News
Corporate greenwashing: The lawyers are coming
Greenwashing may be one of the greatest emerging legal risks across corporate sectors worldwide, writes Ben Franta in ECGI. "Once a topic of relatively niche concern, the spectre of greenwashing liability continues to grow as more brands seek to portray themselves as climate-friendly and lawyers (and the broader public) get wise to the fact that not all that appears green is what it seems."
The UN Water Conference is a rare window of opportunity
The UN will host the second global water conference in New York on 22-24 March, over forty years after the first gathering in Argentina in 1977. Rob Hope asks: why so long? And, what can this event hope to deliver?
Keeping piped water flowing in rural India
Maintaining piped networks in rural India to keep water flowing in functional household tap connections is an increasing priority.
MSc graduate wins venture funding for proptech startup
Lucy Lyons, a graduate of the Oxford Smith School’s MSc in Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment has secured investment funding from start-up accelerator Carbon13 for her start-up Kestrix, which she co-founded in 2022.
Can clean energy be inclusive of women’s rights?
Men have often held the power of fire, water and now, electricity and fuel. And around the world, women are too frequently left out of these conversations, although a significant part of their lives revolves around activities that would benefit from energy effectiveness.
Net Zero: What Makes for a Good Climate Change Plan?
Professor Sam Fankhauser and Kaya Axelsson discuss what makes a good climate change plan in The Fashion Law. "Net zero strategies can be measured against three principles: the urgent pursuit of emission cuts, the cautious use of carbon offsets and carbon removal, and alignment with broader objectives for sustainable development."
Renewable energy has cheapest cost of capital in Europe
A new report from the Oxford Sustainable FInance Group finds that globally, renewable electric utilities are cheaper to finance than fossil fuel-focused peers. The report is the most comprehensive analysis of cost of capital trends across the global energy sector over the past two decades
‘Rivers in the sky’ shape African climate
Deep valleys contain airborne ‘rivers in the sky’ and help to create arid conditions in East Africa, according to new research from the University of Oxford and the Met Office.
Recycling gold? Oxford researcher says it's something to consider
Stephen Lezak talked to Bloomberg TV about the case for a controlled end to gold mining. "The world already has thousands of years' of above ground stocks to draw on... we would be talking about being smarter with how we use this resource that is so costly to extract," he said.
P3S Academy launches new training courses as enrolments surge
The University of Oxford’s Public and Third Sector Academy for Sustainable Finance (P3S Academy) is launching four new courses in 2023.
Europe’s Gas Lobby Exploits Energy Security Fears in Year Since Ukraine War
According to DeSmog, Europe’s gas industry has ramped up its messaging since Russia invaded Ukraine. Ben Franta commented: "The gas industry wants us to believe that more gas makes us more secure, but more gas leads to more climate change which in reality makes us less secure."
Extreme glacial melting threatens coastal communities across the world, experts warn
Rupert Stuart-Smith told The Express that communities will increasingly use justice systems to address climate change impacts. People hit by climate change through little to no fault of their own are taking on major polluters – and winning, he said.