News
New project to analyse climate-related legal risk
The UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment and the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme are set to launch a new workstream pinpointing what climate-related legal risk means in financial terms for companies. Dr Thom Wetzer told RI, 'It's clear that litigation risk is real - it's not some figment of an activist's imagination.'
‘Where are we now?’: Reflecting on the journey of sustainable finance
IPE covers the inaugural Oxford Sustainable Finance Summit 2022, hosted by Dr Ben Caldecott. This in-depth article highlights insights from a myriad of speakers including from the United Nations, Blackrock, MSF, Saïd Business School, Linklaters and more.
The Cooling Problem
As record-breaking heat hits the UK and USA, Dr Radhika Khosla, co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Cooling, speaks with the New York Times about how to keep people cool - without cooking the planet.
New Oxford Lab to accelerate action towards sustainable finance
Set to open its doors in autumn 2022, the new Lab will be embedded in the University of Oxford and welcomes the Financial Conduct Authority as its founding partner.
Storms threaten more disruption on heels of record-breaking UK heat
As thousands of people in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the north-east were left without power after transmission equipment overheated, Dr Sam Fankhauser, professor of climate economics at the University of Oxford said the heat was “a stark reminder of … the urgent need to decrease global carbon emissions."
Oxford hosts inaugural Sustainable Finance Summit 2022
Flagship event examined the latest developments in sustainable finance and investment, and explored how institutions representing $130 trillion in assets can help to tackle climate change. All Summit recordings are now available online.
Canada’s ‘Just Transition’ Act must consider workers outside fossil fuel industries
New research published in Climate Policy finds workers in Alberta, Canada, could face job losses resulting from the global clean energy transition, even if they work outside of the province’s oil sands industry.
Energy Profits Levy should prompt policy reform
A new Smith School analysis argues that the UK Government Energy (Oil and Gas) Profits Levy could have been better aligned with the UK’s net zero commitment, while still taxing supernormal profits and supporting the economy, jobs, and energy security.
This is how the heatwave can impact your mental health
To understand how dizzy temperatures [and heat stress] are intertwined with how you are feeling, thinking and navigating the world, WH spoke to Dr Laurence Wainwright, Departmental Lecturer at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
Heatwaves worsen mental health conditions
Heatwaves have a huge impact on our physical and mental health, writes Dr Laurence Wainwright in The Conversation. "Doctors usually dread them, as emergency rooms quickly fill up with patients suffering from dehydration, delirium and fainting. Recent studies suggest at least a 10% rise in hospital emergency room visits on days when temperatures reach or exceed the top 5% of the normal temperature range for a given location."
Who pays for climate change? The Peruvian suing a German utility
Dr Thom Wetzer comments on a lawsuit brought by a Peruvian farmer, Saúl Luciano Lliuya, against RWE, Germany’s largest utility company. He said part of the reason for the uptick in climate litigation is the climate “governance gap The Paris Agreement lacks an enforcement mechanism to ensure that countries do what they’ve signed up for . . . As long as these governance gaps persist, we will see more and more litigation to try and plug those gaps.” There is also no net zero legislation governing what companies can or must do in most parts of the world, he adds.
Oxford delivers sustainable finance training to over 1,000 public and third sector executives
Over 1,000 influential civil servants, regulators, and representatives from civil society have undertaken a course with the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group, part of Oxford University, over the last 12 months, enabled by philanthropic funding from the IKEA Foundation and the European Climate Foundation.