Elran (Institute for National Security Studies(INSS), Tel Aviv University) hosted a seminar on ‘Societal resilience, in the context of counterterrorism’.
This seminar was the last of the Risk and Resilience Seminar Series hosted at the Smith School in Hilary Term 2011.
Enrique Penalosa Seminar Slides
Seminar Summary: Enrique Penalosa (the former Mayor of Bogotá and currently the President of the Board of ITDP, New York) gave a talk about how inequality produces urban design problems and how urban design can construct equality and inclusion. Underdevelopment has some advantages: one can learn from the mistakes and successes of more advanced societies. [...]
Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment Professor Sir David King, yesterday called on the government to explore new ways of dealing with bad winter weather. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s The Today Programme on Tuesday 21 December, Sir David said we needed to explore ways to alleviate extreme bad weather incidents and [...]
This seminar is part of the Risk and Resilience Seminar Series hosted at the Smith School in Hilary Term 2011.
Katrina Brown Presentation Slides
Seminar summary: Resilience seemingly offers a set of ideas by which sustainability can be understood in linked social ecological systems. It is currently being used in many different fora and policy proclamations and [...]
Who are you? Anne Augustine, Head of Sustainability & Citizenship, Edelman
Where have you joined the Smith School from? Edelman, which is the world’s largest independently owned PR and communications consultancy. I lead the Sustainability & Citizenship Practice – a small team of business, policy and communications specialists who help clients develop and communicate their sustainability [...]
Hilary Term 2011
Summary: This seminar series investigated how organisations are attempting to manage risk and search for resilience. While resilience is often cited as an objective by government and CEOs, there remains much confusion about what this actually means and how it can be put into practice. We explored the interface between catastrophic, emerging and systemic [...]
Who are you? Peter Lacy – Senior Executive Partner, Accenture
Where have you joined the Smith School from? Accenture, where I lead the Sustainability Services business in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Latin America, and am a member of Accenture’s Global Markets and Strategy Practice leadership teams.
What is your area of research? Sustainability as it relates [...]
The President of Rwanda Paul Kagame has, on behalf of the Government, requested the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment to conduct an in-depth analysis for a national strategy to develop low carbon economic growth over the coming decades and to manage adaptation against the impacts of climate change. The country, which manages to achieve a [...]
The annual CBI Climate Change Summit saw speeches given by Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change; Richard Lambert, Director General of the CBI; and an address by Connie Hedegaaed, European Commissioner for Climate Action. Professor Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment also went [...]
The Environmental Law Discussion Group is a forum for bringing together faculty and students from the law school as well as from other departments University-wide. The Group met four times in Hilary Term 2011, to seek to provoke thought and debate on important issues in the area of environmental law and policy. This was the [...]
The Environmental Law Discussion Group is a forum for bringing together faculty and students from the law school as well as from other departments University-wide. The Group will meet four times in Hilary Term 2011, and seeks to provoke thought and debate on important issues in the area of environmental law and policy.
Harro van Asselt
Harro [...]
The Environmental Law Discussion Group is a forum for bringing together faculty and students from the law school as well as from other departments University-wide. This seminar was the second in a series of four.
We suggest reading the following as the discussion at the seminar was based on its content:
Carbon Capture and Storage – An Environmental [...]
The Environmental Law Discussion Group is a forum for bringing together faculty and students from the law school as well as from other departments University-wide. The Group will meet four times in Hilary Term 2011, and seeks to provoke thought and debate on important issues in the area of environmental law and policy.
Speaker: Anthony Crean [...]
The Environmental Law Discussion Group is a forum for bringing together faculty and students from the law school as well as from other departments University-wide. The Group met four times in Hilary Term 2011, to seek to provoke thought and debate on important issues in the area of environmental law and policy.
This year, the speakers [...]
Who are you? Andrew (Andy) Hoffman, Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, University of Michigan.
Where have you joined the Smith School from? I am on sabbatical from the University of Michigan, where I hold a dual appointment in both the Ross School of Business and the School of Natural Resources & Environment.
What is your area [...]
Nature has published an article, by Professor Sir David King, which examined the recent government spending review and questions whether Britain can still face the challenges from its international competitors or those by climate change.
He said that whilst the research budget had actually got off relatively lightly with a reduction of 10–12% (departments saw an [...]
The Daily Telegraph (Saturday, October 23, 2010) featured an article by Professor Sir David King, Director of the Smith School, on our need to act immediately and not put off the decisions on the future of our energy infrastructure.
He was published inside in the Daily Telegraph’s Age of Energy series, which has been investigating the [...]
The Times has published an article following an interview with Professor Sir David King, who said the coalition government’s claims are ‘empty rhetoric’ over its promise to be the greenest government ever.
During the interview he said that he felt the Government’s decision to scrap the Sustainable Development Commission was wrong and that scepticism was increasing [...]
Australia’s national radio broadcaster, ABC Radio, interviewed Professor Sir David King on the aims and ambitions of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
Geraldine Doogue, ABC’s long standing presenter on the Saturday Extra business and politics programme, spoke with Sir David on how to find ways of cutting fossil fuel use without impeding economic [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment recently hosted a seminar taken by Mr Anthony Goldbloom (CEO, Kaggle) on Data Modelling Competitions.
Data Modelling Competitions Slides
Summary: Data modelling competitions allow researchers and companies to post their problem and have it scrutinised by the world’s data scientists. Since the solution to many of today’s pressing problems rely on data-driven [...]
Tuesday 26th October 2010; 16:00-17:00
The Smith School recently hosted a seminar by Dr Joerg Friedrichs (Department of International Development and Fellow of St Cross College, University of Oxford) on the theme Peak Oil – What if? Social and Political Consequences of Disruptive Energy Scarcity.
