Our teaching
We equip the next generation through undergraduate and graduate teaching in the world number one ranked School of Geography and the Environment.
Our executive education programmes empower business leaders and policy makers to take action.
Our research
Our ground-breaking fundamental research drives real-world change, working with partners in public and private activity, business, markets and government.
The SSEE is home to the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme and Oxford Sustainable Finance Group.
OUR CORE DISCIPLINES
Our impact areas
Zero-emissions shipping
Alternative fuels for shipping are not yet competitive with fossil fuels, and face a range of barriers to entry. Our analysis looks at the feasibility of applying a policy instrument known as a ‘contract-for-difference’ (CfD). We explore the application of this policy instrument to the decarbonisation of shipping, unpacking the important design and implementation decisions with feedback from a wide range of stakeholders.
News & insights
It’s time for the UK government to embrace systems mapping
By Pete Barbrook-Johnson, co-author of Systems Mapping: How to build and use causal models of systems.
Frank Rutehenda receives full scholarship for new NbS course
Frank Rutehenda, a Monitoring & Environment Specialist in Rwanda’s Environment Management Authority, has been awarded a full scholarship for the University of Oxford’s new Nature based Solutions to Global Challenges Foundation Course.
Decarbonising the energy system by 2050 could save trillions
The idea that going green will be expensive is ‘just wrong’. Transitioning to a decarbonised energy system by around 2050 is expected to save the world at least $12 trillion compared to continuing our current levels of fossil fuel use, according to a peer-reviewed study by Oxford University researchers, published in the journal Joule
In the news
‘Green Pill’ Prescribed By Experts for Failing Net-Zero Pledges
A group of law professors including Dr Thom Wetzer have proposed a financial mechanism they’re calling a “green pill” that would help companies reach ambitious net-zero targets and offer investors greater certainty that corporate sustainability goals will be met.
Switching to renewable energy could save trillions
The BBC reports on a new Oxford study that finds switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy could save the world as much as $12tn (£10.2tn) by 2050. The report said it was wrong and pessimistic to claim that moving quickly towards cleaner energy sources was expensive. "Our latest research shows scaling-up key green technologies will continue to drive their costs down, and the faster we go, the more we will save," said Dr Rupert Way, the report's lead author from the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
Get ready for a global clean energy surge, thanks to the US Inflation Reduction Act
Brian O'Callaghan
The US’s new inflation-busting bill, with $369bn for clean energy, is the largest US investment in climate ever. It is also, according to our research, the largest national climate investment in history anywhere. Let that sink in for a moment.
This funding will certainly speed renewable energy deployment and green job creation in the US. However, the bill’s investments are so large that they are likely to influence global prices too, and impact the energy transition in other countries in real, tangible ways.