News
Enforce net zero with global ‘ground rules,’ say Oxford academics
Academics at the University of Oxford have called for rigorous net zero ‘ground rules’ – encompassing laws, regulation and policy – to be implemented and enforced across the world, in an article published in Nature Climate Change today.
Claudia Herbert Colfer on the impact of the Oxford Smith School MSc
2021-22 Oxford Smith School alum Claudia Herbert Colfer was a programme coordinator in the UN Global Compact when she enrolled on the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment’s MSc in Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment.
Bank Capital Rules Are Holding Back Transition: Study
ESG Investor & Regulation Asia highlight new analysis from INET and Smith School researchers which finds that the models used by banks produce a lower risk rating for high carbon than low carbon sectors - tilting the scales in favour of fossil fuels and holding back a fast, cost-effective energy transition in Europe.
Top 5 common misconceptions about how to use the Oxford Offsetting Principles
The revised Principles present an opportunity to help users avoid common pitfalls in applying the Principles and establishing and maintaining a net zero aligned strategy. here we present the Top 5 common misconceptions about how to use the Oxford Offsetting Principles.
Calls for international criminal court to end ‘impunity’ for environmental crimes
Lawyers and scientists including leading academics from the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme called for the International Criminal Court to actively engage in addressing environmental degradation and destruction. They noted that human activities leading to severe environmental harm often violate human rights, and so could be treated in the same as way as crimes such as genocide or crimes against humanity.
Andean alarm: climate crisis increases fears of glacial lake flood in peru
Lake Palcacocha is at increased risk of bursting its banks and flooding the town of Huaraz below it, because of climate change, reports the The Guardian. The article cites research led by Dr Rupert Stuart-Smith, which concluded that human-caused climate change has shrunk the glacier which feeds the lake, in turn raising the water to dangerous levels.
Scientists Just Gave Humanity an Overdue Reality Check. The World Will Be Better for It.
In a guest essay for the New York Times, Stephen Lezak comments on the 'rotten politics' of the so-called Anthropocene era.
Climate assessments drastically overlook legal risks, warn academics
Companies and regulators are waking up to potential threats from climate litigation, but have only just begun to grapple with how these risks should be evaluated, states Environmental Analyst in a report on new research by the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme.
Dr Radhika Khosla appointed Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Research Letters
Dr Radhika Khosla, Associate Professor at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Research Letters, IOP Publishing’s flagship journal for inter-disciplinary environmental research.
Climate report issues 'red alert' warning after record-breaking temperatures caused 'misery and mayhem' in 2023
A report from the World Meteorological Organization sounded the alarm on extreme temperatures and their impact on human life. The report also said that the rapid progress of renewables offered some hope. Cameron Hepburn, Battcock Professor of Environmental Economics, commented: "Renewables, combined with storage, offer humanity's best hope of reducing our emissions to safe levels.
"The faster we transition to using them, the more money we save the global economy, whilst insulating ourselves from the damaging impacts of volatile fossil fuel markets.
"The WMO's stark findings should provide policymakers with all the incentive they need to double down on investments into renewable energy."
The International Criminal Court must advance justice for environmental crimes
Lawyers and scientists, including Maud Sarliève, Dr Rupert Stuart-Smith and Associate Professor Thom Wetzer from the Oxford Sustainable Law programme, have called for the International Criminal Court to actively engage in addressing environmental degradation and destruction.
U.K. Doubles Down On Fossil Gas Power. 10 Experts Deliver Verdicts
The U.K. government has announced a decision to extend the life of the country's gas-fired power plants, as well as building more. But the plan has received widespread criticism. Professor Sam Fankhauser comments, "New gas-fired power plants... will need a firm obligation for any CO2 to be captured and stored safely underground."