Joerg Friedrichs Seminar Slides
Summary: Peak oil theorists predict an impending terminal decline [...]
News Release
22nd September 2010
Defossilise electricity before rolling out electric vehicles
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has today, 22nd September published a report stating that we need to defossilise our electricity sources if electric vehicles (EV) are to become a key part of emissions reduction.
Indirect Emissions from Electric Vehicles: Emissions from Electricity Generation [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has today, 22nd September published a report stating that we need to defossilise our electricity sources if electric vehicles (EV) are to become a key part of emissions reduction.
Indirect Emissions from Electric Vehicles: Emissions from Electricity Generation published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science concludes that the [...]
The Smith School hosted a seminar on Power and Love: A Theory and Practice of Social Change, taken by Mr Adam Kahane (Partner, Reos Partners).
Summary: The two methods most frequently employed to solve our toughest social problems—relying on violence and aggression, or submitting to endless negotiation and compromise—are fundamentally flawed. This is because the seemingly [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and Environmental Change Institute (ECI) is co-hosting a series of four seminars during the Michaelmas Term 2010 on the theme of Incongruence: Climate change and business’ challenge – an in-depth look. This was the first of the series.
Incongruence Seminar 1 Slides
For those who missed the first seminar, a video [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and Environmental Change Institute (ECI) is co-hosting a series of four seminars during the Michaelmas Term 2010 on the theme of Incongruence: Climate change and business’ challenge – an in-depth look. This was the second in the series.
For those who missed this seminar, please see above for the slides and [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and Environmental Change Institute (ECI) is co-hosting a series of four seminars during the Michaelmas Term 2010 on the theme of Incongruence: Climate change and business’ challenge – an in-depth look. This is the third in the series.
Incongruence Seminar 3 Slides
For those who missed this seminar, please see above [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and Environmental Change Institute (ECI) co-hosted a series of four seminars during the Michaelmas Term 2010 on the theme of Incongruence: Climate change and business’ challenge – an in-depth look. This is the last in the series.
Incongruence Seminar 4 Slides
For those who missed this seminar, please view the video [...]
The World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment could grow to have the same significance within the green business community as the World Forum in Davos has amongst world leaders and economists, says Peter McManners writing in Sustainable Business.
McManners, a visiting executive fellow of Henley Business School of Reading, commented on the World Forum event [...]
Sir David King, Director of the Smith School, and Lord Lawson of Blaby who are to take part in their first live and public debate on climate change at the CBI Climate Change Summit on 17th November, were interviewed by the Guardian.
In the interview, the Guardian noted that Sir David King, who is recognised as [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and Environmental Change Institute (ECI) co-hosted a series of four seminars during the Michaelmas Term 2010 on the theme of Incongruence: Climate change and business’ challenge – an in-depth look.
The Incongruence seminars were presented by Dr Mick Blowfield, senior research fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and [...]
The recent articles from New Civil Engineer on the Smith School’s research about lighter-than-air craft have been stimulating debate in the letters to the editor.
Lighter-than-air craft publication
One reader wrote of his experiences in the 1970’s with “Skyship”, a 10m diameter lenticular shape prototype airship, designed and flown by the author in Cardington.
A key feature of [...]
The Smith School’s report into conventional oil reserves has been in the media again.
The Head of the Smith School’s Low Carbon Mobility Centre, Dr Oliver Inderwildi, was interviewed by Jim Puplava of Financial Sense Newshour, a US radio news programme on The Status of Conventional Oil Reserves – Hype or Cause for Concern?
Dr [...]
The Smith School is once again featured in the journal Nature.
Research Fellow Dr Bettina Wittneben has published a correspondence piece with Prof. Gail Whiteman of the Rotterdam School of Management, NL and Dr Michael Dorsey of Dartmouth College, US.
Dr Wittneben and her colleagues responded to the commentary written by Ricardo Bayon and Michael Jenkins on [...]
The Smith School’s research on lighter-than-air craft has featured in New Civil Engineer, in a report on the potential use of commercial airships in place of traditional aircraft.
Dr Christian Carey, who is based at the Smith School’s Low Carbon Mobility centre, was interviewed by the publication earlier this year on his research.
Sir David King, at [...]
Radio 5 Live’s Sunday morning programme invited Sir David King to be interviewed by Kate Silverton.
During the programme, he was asked about his life living in South Africa before he came to the UK, his time in Government before joining the Smith School, and his opinions on and the challenges we face with climate change.
To [...]
15th and 16th July 2010
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and Taiwo Adewole and Associates, Nigeria co-hosted a Waste Management event in Oxford this July.
The event took the form of a two day workshop-style conference plus site visit.
Studies in urban public services have consistently identified solid waste management (SWM) as one of the major problems [...]
Telegraph – Revolutionary T.25 City Car unveiled
The Telegraph reported that the launch of Gordon Murray Design’s T.25, at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, was said to represent a breakthrough in terms of weight, safety, usability and efficiency with a footprint smaller than that of the Smart fortwo or Toyota IQ [...]
New Civil Engineer – Urging a global action deal
Reporting from the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, New Civil Engineer covered the first day of the event and the speeches by world leading experts on low carbon economies urging governments across the globe to adopt a joined up approach to tackling climate [...]
CNN – Former F1 engineer unveils new city car
The T.25’s first public viewing at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment was covered by CNN who commented that the former F1 designer, Gordon Murray’s latest design isn’t likely to trouble too many speed cameras, but it shouldn’t worry environmentalists either.
Murray added that [...]
Gordon Murray Design launches new T.25 car in Oxford
Following the launch of Gordon Murray Design’s revolutionary T.25 city car at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, BBC Oxford interviewed Sir David King on its significance of being the first vehicle designed, cradle to grave, to be as low carbon as possible.
