Tag: climate change

Hyde Park, with parched ground and people sunbathing
Extreme weather

Summer temperatures 2018 – the ‘new normal’?

There can be no doubt that the summer of 2018 has been remarkable both in the UK and across the world. Following an appearance on BBC Newsnight, in which the presenter Emily Maitlis asked if current temperatures can be considered the ‘new normal’, Professor Stephen Belcher, Chief Scientist at the Met Office, and Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Chair of the Grantham Institute, give their perspective … Continue reading Summer temperatures 2018 – the ‘new normal’?

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Energy, Mitigation, Policy

The energy conundrum: Bringing carbon under control and reversing rising emissions

Neil Hirst, Senior Policy Fellow at the Grantham Institute and author of The Energy Conundrum, Climate Change, Global Prosperity, and the Tough Decisions We Have to Make, considers the outlook for global energy and how to bring rising carbon emissions under control. Twenty-five years ago, the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) treaty was set up to tackle the causes of global … Continue reading The energy conundrum: Bringing carbon under control and reversing rising emissions

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Plane at cruising altitude against blue sky
Mitigation, Student blogs

Aviation, heavy industry and energy: 3 sectors ripe for a tech revolution

The technologies of a zero-carbon future, according to Research Postgraduate Jonathan Bosch, co-author of a report for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on key technological innovations for a low-carbon economy. There’s too much carbon! United States aside, climate scientists and policy makers don’t argue much these days about the pressure to take steps to safeguard the prosperity of the earth for future … Continue reading Aviation, heavy industry and energy: 3 sectors ripe for a tech revolution

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Scaffolding on Big Ben, London, with a view of a lamppost in the foreground
Policy

It is time be more ambitious – the UK’s Climate Change Act needs strengthening

Joanna Haigh, co-director of the Grantham Institute — Climate Change and the Environment, and John Krebs, emeritus professor of zoology at the University of Oxford and former member of the UK Committee on Climate Change, consider why the UK needs a more ambitious Climate Change Act.  The UK’s Climate Change Act is a pioneering and far-sighted piece of legislation, ushered in ten years ago by a remarkable cross-party … Continue reading It is time be more ambitious – the UK’s Climate Change Act needs strengthening

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Canada shown on a cheap globe
business, Mitigation, Policy

Canada and climate change: the transition to a low-carbon economy is a golden opportunity

Alyssa Gilbert, Director of Policy and Translation at the Grantham Institute, heads to the “energy engine” of Canada to talk climate change, cleantech and collaboration. This week I am heading to Canada, where I grew up, for the first time in six years. I am very excited about returning to Canadian soil (er, or snow), and particularly interested to meet a range of people involved … Continue reading Canada and climate change: the transition to a low-carbon economy is a golden opportunity

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Headshots of some leading ladies in climate change and environmental science at Imperial - Helen ApSimon, Ana Mijic, Jenny Nelson, Clementine Chambon, Joanna Haigh, Jess Wade
Communicating climate change, IPCC, Policy

Leading ladies in climate and environmental science, and why their profile counts

To mark International Women’s Day, archivist Anne Barrett, author of “Women At Imperial College Past Present and Future”, and Alice White, Wikimedian in Residence at the Wellcome Library, have organised a Wikipedia ‘edit-a-thon’ at Imperial College London to create and improve Wikipedia pages about women in science. In this blog, equality advocate Dr Jess Wade, Research Associate in Physics, explains the rationale behind the project, … Continue reading Leading ladies in climate and environmental science, and why their profile counts

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Graphic showing a thermometer rising, with a 2 written at the top to imply a 2 degree temperature rise
Communicating climate change, IPCC, Research

The lower the climate sensitivity the better – but what we need is zero carbon

Following the publication of a paper presenting a new narrower estimate of “equilibrium climate sensitivity” – a measure of how future greenhouse gas emissions could alter the climate – Professor Joanna Haigh, co-director of the Grantham Institute, explains the implications of climate sensitivity and why it should be interpreted carefully. What concerns me about a recent paper published in Nature is the interpretation of its … Continue reading The lower the climate sensitivity the better – but what we need is zero carbon

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Climate negotiations, Communicating climate change, Student blogs

Creative, critical and charged – the young voices of COP23 

Earlier this month, just before the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP23) kicked off in Bonn, Research Postgraduate Luciana Miu attended the 13th Conference of Youth (COY). Organised by YOUNGO, the official youth-constituency to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), COY has taken place before every COP since 2005. Representing the Alumni Association of Climate-KIC, the EU’s largest climate innovation initiative, Luciana … Continue reading Creative, critical and charged – the young voices of COP23 

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Group photo of energy ministers at the IEA Ministerial, Nov 2017
Policy

Now we can have a genuinely global energy body

While the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP23) has been going on in Bonn, another international meeting – also significant for climate change and environment issues – took place in Paris. Neil Hirst, Senior Policy Fellow at the Grantham Institute, explains why the International Energy Agency’s Ministerial Meeting was an important step forwards for climate change mitigation.   While talks continue at this year’s climate … Continue reading Now we can have a genuinely global energy body

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The Imperial College London delegation at COP23
Climate negotiations

COP23: The Fijian approach, the ‘Paris Rulebook’, and a potential showdown…

Alyssa Gilbert, Director of Policy and Translation at the Grantham Institute, anticipates the comings and goings of the COP23. Representatives from nearly two hundred countries are coming together this week in an annual meeting to push forward global progress in tackling climate change. Participants in the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), are converging on … Continue reading COP23: The Fijian approach, the ‘Paris Rulebook’, and a potential showdown…

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