Maggie Robertson shares her experiences of going vegan for lent. ‘Several Grantham staff doing vegan for lent. Fancy it?’ That was the text from my husband back in February that began our vegan adventure. Or did it begin further back, when I first announced (I do all the cooking for our small family) we were going to be eating less meat? Or was it ten … Continue reading My life as a temporary vegan
It can be easy to wait for governments and businesses to face up to the challenges of climate change and other environmental issues. However, individual action has a big part to play in protecting the planet. Small changes to our daily habits can make a big difference. At the end of last year, Grantham Institute staff and students made a climate or environment related resolution … Continue reading Eco-resolutions 2017 – have you kept yours?
What do a company’s carbon emissions tell you about its long term prospects? Grantham Institute Director of Innovation Prof Richard Templer takes a first look at ET Index’s ranking of businesses according to their climate change credentials. Christmas is more usually associated with giving rather than investing, and the New Year with minimising our waistlines rather than diminishing our carbon footprints. But if, like me, … Continue reading Green investment: Put your money where the carbon isn’t
Grantham Lecturer in Global Change Ecology, Dr Kris Murray, explains why, from farm to fork, less is more when it comes to meat. I’m not a vegetarian, and I’m unlikely to become one any time soon. I like making sausages and barbequing ribs, I love prosciutto crudo and lamb kebabs, and I’m a total sucker for a bit of bacon in my lettuce and … Continue reading How eating less meat could help prevent extinction, climate change, cancer and the next pandemic
The upcoming referendum on the UK’s European Union (EU) membership has sparked a fiery debate among politicians, the media and the general public. Simon Bushell asks what climate change communicators can learn from the Brexit campaign. Whether pushing for the UK to leave the EU (“Brexit”) or stay, EU referendum campaigners are urging the British public to take action based on an uncertain future. In this respect, … Continue reading Climate change communication: Taking a leaf from the Brexit book
Are your savings supporting the fossil fuel industry? George Hammond of ShareAction argues that it is the responsibility of pension fund members to make their voices heard and ensure their schemes are acting responsibly. The pensions industry is hugely powerful, and how it uses that power will have enormous effects on savers, society and the environment. In the last few months, millions of individuals … Continue reading Planning for the future: What is the truth about your pension and the environment?
Are you an ecotarian? Naomi Pratt, SSCP-DTP student and, along with Ronan McAdam and Clea Kolster, co-founder of The Ecotarian (@The_Ecotarian), shares 10 ways of reducing your diet’s environmental footprint. Dictionary.com defines an Ecotarian as ‘a person who eats only food that has been produced in an environmentally friendly manner’. There are many reasons to consider the implications of what we eat at a larger scale than our … Continue reading 10 ways to source your food more sustainably
SSCP DTP student Oliver Schmidt argues that technological innovation is key to empowering individuals to act on climate change. Some people argue that we already have all the technologies we need to ‘solve’ climate change, but the technological innovation driven by new funding initiatives still has a vital role to play. And what use is new technology without the ultimate motive for personal action – … Continue reading Why clean tech innovation and selfish action go hand in hand
Earlier this year, the Earth League, a consortium of 17 world-leading scientists, drew up a wish list of the essential elements that should lie at the heart of the global climate deal to be agreed at the Paris 2015 UN Climate Conference (COP 21). Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, member of the Earth League and Chair of the Grantham Institute, explains why he backs the Earth … Continue reading Why I support the #EarthStatement
Erlend Moster Knudsen is part of the climate awareness campaign Pole to Paris. He is speaking at a seminar at Imperial on 12 November. In this guest blog, he writes about how his PhD on climate change in the Arctic inspired him to run almost 30 km a day, for months in a row, to draw attention on climate change and the COP21 meeting in December … Continue reading There is no Planet B: Why I decided to run 3,000 kilometres