The [...]
The Guardian – Airships could replace cargo planes and cut emissions
Sir David King was interviewed by the Guardian at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, following his speech on lighter-than-air-craft. He was asked how airships could replace some conventional aircraft – with claims that they could cut carbon emissions by 90% [...]
During the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, Newsnight covered the discussions and interviewed Sir David King, James Cameron and Professor Gordon Murray about how we can make the transition to a low carbon economy.
Wednesday 14th July 2010
Professor Dan Bodansky and Professor Lavanya Rajamani delivered insightful presentations that stimualted much discussion amongst attendees ‘post Copenhagen and looking ahead to Cancun’.
Professor Dan Bodansky (Lincoln Professor of Law, Ethics and Sustainability, Arizona State University)
“The Road from Copenhagen”
Summary: Professor Bodansky’s talk explored the Copenhagen negotiating process, in particular why it was so [...]
The first day of the World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment saw President Mikhail Gorbachev, Founding President of Green Cross International, address delegates in the opening session on The Climate Challenge. President Gorbachev was joined by European Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potočnik and US Secretary of State for Energy Dr Steven Chu during [...]
RACING TOWARDS A LOW CARBON ECONOMY: A NEW BRITISH ICON IS LAUNCHED AT WORLD FORUM
News release
28th June 2010
The World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment has held the global launch of Gordon Murray Design’s T.25 car. The T.25 is a radical and innovative approach to car design and manufacturing weighing less than 600kg and with [...]
On the second day of the World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, Sir David King, Founding Director of the Smith School has set out what action is now needed to de-fossilise our economies. The article, which appears in today’s Times also highlights the practical measures we need to make to our energy infrastructure.
To view [...]
The World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment starts today (27th June), and will see President Mikhail Gorbachev, Founding President of Green Cross International, address delegates in the opening session on The Climate Challenge. President Gorbachev will be joined by European Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potočnik and US Secretary of State for Energy Dr Steven [...]
GORBACHEV AND KING URGE NEW STRATEGY FOR DEALING
WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
News release
27th June 2010
The Second Annual World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, which is being attended by former President Mikhail Gorbachev, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu and European Commissioner Janez Potočnik, has called on Governments to put together their own coherent strategies to [...]
Ahead of the World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment which starts this Sunday (27th June) and with the COP16 talks in Cancun a little under five months away, Sir David King has outlined why there is optimism for agreeing a new climate agreement as we move towards Rio in 2012.
In the article published in [...]
Following the Smith School World Forum press briefing last week where Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, called on governments to recognise that they need to develop alternative solutions to reduce our continued dependence on oil, he had an article published on Sunday 13 June in the Observer.
In [...]
Governments have their heads in the sand when it comes to oil says Sir David King
News Article
9th June 2010
Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has today called on governments to recognise that they need to develop alternative solutions to reduce our continued dependence on oil reserves and create [...]
Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, has today called on governments to recognise that they need to develop alternative solutions to reduce our continued dependence on oil reserves and create a clear pathway towards a de-fossilised economy. Sir David, speaking at a press conference ahead of the Smith [...]
Dr Chris Carey, based at the Smith School’s Low Carbon Mobility centre, was recently interviewed by New Civil Engineer magazine on his research into the potential use of commercial airships in place of traditional aircraft.
Citing Dr Carey’s work, the article reported that airships have the ability to take off from small [...]
Greater improvements in fuel efficiency using conventional aircraft design is not possible, say researchers from the Smith School’s Low Carbon Mobility centre.
Following the oil price increases of the last decade and the emerging importance and concern over environmental impacts, we are again looking at the design of aircraft; the layout of which has not changed [...]
Dr Oliver Inderwildi, lead author of the Smith School’s Future of Mobility Roadmap, was recently interviewed by Euronews, the pan-European news channel.
The Roadmap assesses the potential for low-carbon transport on land, by air, and by sea and calls for large, inefficient vehicles to be taxed and the proceeds used to improve public transport and encourage [...]
Wednesday 12th May (16.00 – 17.00) Seminar Ended
David Banister (Director of the Transport Studies Unit, OUCE)
Seminar Slides
Report by Doctor Christian Carey (SSEE)
Professor David Banisters talk was split into two parts. The first part presented the current drivers behind transport planning: transport as a derived demand; and minimising generalised costs of travel. Professor Banister argued that [...]
Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, spoke at the launch of the Aldersgate Group report on Accelerating the Transition on 29th April. In the speech, Sir David set out a long-term programme for decarbonising the economy and the challenges we face and why the UK science base has [...]
Tuesday 11 May 2010 (14.30-15.45)
Johan Eliasch Presentation
Johan Eliasch, the author of Climate Change: Financing Global Forests (an independent report commissioned by the UK government) visits the University of Oxford to present a seminar on this vitally important issue. Johan’s seminar assesses the impact of global forest loss on climate change and explores the future role of forests in the international [...]
Thursday 3rd June (16.00 – 17.00)
Tim Johnson (Director, Aviation Environmental Federation)
Will there be room for Aviation Presentation
Summary: With demand for aviation set to grow significantly over the coming decades, does the associated growth in emissions challenge our ability to achieve a low carbon future? A recent report by the Committee on Climate Change suggests that, taking into [...]
Tuesday 1st June (16.00 – 17.00)
Professor Andrew McNaughton (Chief Engineer, High Speed Rail 2 Limited)
High Capacity and High Speed Travel Seminar
Summary: High Speed Rail has been developed successfully in Europe and Asia to enable a step change in passenger journey times and reliability over conventional rail and provide a genuine alternative to short haul air and [...]
