sustainability

Setting climate targets: when is net zero really net zero?

By Jaise Kuriakose, James Mason and Brendan Moore Filed Under: Energy and Environment Posted: April 15, 2019

‘Net zero’ and ‘carbon neutral’ have quickly become the go-to phrases for ambitious declarations on climate change action. But what do ‘net zero’, ‘zero carbon’ or ‘carbon neutral’ actually mean in practice? As climate action targets are increasingly announced both locally and nationally, it’s even more important that the assumptions involved are properly understood to […]

Fuel poverty and low-carbon investment: a role for area-based policy?

By Stefan Bouzarovski Filed Under: Energy and Environment, Growth and Inclusion Posted: March 25, 2019

The GMCA plans to launch a five year plan for carbon neutrality in Greater Manchester by 2038 at the Green Summit today. Stefan Bouzarovski, Professor of Human Geography, will be hosting a discussion table at the public sector space within the Green Summit. Here, he blogs about the importance of area-based fuel poverty and energy […]

Worryingly windy weather or a strong tail-wind?

By Laurence Stamford Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Renewables Posted: March 19, 2019

On the 7 March, the long awaited “Offshore Wind Sector Deal” was launched, laying out the UK Government’s vision for the future of offshore wind power to 2030. So far, responses to the deal have been somewhat mixed: it’s been welcomed by various industry players as a sign of the Government’s commitment, but has faced […]

Can Greater Manchester blaze the trail with an inclusive local industrial strategy?

By Ruth Lupton Filed Under: Growth and Inclusion, Urban Posted: March 4, 2019

Greater Manchester (GM) is one of a handful of ‘trailblazer’ areas selected to work with government on a local industrial strategy (LIS), due to be signed off in a few weeks’ time. As deliberations enter their final stages, Ruth Lupton, Head of the Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit (IGAU), looks at how the strategy might shape […]

Local Industrial Strategies can capitalise on gaps in UK climate and resource policies

By Kate Scott Filed Under: Cities and Environment, Digital Futures, Energy and Environment Posted: January 23, 2019

As the UK and many local regions embark on developing and implementing industrial strategies Dr Kate Scott from the School of Environment, Education and Development argues it is crucial to identify how their strengths can support innovation and development for low carbon transitions. This is particularly true in light of the government’s recent announcement that […]

Gilets jaunes, Extinction Rebellion and neoliberal climate policy

By Prof Matthew Paterson Filed Under: Digital Futures, Energy and Environment, Europe Posted: December 20, 2018

#SDG Two protest movements erupted in the UK and France on November 17th, with apparently opposite logics. Here, Matthew Paterson, Professor of International Politics in the School of Social Sciences, argues that both movements are a result of the way carbon pricing is been both regressive socially and woefully inadequate in climate terms. This centre […]

Messy but meaningful – how to make interdisciplinary water-energy-food-environment research more influential

By Alice Larkin and Claire Hoolohan Filed Under: Cities and Environment, Digital Futures, Science and Technology Posted: November 19, 2018

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 […]

Response to the IPCC 1.5°C Special Report

By Kevin Anderson Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Science and Engineering Posted: October 8, 2018

The University of Manchester’s Professor Kevin Anderson responds to today’s report from the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC report meticulously lays out how the serious climate impacts of 1.5°C of warming are still far less destructive than those for 2°C. Sadly, the IPCC then fails, again, to address the profound implications of reducing […]

We need creative responses to water stress and climate change, and we need them now.

By Claire Hoolohan Filed Under: Cities and Environment, Digital Futures, Energy and Environment Posted: July 18, 2018

As the threat of drought becomes a reality in the UK, Claire Hoolohan Research Fellow at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, considers how we might change the way society uses water. With hosepipe bans being introduced how do we look at future water supplies Water shortage, or water scarcity, is about how much […]

Heathrow Expansion in light of the UK’s Climate Change Commitments

By Alice Larkin and John Broderick Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Energy and Environment, Science and Engineering Posted: June 22, 2018

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 […]