This white paper examines the current challenges for clean energy infrastructure and identifies solutions that industrial clusters, transport and logistics industries, and the wider clean energy value chain can jointly explore in order to accelerate its deployment. Thirteen new industrial clusters from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, India, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, …
Use of a common pesticide in spring could have an impact on wild bumblebees by interfering with their life cycle, a UK study suggests. The team, who looked at wild bumblebees caught in the English countryside, say the insecticide, thiamethoxam, reduces egg development in queen bees. They say this is …
On 23 March 2017, the British Medical Association, in partnership with the Sustainable Development Unit for the health sector in England, released Ethical procurement for health: workbook 2.0, 1 a guide and workbook for protecting labour rights in medical supply chains. This is an update to a document released 6 …
Tiny particles – like those produced in vast amounts by burning fossil fuels – can pass through the lungs into the bloodstream and then damage various different organs, according to a controversial new experiment. While air pollution has been linked to heart disease and millions of premature deaths, it was …
Some of the UK’s rarest plants are at risk of extinction unless action is taken to look after the road verges that have become their final refuge, a charity has warned. Species such as fen ragwort and wood calamint are now only found on road verges, with fen ragwort hanging …
This policy brief is based on a roundtable discussion attended by representatives from the government, private financial sector, and research community on how the UK can capitalise on global opportunities for low-carbon goods and services, held in London in March 2017. It outlines the opportunities and threats to trade in …
An academic study has found that traffic pollution can put you through the same level of trauma as going through a divorce. The University of York claimed that nitrogen dioxide (NO2) can mirror "big hitting" events in one's personal life, such as losing a loved one due to its "negative …
The effect on wellbeing of exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a gas mostly produced in diesel fumes, is comparable to the toll from losing a job, ending a relationship or the death of a partner, research suggests. The study found a “significant and negative association” between life satisfaction and levels of …
The UK will commit £450m ($563.5m) towards tackling the world's most infectious tropical diseases, such as Guinea worm disease and elephantiasis. The move will aid research into new cures and treatments for neglected diseases, which "belong to the last century", according to international development secretary Priti Patel. "These diseases belong …
Over the last 25 years, the UK has been the most successful G7 nation at both growing its economy and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, new research shows. A report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) found that in the quarter century since the signing of the United …
This first global assessment of its kind report highlights how the poaching and illegal trade of thousands of species worldwide presents real environmental dangers and ultimately undermines the rule of law by potentially fuelling conflict. India has been placed second from bottom in this health system transparency index, released by …
UK aid agencies have launched a fundraising appeal to help millions of people facing hunger in East Africa. The Disasters Emergency Committee says at least 16 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan need food, water and medical treatment. Drought and conflict are to blame for the crisis, …
The UK Government has announced it will fund a £16 million programme to help avert famine in Somalia over the coming months. It will support more than 450 000 people with life-saving interventions and particularly food and water support. The £16 million allocation is part of a wider UKAid drought …
A team of scientists at the University of Cambridge has developed a way of using solar power to generate a fuel that is both sustainable and relatively cheap to produce. It’s using natural light to generate hydrogen from biomass. One of the challenges facing modern society is what it does …
Future extreme sea levels (ESLs) and flood risk along European coasts will be strongly impacted by global warming. Yet, comprehensive projections of ESL that include mean sea level (MSL), tides, waves, and storm surges do not exist. Here, we show changes in all components of ESLs until 2100 in view …
This report summarises the topline findings of the European Perception of Climate Change Project (EPCC), a study that gives insights into public perceptions of climate change across four major European countries – France, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom. Research teams from each country and an International Stakeholder Advisory Panel …
Eating plenty of nuts, fruit and fish may cut risk of getting oestrogen-receptor-negative cancer, Dutch research finds. Following a Mediterranean diet could help reduce the risk of contracting one of the worst types of breast cancer by 40%, according to a large study for the World Cancer Research Fund. The …
Policy Exchange argues UK should ditch EU Circular Economy package in favour of new approach to recycling and energy-from-waste plants . The EU's Circular Economy package could cost the UK £2bn over the next 20 years and should be replaced by a new UK approach to waste and recycling policy …
• A London-based tech start-up is developing a secretive tool designed to limit the impact of air pollution in major cities. • Husband-and-wife team Jamie and Marie-Alexandrine Burrows this week launched Vertical Future, a company backed by HSBC, which aims to tackle the negative effects of urbanisation and make our …
Brexit presents a huge opportunity for the UK Government to develop a new approach to waste and resources policy. The report highlights significant shortcomings in the EU’s approach to waste and recycling: the objectives are increasingly unclear, the targets are badly designed, and the policies are not in the UK’s …
Subsidies should end for many types of biomass, a new Chatham House report argues, because they are failing to help cut greenhouse gas emissions. The report adds that policymakers should tighten up accounting rules to ensure the full extent of biomass emissions are included. The analysis outlines how policies intended …