Tuesday 25th May (16.00 – 17.00)
Mark Swan (Director Airspace Policy, Civil Aviation Authority)
Summary: This seminar will start by questioning two of the underlying principles of conventional transport planning on travel as a derived demand and on travel cost minimisation. It suggests that the existing paradigm ought to be more flexible, particularly if the sustainable mobility agenda [...]
Low Carbon Mobility Seminar Series Poster
Research shows that meeting future mobility demands rests on the rapid and immediate diversification of transport energy sources and transport technologies.
Explore the solutions:
Thursday 3rd June 2010
“Will there be room for aviation in a low carbon future?”
Tim Johnson, Director, Aviation Environmental Federation
The seminar will look at the past and future growth [...]
Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment appoints world leading futures expert
News Release
22nd April 2010
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has today (Thursday 22nd April) announced the appointment of Dr Angela Wilkinson as the new Programme Director of the Futures Directorate.
Dr Wilkinson, who was previously Director of Scenario Planning and Futures Research at the Institute [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has today (Thursday 22nd April) announced the appointment of Dr Angela Wilkinson as the new Programme Director of the Futures Directorate.
Dr Wilkinson, who was previously Director of Scenario Planning and Futures Research at the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society (InSIS) at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, will take up [...]
Monday 10 May 2010 (17:00-18:00) seminar ended
Leonardo Garrido (Coordinator for Modeling Social and Economic impacts of Earthquakes)
Summary: Attempts to measure social and economic impacts of adverse natural events have yielded disappointing results to researchers and policy makers. Modeling approaches based on mainstream economic theories have failed to consider the complex interactions that exist among physical and geographic characteristics, structural [...]
A report by the Smith School was amongst the top ten accessed articles from the online version of the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Energy & Environmental Science.
In February, ‘Biofuels and synthetic fuels in the US and China: A review of Well-to-Wheel energy use and greenhouse gas emissions with the impact [...]
Nowadays, I can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the task we face to address climate change. But it takes being in the company of real experts to actually crush all hope in me.
That nearly happened on the occasion of attending the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment’s half day conference on Business and [...]
Wednesday 7th April 2010 (16:00-17:00)
Eric Beinhocker, Executive Director of the Global Green Growth Institute, a Senior Fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute, and the author of The Origin of Wealth
‘Complexity Economics and Climate Change’ Slides
Summary: Even prior to the financial crisis, orthodox economic theory based on neoclassical principles was increasingly being called into question. Mounting [...]
Monday 26 April 2010 (16:00-17:00)
Rosemary De Vos (European Representative of the International SeaKeepers Society, Fort Lauderdale, and an Associate of J. Ottman Consulting, New York)
Summary: Ensuring that future generations have the opportunity to benefit from bio-diverse, vital oceans needs global attention now. An opportunity exists to begin bridging the gap between diverse constituencies, who are [...]
World oil reserves at tipping point warns Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment
News Release
23rd March 2010
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has today (23rd March 2010) published a paper stating that capacity to meet projected future oil demand is at a tipping point and that we need to accelerate the development [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has today (23rd March 2010) published a paper stating that capacity to meet projected future oil demand is at a tipping point and that we need to accelerate the development of alternative energy fuel resources in order to ensure energy security and reduce emissions.
The Status of Conventional [...]
25 March
EVENT ENDED Business and Climate Change Conference
The Smith School co-hosted a half-day conference with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Middlesex University, and the University of East Anglia. The conference discussed the question: ’What business is doing about climate change?’
Speakers at the conference included Will Day (Chair, Sustainable Development Commission); Wanda Kim (Managing Director, Head of Environmental [...]
16 March,
Speakers Dr. Roland Mohr, Managing Director of Infraserv Hoechst and Prof. Hannes Utikal, Provadis School of International Management and Technology analysed the impact of climate policy on strategy development at a large chemical and pharmaceutical business park.
External pressures have a significant impact on the formation of climate strategies and are having to be taken into account [...]
The Smith School and Oxford Law co hosted the Environment Law Discussion Group seminar series. A forum for students and the wider audience to listen to presentations and debate important issues in the area of environmental law and policy.
Convenor Eloise Scotford writes:
“The end of Hilary term saw the end of the Environmental Law Discussion Group seminar series – [...]
Oxfordshire business leaders, key environmental academics and high level Government representatives came together on 3rd March 2010 for a ½ day presentation and workshop co-hosted by Oxfordshire County Council and the Smith School to discuss “Developing the clean tech economy in Oxfordshire: a low carbon future for a world-class economy”.
Featured speakers included Professor Sir David [...]
Airships could replace aircraft on cargo flights to cut costs and emissions, quicken the delivery of aid and ease demand for airport expansion, Smith School researchers say.
Modern airships can carry far more than planes, take off from most surfaces including water, and use less fuel than other forms of transport.
They could also operate from close [...]
4 March 2010, 5.30-6.30pm
Professor Pasquale Gagliardi, Secretary-General, Giorgio Cini Foundation, Professor of Sociology of Organization at the Faculty of Political Sciences, Catholic University, Milan.
In his lecture Professor Pasquale analysed the relationship between thinking and experience in the production of knowledge. He then went on to hypothsise the distinctive traits of an ‘empowering theory’. More information
E P Abraham [...]
Oxford companies are being invited to a major summit on making businesses more sustainable.
The half-day event on March 3 will highlight the opportunities that climate change is creating for companies, notably low carbon developments in transport and energy.
Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and Oxfordshire County Council are co-hosting the conference, being held [...]
Providing more than $8 billion in loan guarantees to build the first American nuclear power plant in three decades is one way to jumpstart the industry, but this sort of indirect subsidy leaves a lot to be desired from an economist’s point of view.
