News
It's time for bondholders to take their seat at the stewardship table
Environmentally and socially-oriented stewardship of portfolio companies has become a priority area, yet stewardship and engagement has long been perceived as the preserve of the company’s owners, shareholders, rather than the company’s principal funders, bondholders.
Solar’s forgotten kidnapping
Carbon Brief takes a look at Dr Sugandha Srivastav’s thought experiment, which asks how far solar energy could have come had it not been for the kidnapping of George Cove.
Experts warn of ‘respiratory health disaster’ as toxic air engulfs New Delhi
Heavy smog has led to increased hospital admissions, school closures and a suspension of construction work in New Delhi. Dr Sugandha Srivastav commented: "What is happening is a disaster in terms of respiratory health… we have a huge humanitarian problem on our hands."
The untold story of Canadian inventor George Cove, an early solar energy pioneer, with Dr. Sugandha Srivastav
PVBuzz conducted a video interview with Dr Sugandha Srivastav about her research on George Cove, a little-known solar inventor and entrepreneur who's 1909 kidnapping may have impacted the world's energy choices.
How Positive Climate Tipping Points Could Save Our Planet
Dr Sugandha Srivastav explains how humans are "famously bad at understanding exponential trends" in this article on positive tipping points - threshold passing events like renewable energy becoming cheaper than coal that can quickly change our world.
Seasonal affective disorder - or SAD - isn't just 'winter blues'
Dr Laurence Wainwright talked to Sky News about seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, including some of the common misconceptions. "People say just go off to southern Europe on holiday for a few days and you'll be right as rain, but that's not the case with mental illness. This is a serious medical condition," he said.
How is AI being used at Oxford?
Smith School researchers are featured in this round up of Oxford experts applying AI to society's greatest challenges. From analysing corporate net zero goals to influencing sustainable finance, find out more about how we are harnessing artificial intelligence in our work.
UK meat consumption at lowest level since records began, data reveals
Meat consumption has declined 14% since 2012, according to The Guardian. Dr Mike Clark comments: "The UK national food strategy recommends a 30% reduction in meat consumption by 2032, while the Climate Change Committee recommends a 35% reduction in meat consumption. Meeting either of the above targets requires a doubling in the rate of meat reduction compared with the rate from the last 10 years.”
Professor Mette Morsing on her career, research and ambitions for the Oxford Smith School
One of the many reasons I am excited to lead the Smith School is our collective ambition of making an impact based on interdisciplinary research. The School has been collaborating for fifteen years over a variety of disciplines.
Predicting the chaos: Professor Doyne Farmer joins the Smith School
Doyne Farmer, a complex systems scientist with research interests in economics, technological progress and prediction, has joined the Smith School as Baillie Gifford Professor of Complex Systems Science.
Major developments in the UK offshore wind farm industry
Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment released research which indicates that wind and solar power have the ability to provide enough energy to ‘vastly surpass’ the UK’s current needs. Dr Brian O’Callaghan believes that the UK needs to take it’s lead from the US and implement incentives around renewable energy.
Dragons’ Den for ‘cleantech’ breathes fire into start-ups
Coverage of Kestrix, a startup co-founded by Oxford Smith School MSc graduate Lucy Lyons. Kestrix uses thermal drones and AI to map how heat leaks from buildings to enable better and faster retrofitting of building insulation, and recently received investment from venture builder Carbon13.