After a year of devastating climate disasters, nations at COP 28 in Dubai in December signalled the need for the “end of the fossil fuel era”. To meet that ambition, 2024 will need to see a major acceleration in global action to address climate change. Here, Simon Bullock, Alice Larkin, and James Mason from the […]
Is the shipping sector on a collision course on climate?
In the run-up to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has strongly criticised the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) for not doing enough to cut carbon emissions from the shipping sector. He said the sector’s current commitments were consistent with global warming above 3 degrees, whereas the Paris Agreement sets […]
Tackling the twin crises of COVID-19 and climate change
The global pandemic of 2020 has meant massive changes to millions of people around the world. But as we look to adjust to life in the ‘new normal’, are there lessons to learn in how we can ‘build back better’? With less than a year to go until the postponed COP26, Professor Alice Larkin from the Tyndall Centre […]
Messy but meaningful – how to make interdisciplinary water-energy-food-environment research more influential
UK academia is arguably at the forefront of the kind of inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary research needed to tackle global grand societal challenges. This distinctive mode of research aims to be policy-relevant and impactful, but by its nature is often messy, complex and difficult to communicate. Here, a group of academics from The University of Manchester […]
Heathrow Expansion in light of the UK’s Climate Change Commitments
Alice Larkin, Professor of Climate Science and Energy Policy at The University of Manchester, along with Dr John Broderick consider if the level of emissions from the Heathrow expansion is in alignment with the UK’s legal commitments on climate change. They argue that the proposed expansion jeopardises these legal commitments, given the absence of a […]
Expanding Heathrow flies in the face of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change
At a cabinet committee on Tuesday, the government approved plans to build a third runway at Heathrow, expanding UK airport capacity There will be a public consultation on the effects of the expansion before the government makes a final decision as part of a national policy statement on aviation. Here, Professor Alice Larkin urges the […]
A fair COP? Climate summit good for engagement, but progress was oh so slow
At last week’s Conference of the Parties (COP) in Warsaw, key figures met to discuss the small matter of how to combat climate change by cutting carbon emissions. Dr Alice Bows-Larkin travelled there with colleagues, using research to highlight to policy players just how much carbon emissions need to be cut if catastrophic temperature rises […]