Indeed, while we’re ready to be convinced that nuclear power’s virtues (zero [...]
Eloise Scotford is a Career Development Fellow in Environmental Law in the Oxford Law Faculty and an Associate of the Smith School. eloise.scotford [at] law.ox.ac.uk
Environmental lawyers are often asked: ‘What is environmental law?’ or ‘What do environmental lawyers do?’. These questions are even asked by lawyers, and reflect the relative youth of the subject, as well [...]
The quickest way of cutting aviation emissions is to improve air traffic control, the Smith School’s Dr Chris Carey tells BBC Oxford.
Chris Carey on BBC Radio Oxford
The quickest way of cutting aviation emissions is to improve air traffic control, a Smith School study has found.
Biofuels could reduce pollution and better technology boost efficiency but neither will have the global impact that improved flight management could achieve, the new report says.
“If you reduced the time aircraft spent waiting to land and taxi, allowed planes [...]
Making connections through art on how we live and relate to a fragile planet. Looking at art/science collaborations and work made in the deserts of Antarctica and Nevada.
Chris Drury, Land Artist
Tuesday January 19, 5-6pm
Seminar Room, SSEE, Hayes House, 75 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
Chris Drury seminar
Progress in tackling climate change may be easier than December’s Copenhagen talks suggested. Dr Cameron Hepburn believes persuading large pension and investment funds to put their money into clean technology and other measures to cut emissions is the way forward.
“It wasn’t surprising that the Copenhagen talks didn’t deliver the outcomes hoped for, because expectations were too [...]
Climate Change: Business & Society Special Issue: 1 March, 2010
This special issue of Business & Society will examine the implications of climate change for business, the response of corporations to climate change, and how both have changed relationships between companies, policy makers and wider society.
It will draw together insights from strategic management, international business, organisation [...]
Professor Bernard Silverman has been made Chief Scientific Adviser to the Home Office.
He will be resonsible for providing scientific advice to ministers and senior officials, helping shape Home Office policy in areas ranging from immigration to policing and terrorism.
His interview panel included Professor John Beddington, the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, and Professor David Normington, Permanent Secretary at the Home Office. Professor [...]
Bernard Silverman plans to put his skills and experience to public use
Professor Bernard Silverman’s job as Chief Scientific Advisor to the Home Office will “open up a whole new area of activity for me,” he says.
“I’ll be adding public policy work to my scientific background and that will be a very interesting combination,” he adds.
Professor [...]
15 January 2009
The best way of cutting emissions from road transport is to reduce the size and weight of conventional cars, a major Smith School report says.
The School’s Future of Mobility Roadmap, which assesses the potential for low-carbon transport on land, by air and sea, calls for large, inefficient vehicles to be taxed and the [...]
Biofuels will only cut transport emissions if crops are selected carefully and changes to land minimised, a study shows.
The review, by Smith School scientists, has found that corn-based ethanol, the most widely used biofuel, often increases emissions compared to fossil fuels largely because of land-use changes.
Ethanol produced from sugarcane, or the woody shrub cassava, and biodiesel [...]
Weather forecasts would be more useful if they indicated the likelihood of bad weather.
People would be better prepared for variations in the weather if forecasters highlighted the chance of snow or heavy rain, Dr Patrick McSharry, head of the world’s first catastrophe risk centre, told BBC Newsnight yesterday.
The Centre for Catastrophe Risk Financing, established by the Smith School [...]
We could be better prepared if forecasts detailed the chances of bad weather, says Dr Patrick McSharry.
Celebration or sorrow? In one major way, the Copenhagen Accord was a big success, writes the Smith School’s Dan Bodansky in his final blog following the end of the climate talks
Although most countries endorsed the Copenhagen Accord, few left Copenhagen in a positive mood. The general lack of enthusiasm about the outcome was exacerbated by the procedural wrangling on the final [...]
The Copenhagen Accord – Final Nail in the Coffin or a New Beginning for Climate Policy?
Commentary by Bettina Wittneben.
The Copenhagen Accord is a beautifully written document and full of good intentions. I encourage everyone to read it. It can be found on the UNFCCC website, is quite short and touches on many of the contentious issues in [...]
There has been significant resistance to the development of solar energy technology in India, despite its huge potential, a new paper by Smith School Associate Professor Barbara Harriss-White and colleagues says.
While there is land, water and materials aplenty for solar development in India, and while a technology system of institutions for research, development and dissemination was [...]
In her third blog from Copenhagen climate talks, Dr Bettina Wittneben analyses President Obama’s Copenhagen speech
I have to admit, seeing President Barack Obama finally walk up to the podium at the Copenhagen climate talks yesterday did make my heart beat just a little bit faster.
After so much hype about his arrival – the potential visit in the first [...]
The opening of climate talks last week coincided with the announcement that a major pension fund is investing more than £875,000,000 (€1bn) in low-carbon infrastructure, the Smith School’s Dr Cameron Hepburn says.
Investments like this, by the Danish fund ATP, are crucial if we are to stabilise, then cut, greenhouse gas emissions, Dr Hepburn tells the Australian broadcaster ABC. It [...]
Dr Bettina Wittneben’s second blog on the Copenhagen climate talks
Bob Dylan’s 1963 classic about floods and rising oceans is taking on new meaning in Copenhagen. The song has become a bit of a theme song for climate action. For the first time in its seventeen-year history, the United Nations climate summit is being bombarded with massive [...]
Are we savvy enough to better manage the planet’s resources, Sir David King asked an audience of leading scientists in a speech this month.
Speaking to The American Association for the Advancement of Science, he warned that the projected population increase to nine billion by 2050 would put unprecedented strains on food, water and energy supplies.
