Tag: Climate

Extinction Rebellion protests at Oxford Circus. Lots of people with green XR flags.
Communicating climate change, Individual action on climate, Student blogs

Put your fate in your hands: Rebelling against extinction gave me hope for the future

Geraint Northwood, Research Postgraduate on the Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet DTP, blogs on his experience with Extinction Rebellion, and how it has turned his frustration to optimism for the future. The first I knew of Extinction Rebellion was when a sort of business card was handed to me at a climate strike in Westminster, which I pretty much ignored. It had the … Continue reading Put your fate in your hands: Rebelling against extinction gave me hope for the future

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A group of refugees leaving Hungary, walking down the road carrying their things
Impacts & adaptation, Research, Student blogs

Climate change is a security issue. How can we make sure climate security receives the attention it needs?  

Shirin Hakim and Miriam Aczel, who recently co-organised a Grantham Institute event about climate change, low-carbon transitions and security, reflect on why climate change is a security issue and the next steps for researchers and policymakers .   While climate change and security have traditionally been examined in isolation, climate is increasingly entering the policy arena as a national security issue. The impacts of global warming are far-reaching. Extreme weather like droughts and flooding … Continue reading Climate change is a security issue. How can we make sure climate security receives the attention it needs?  

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A portrait picture of a girl cropped so that it only shows half her face, and shown horizontally.
Impacts & adaptation, Individual action on climate

Feeling anxious about climate change? You’re not the only one

As global temperatures rise, so do the mental health implications. Dr Emma Lawrance, Mental Health Innovations Fellow at Imperial’s Institute of Global Health Innovation, blogs on why it’s time to take the mental health implications of climate change seriously.  Mental health crisis. Climate crisis. While both are familiar phrases to anyone reading the press these days, the links between climate change and mental health remain unobvious … Continue reading Feeling anxious about climate change? You’re not the only one

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COP24 President Michal Kurtyka jumps in celebration of the approval of the Paris Agreement Work Programme at COP24 in 2018 (c) UNClimateChange
Climate negotiations, Policy

Why should the UK host the COP26 climate summit in 2020?

Grantham Institute lecturer Dr Joeri Rogelj, member of the United Nations’ Climate Science Advisory Group, blogs on why hosting the 26th Conference of the Parties in 2020 is an unrivaled opportunity for the UK to take the lead internationally on climate change action.  For the last 40 years, each consecutive decade has been warmer than the previous one. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere … Continue reading Why should the UK host the COP26 climate summit in 2020?

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London, UK - July 13th 2016:The front elevation and doorway of 10 Downing Street, with a cat and a British policemen standing outside. It is the official office and HQ of the British Prime Minister
Communicating climate change, Mitigation, Policy

Legacy on climate change – “make a powerful statement of global leadership”

A group of leading climate scientists, coordinated by Professor Joanna Haigh, former Co-Director of the Grantham Institute, have written to Prime Minister Theresa May calling for her to make climate change action her legacy by setting a net zero greenhouse gas emissions target into national law. Here is the text of the letter: Dear Prime Minister, As a group of Britain’s leading climate scientists, we … Continue reading Legacy on climate change – “make a powerful statement of global leadership”

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Extinction Rebellion protests in London, April 2019. A big crowd of people gathered around Oxford Circus
Media, Mitigation, Policy

Let’s embrace this fighting chance to reach net zero

Dr Ajay Gambhir, Senior Research Fellow at the Grantham Institute and contributor to the Committee on Climate Change’s Net Zero report, blogs on why we mustn’t lose this moment to accelerate the low-carbon transition. On Thursday 2 May 2019 I attended the launch of the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC’s) latest report, which advises the government that the UK should reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) … Continue reading Let’s embrace this fighting chance to reach net zero

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green corn field and blue sky
Mitigation

The ups and downs of BECCS –  where do we stand today?

Dr Alexandre Köberle and Mathilde Fajardy, co-authors of Grantham Institute briefing paper BECCS deployment: a reality check, consider bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technologies, the controversy surrounding them and their role in meeting climate targets. The rise of BECCS ‘Negative emissions technologies’ gained attention in 2015, when world leaders united behind the landmark Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to “well below” … Continue reading The ups and downs of BECCS –  where do we stand today?

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Communicating climate change, Student blogs

Dispatches from the climate debate – thoughts on engaging with climate deniers

Last month, Chris Wells and Kelvin Choi, Research Postgraduates on the Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet DTP, appeared on a panel debate opposite climate sceptics Piers Corbyn and Dr Benny Pieser. Here they share their experiences and suggest some approaches scientists can take when engaging with avid climate deniers. The Invite Last month, we were invited last minute to join a panel debate … Continue reading Dispatches from the climate debate – thoughts on engaging with climate deniers

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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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CCS, Mitigation, Student blogs

What to do with all the carbon dioxide?

Research Postgraduates Clara Heuberger and Clea Kolster, who recently attended the UNFCCC’s 23rd Conference of the Parties in Bonn, consider the significant potential of  carbon dioxide removal technologies, and the barriers they face.  A recent report published by the UN highlighted that, last year, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased at record speed, hitting a level not seen for more than three … Continue reading What to do with all the carbon dioxide?

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