News

As our water systems struggle under financial mismanagement and the pressures of climate change, higher water costs are something we’re all going to have to swallow.

UK policy has failed to improve approaches to climate adaptation and resiliency, with a new report warning that billions of pounds of new infrastructure planned in the UK are at risk.

As the UK swelters in heatwaves driven by the El Nino weather pattern, which has pushed up global temperatures in recent weeks, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) launches a new inquiry on heat resilience and sustainable cooling.

A group of eight large commercial law firms, calling themselves Legal Charter 1.5, have come together to create and sign a charter outlining a set of common principles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a timescale that will prevent global warming from rising above 1.5°C.

Dr Thom Wetzer, associate professor of law and finance at the University of Oxford, commented: “The legal profession has the potential to do tremendous good and it can be part of the solution to the climate crisis. That is why the launch of this Legal Charter is such a welcome step forward. It will allow law firms to share expertise with those seeking to improve the current system.”

Stephen Lezak looks at Alaska's recent foray into carbon credits in an opinion piece for The New Republic. "The world of carbon markets is predominantly composed of ecological sleights of hand. But even by the low standards of carbon markets generally, Alaska stands out for its open-armed embrace of the contradictions that undermine credibility and endanger climate progress."

Mishcon de Reya has today announced that it has partnered with organisations from three leading academic institutions - the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Imperial College London and the University of Oxford - to launch the Climate Science and Law Forum. Dr Rupert Stuart-Smith commented: "Climate science has a crucial role to play in supporting legal claims for climate accountability. If the full potential of legal action on climate change is to be realised, it is essential that lawyers have access to scientific insight that provides a firm factual basis for claims. We are delighted to contribute to the Forum and look forward to collaborating with our partners to support high-impact climate litigation in the UK and beyond."

Oxford Smith School’s latest policy brief explores the feasibility and benefits of a fast net zero transition for the UK. It finds that a shift to clean energy would save us money – and that the faster we go the more we could save. It also highlights the challenges of the transition and explores potential solutions. 

Dr Alex Money, Director of the Innovative Infrastructure Investment programme, comments on water security and climate change risk for Bloomberg and The Washington Post. 

Financial institutions and data providers should not be able to prevent important studies from being published, writes Dr Ben Caldecott in the FT. Dr Caldecott is the founding director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group and Lombard Odier Associate Professor of Sustainable Finance at the University of Oxford.

Anupama Sen, Head of Policy at the Oxford Smith School, commented on the UK Labour party's decision to delay their green investment plans. "Policymakers shouldn’t be hesitant about or delay investing in technologies that speed up the transition to clean energy. Renewable energy technologies are inherently capital intensive, and require significant amounts of upfront capital investment, but have very low running costs once they are up and running," she said.