The biggest challenge [...]
The Smith School’s Dr Bettina Wittneben is among thousands denied access to the final days of climate talks in Copenhagen
The United Nations Climate Secretariat has acted on its threat – access to the Copenhagen climate summit will be restricted starting today. Observer organisations, such as my own, the University of Oxford, will be restricted in terms of [...]
London Mayor Boris Johnson wants to build a new airport in the Thames Estuary, to ease the strain on Heathrow.
Noise would be less of a problem than it currently is at Heathrow, public transport would be better and there would be no need to force people from their homes.
However, such an airport would cost a [...]
Mandating fossil fuel producers to sequester (bury) a steadily increasing fraction of the carbon they extract would be a simple, effective, and fair way of sharing out the pain of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a leading group of climate researchers.
The concept, called SAFE (Sequestered Adequate Fraction of Extracted) carbon, is put forward by [...]
The Smith School’s Dr Bettina Wittneben will present recently published research on the best ways of cutting emissions at the Copenhagen climate talks next month.
Her study, published in the journal Energy Policy, suggests that cap-and-trade schemes, such as the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), may be more costly and less effective in cutting global emissions than an [...]
The benefits of forests such as carbon storage, reduced flooding and soil erosion, and the provision of food and jobs should be protected in a new climate change treaty, researchers say.
Safeguards for these ecosystem services, which would be part of an agreement to pay countries to protect their forests, would also guarantee the rights of [...]
Smith School scientists have won funding to study the links between the climate change strategies of energy-intensive companies and the environmental policies of the countries in which they operate.
They will compare best practices in UK, US, German and Australian businesses and study the relationships between those practices and national policies.
The Australian Research Council has agreed to [...]
Delays now in cutting emissions mean “taking a huge gamble with civilisation,” researchers say in a letter published this week in Nature Reports.
Politicians are wrongly using scientific uncertainty to avoid taking action to tackle climate change and their reliance on economic measures to bring about emissions cuts has failed, Dr Mark Charlesworth of Keele University and the [...]
It’s a no brainer. Given the choice between sleeping snug inside a tent at -15 on Antarctic ice and doing without any sort of canvas protection at all, we all know what we would do.
Or do we? Smith School Research Assistant Aaron Holdway will soon face that decision and the chances are he will go [...]
Copenhagen too big to fail
Dan Bodansky blogs from the Barcelona climate change talks
Yesterday, the chair of the climate change negotiations in Barcelona and the executive secretary of the UN climate change secretariat both confirmed what had been obvious to most knowledgeable observers for some time: theCopenhagen Conference next month will be unable to adopt a new climate [...]
Small solutions will be key to tackling climate change, Sir David King says ahead of his role as a judge on TV channel CNBC’s Good Entrepreneur competition this month.
He believes two factors will determine which of three young entrepreneurs – Craig White, Mathew Holloway and Marco Cremona – win the event.
Sir David is one of five judges assessing [...]
Small solutions will be key to tackling climate change, Sir David King says ahead of his role as a judge on TV channel CNBC’s Good Entrepreneur competition. The best entrepreneur CNBC TV
The Economics and Politics of Climate Change, edited by Smith School Fellow Dr Cameron Hepburn and Professor Dieter Helm, Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Oxford, has been published by Oxford University Press.
It takes a cool-headed look at the obstacles hampering agreement on climate change, examing the underlying economics and incentives faced by stakeholders and the [...]
Professor Sir David King has been awarded one of the highest decorations in France.
He has been made an Officer of the Order of the French Legion and received his medal last night at a special reception at the French Ambassor’s Residence in London.
The Ambassador, Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, invited Sir David to accept the award on the instruction of President Sarkozy.
Sir David [...]
Being less bad is no good according to Hugo Spowers, the founder of Riversimple and designer of a prototype low-carbon car being built to run on hydrogen from natural gas.
At a Smith School seminar last night, Spowers stressed that the idea behind the car was not simply to reduce emissions but to eliminate them altogether.
“We are [...]
Powerful agencies that felt threatened by the need to switch to low-carbon, paid people to publicly doubt Sir David King’s authority to speak on climate change.
Sir David reveals, on a leading Australian radio programme, how he turned the tables on those questioners by exposing their backers which included Exxon Mobil and the US Enterprise Institute.
Robyn Williams, presenter of The Science [...]
Climate change is the war, President Nasheed of the Maldives says while Sir David King fears any agreement in Copenhagen could lack teeth. He adds that nations agreeing bi and trilateral agreements would be preferable to non-compliance with an over-ambitious new treaty. The President, Sir David and others were interviewed at the Smith School World [...]
Policymakers are relying too heavily on predictions of the impacts of climate change, and claiming they need more research to delay making decisions and taking action.
Research by Dr Mark Charlesworth of Keele University and Dr Chuks Okereke of the Smith School also warns that decisionmakers are assuming impacts will take effect gradually without sufficient evidence.
Dr Charlesworth and [...]
We are consuming too much too quickly, Sir David says in a speech to the Science Council. Listen here while following Sir David’s presentation.
Sir David King reveals how he exposed the powerful agencies behind unsettling questions, in a special programme on the Smith School broadcast by ABC Radio in Australia. The School has an international team explaining how we cope with climate change, sustainability and other challenges. Presenter Robyn Williams, interviews Sir David and four of the School’s [...]
India should agree to a new climate treaty despite richer countries’ responsibility for rising emissions, a new study says.
It is in India’s interests to help reach a new settlement if it is fair and rich countries agree to significant emissions cuts of their own, Dr Vijay Joshi and Dr Urjit Patel say in research published [...]
The next generation is teaching us to care about our planet, Smith School benefactor Martin Smith believes.
