Research
Working collaboratively with partners in enterprise and academia, our research explores how to reach net-zero carbon emissions, the best options for sustainable cooling solutions and how to stimulate a regenerative economy.
We also support the transition to sustainable production in capital-intensive industries such as mining and construction, as well examining alternatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions form the food system.
Water research
Our research focuses on reducing social inequalities – river water security in urban Asia, climate resilience in Africa and results-based funding for safe drinking water in rural Africa and Asia. We aim to make 10 million poor people in Africa and Asia water secure by 2024, and advance thinking on rural water finance to provide reliable water services for 100 million people by 2030.
Past projects
The interdisciplinary RISE project focused on designing integrated, practical and transferable strategies for the local SME renewable energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our work centred on two contrasting national case studies, in Uganda and Zambia.
Mumuni Singani, a spin-off from the RISE project, created an innovative concept that combines access to clean energy, irrigation systems, sustainable farming and agro-processing solutions in Singani, Zambia. The approach was developed in cooperation with local communities, especially the involvement of Women Self-Help Groups, with the aim of scaling-up the concept across other regions in sub-Saharan Africa.
Latest news
‘Not a given’ that private sector will drive Africa’s green growth
How can Africa build a sustainable energy future? Research from Aoife Brophy and Philipp Trotter highlights three lessons from innovative firms in a number of different countries across the continent.
Opinion - Academic freedom in ESG research is under threat
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.
Want a sustainable board? Why the G in ESG drives everything
Environmental, social and governance criteria have become shorthand for the non-traditional, extra-financial factors considered by businesses as crucial to managing opportunities and risks.