It was his children, Katie, and especially Jeremy, who persuaded him that the School, which launched exactly one year ago, was the big philanthropic project the Smith family had been seeking.
Martin and his wife Elise had already made significant [...]
Smith School Director Sir David King will tonight call for a 21st century Renaissance in our approach to consumerism. Giving the Science Council’s second Gareth Roberts Science Policy Lecture, he will explore the role of science and scientists in seeking solutions to climate change and other challenges of this century.
Sir David will warn that we have been [...]
Disaster_Guardian_Oct_09
Guardian, 13 October 2009
Smith School Director Sir David King is one of ten leading scientists today calling for the prestigious Nobel prizes to be reformed.
The group has written an open letter to the Nobel Foundation proposing changes to align the awards more closely with modern science and reflect new scientific challenges such as climate change.
The experts were asked to debate the [...]
The trillions of dollars being invested in finding new energy reserves should be redirected at developing low-carbon energy sources, Sir David King told BBC Radio’s Any Questions. Governments should regulate to bring that about while businesses should recognise the opportunities of low-carbon economies. We knew what to do about climate change. We should get on [...]
The Smith School is joining forces with global insurance broker Willis Re to study the risks linked with large-scale disasters, including droughts and floods caused by climate change.
The Willis Research Network (WRN) is to fund the first Centre of Catastrophe Risk Financing, to be based at the Smith School in central Oxford.
How society shares the costs [...]
Europe is failing its own climate change rhetoric, a leading academic says in the first discussion paper on global environmental problems published by Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
The “plethora of initiatives, directives and interventions has not been matched with outcomes,” while the EU’s 2020 emissions reduction target is unsound and ignores the increasing [...]
Calls from scientists for investment in geoengineering research could divert attention from the need to better fund low-carbon developments, Smith School Director, Sir David King has warned.
He was responding to yesterday’s Royal Society report recommending £100m be spent researching methods of harvesting emissions from the air using artificial trees, or reflecting the sun’s heat with huge mirrors [...]
One of the most effective ways of cutting emissions from aircraft is to improve the efficiency of their means of propulsion – their turbines.
And one of the best ways of doing that is to reduce the amount of gas leaking from the turbines, Smith School researchers say in a new study.
Wear and tear makes turbines less [...]
A new approach to Arctic research has begun, spearheaded by the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
Experts from Norway, Australia, the US and UK are among members of a research group brought together by the School’s Dr Tavis Potts to investigate the impacts of climate change on the Arctic.
While glacial melting and warming of [...]
Importing food could be green
Independent, 15 August 2009
While asking many of the right questions, the Government should not focus new food policies solely on production at home.
The quest to reduce the risk of disasters and increase hospital safety is timely.
Food security and population
Telegraph, 13 August 2009
The UK government today launched its first food security assessment because of concerns about the effects on food supplies in the face of climate change, pressures on land and our rising population.
The outcome of the consultation could mean the end of the cheap food era, with consumers paying more for better quality food produced using [...]
Cutting emissions can save money and improve a company’s reputation, a study shows.
Reducing emissions is also an opportunity to innovate and a duty to the wider community, Dr Bettina Wittneben of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and Dagmar Kiyar of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy say.
Their research, published in a special issue [...]
Rwanda’s progress
Guardian, 25 July 2009
At a conference hosted by the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment this month, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame told of his country’s determination to stimulate economic growth and tackle climate change.
Rwanda, one of the world’s poorest countries, has applied for Commonwealth membership. According to the Guardian, a human rights group says restrictive legislation, and Rwanda’s human rights record, suggest that acceptance by the Commonwealth would be “ill-advised”.
Smith School Director, Sir David King, has written to the Guardian calling on Commonwealth nations to welcome Rwanda as a new member, [...]
The UK government’s approach to cutting emissions is “patchy” at best, Smith School Director, Sir David King told MPs today.
He said the Treasury in particular was inflexible and unwilling to accept scientific advice on action to tackle climate change.
His statement came just a day before the publication of the government’s energy white paper and strategy [...]
The UK government’s approach to cutting emissions is “patchy” at best, Smith School Director, Sir David King told MPs today.
He said the Treasury in particular was inflexible and unwilling to accept scientific advice on action to tackle climate change.
His statement came just a day before the publication of the government’s energy white paper and strategy [...]
The way we think about climate change is “at the heart of the problem,” former US Vice President, Al Gore, told delegates on the final day of the Times/Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment.
He said humans had evolved to react to threats that previous generations had survived. But when faced with a new threat [...]
There is still time to tackle climate change, former US Vice President Al Gore said in a rousing speech to close the first Times/Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment this week.
“It can happen, it will happen,” Mr Gore told more than 200 World Forum delegates, here to find ways of curing the [...]
We have all we need to tackle climate change, bar the political will, Al Gore told World Forum delegates. But political will was a renewable resource he stressed.
President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives will be a guest at the opening press conference of the inaugural Times/Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment this Sunday, 5 July 2009.
He will detail the impact that climate change, particularly rising sea levels and more frequent storms, is having on the Maldives and explain why [...]
Money from the UK Government’s economic stimulus package should be used to bolster flood defences, Smith School Director Sir David King says.
In an article in The Independent he says that sewer and drainage systems must be improved and homes and businesses better protected from overflowing rivers and coastal erosion.
Global warming is raising sea levels and making storms [...]
The potential for filling the world’s cars with biofuel may never meet demand, the Smith School’s Dr Oliver Inderwildi has warned international vehicle makers.
He told a meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) this week that second generation biofuels – those that do not use the edible part of crops – could not fully fuel our [...]
Al Gore and former UK Government Chief Scientist Sir David King will be amongst high profile speakers at The Times/Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, in Oxford from 5-7July 2009.
More than 200 politicians, business leaders and academics are expected to attend the event with the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, Indian Science Minister [...]
The resurgence of interest in energy research and development has come none too soon, Smith School Director Sir David King told a conference today.
He said the need to keep the lights on, maintain competitiveness and reduce emissions meant energy research was “the most important topic of today.”
Sir David told delegates at the Oxford Energy Futures Conference [...]
Scientists behind recent warnings about CO2 emissions and climate change have published an open letter urging negotiators at this week’s climate talks in Bonn to accept the need to limit emissions soon.
The experts, who include Smith School Deputy Director, Dr Dave Frame, and School Associate, Dr Myles Allen, warn that “any affordable strategy to avoid releasing too much carbon dioxide in [...]
Science minister Lord Drayson today became the first UK Government minister to visit the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
He was welcomed by Smith School Director, Sir David King, who is convinced that both the Government and the School can benefit from working together.
“The school is a hub of intellectual expertise,” Sir David told Lord Drayson. [...]
Smith School Director Sir David King has urged the Obama administration to ignore pressure from the fossil fuel industry to strengthen measures to cut emissions.
His comments followed the admission by US Energy Secretary Professor Steven Chu on BBC Radio this morning that Washington would not be following the UK’s example of banning new coal-fired power stations unless they could be [...]
Trust could be the most important piece of luggage international negotiators take to crucial climate change talks in Copenhagen this December.
Lack of trust between developing and developed nations has been a major factor in the failure to agree, and bring amount, emissions cuts to prevent world temperatures reaching dangerous levels, the Smith School’s Dr Chuks Okereke says.
“There [...]
A new course aimed at encouraging business students to care more about the environment has started at the Said Business School, with several SSEE Research Fellows involved.
One, Dr Bettina Wittneben, is one of three instructors on the course, Environment, Organisation and Sustainability, which has been made an option on the Said’s MBA.
Students will study climate change, energy [...]
Two studies published yesterday in the journal Nature show that the risk of dangerous climate change is primarily determined by the accumulation of carbon dioxide emissions over time, not by short-term emission rates.
One of the studies shows that total cumulative emissions of one trillion tonnes of carbon (1 Tt C, or 3,670 billion tonnes of CO2) [...]
We are not going to run out of fossil fuels any time soon, Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, has assured business leaders.
What does he mean by this? In an online debate with Martin Chilcott, Chief Executive of the sustainable business website, 2degrees, Sir David says that below-ground fossil fuels [...]
Initiatives aimed at cutting emissions while encouraging economic development are failing the world’s poorest countries, leading scientists are warning.
They say that payments from rich countries to fund development schemes in poor nations are unequally distributed because investors choose stronger, more stable states like China, India and Brazil instead of much poorer nations such as Chad, [...]
Electric Cars
Sunday Times, 15 April 2009
Helen Brooks rightly says that emissions linked to electric car production are being shifted from exhaust pipe to power plant without actually reducing greenhouse gases.
Fuel from rubbish could power aircraft
Sunday Times, 12 April 2009
IT is not just electricity that could be made from rubbish.
Better town planning will do most to cut transport emissions in the long-term, world leaders will be told at climate talks this December.
Experts will say that measures to deter vehicle use in new towns and cities should accompany efforts to improve fuel and vehicle efficiency.
The Transport Research Foundation, formed of the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory and [...]
Sir David King, the Smith School’s Director, is confident US President Barack Obama is serious about tackling climate change.
Sir David met the President’s team last Monday and came away convinced that the new administration will do all it can to get the US on board in climate talks in December.
“I got a very clear message [...]
Smith School Director, Sir David King, receives his first award from the American Chemical Society today.
The award, the Arthur W. Adamson Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Surface Chemistry (ACS), is being given for Sir David’s research on the structure and reactivity of atoms and molecules at surfaces. It includes an investigation of [...]
Biofuels can be made without environmental harm while producing food and electricity at the same time, scientists have shown.
Paper cups and napkins, and the leftover stems and stalks of crops, could be turned into biofuels without destroying rainforests or good arable land, or using large amounts of water and nitrogen-rich fertilisers, the experts say.
Their technique [...]
Mini redundancies
Guardian, 18 February 2009
The loss of jobs at BMW’s Cowley plant in Oxford is sad news. This decision will be even more regrettable if it puts at risk production of the Mini Cooper D
Green credentials of Mini Cooper D
Independent, 18 February 2009
The Iraq war was the first ‘resource war’ of this century according to Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and a former UK government chief scientist.
“I believe historians of the future will look back and see the Iraq war as the first resource war of the 21st century,” [...]
Dr Nina Fedoroff, Science and Technology Advisor to the US Secretary of State and to the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, spoke at the Smith School in an event co-hosted by the Oxford Department of International Development. Dr Fedoroff is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and is a recipient [...]
John Peters, Chief Executive of Emerald Publishing Group,
and Professor Sir David King toast Bettina Wittneben
Smith School Research Fellow Dr Bettina Wittneben has been awarded the EFMD/Emerald Outstanding Doctoral Research Award. John Peters, CEO of Emerald Group Publishing, presented the award today at a reception at the Smith School. Bettina completed her PhD, entitled “Institutional Change [...]
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment was officially opened by Dr John Hood, Vice-Chancellor of the University, on 9 October 2008. The reception for over 100 guests from across the University was held at the School’s new premises in Hayes House on George Street. Special tribute was paid to Martin and Elise Smith, [...]
Sir David gave his presidential address at the annual meeting of the British Institute for the Advancement of Science in Liverpool on Monday 8 September. His talk was on “Sustainability Through Science.”
Read more:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4699096.ece
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