Improving the operational carbon footprint of buildings by, for example, insulation and electrifying the grid, is one solution. A second solution is to reduce the embodied carbon of constructing a building. Finally, policies and incentives such as creating a lead market need to be put in place to support low-carbon products which contribute to creating lower-carbon buildings.
Our new Guest Feature discusses growing support from youth for moving beyond a growth-based economy. Zooming in on the recently published youth-led “Manifesto for an Intergenerationally Just Post-growth Economy”, the article explores youth’s policy proposals for a new socio-economic paradigm. It argues that post-growth, which is already receiving growing attention from policymakers, must now take a permanent place on the EU policy agenda.
The NAP3 acts as ‘The Programme’ for climate resilience and adaptation by accumulating the approaches designed by the Government into one program. There is a notable absence of new laws or financing acquired to safeguard existing homes against climate risk Baroness Brown stated that despite the NAP3 looking progressive in comparison to prior Government Actions, it is disappointing they have not used the opportunity to take further action
Both national and international climate change policies such as COP fail to acknowledge the importance of Indigenous Knowledge in the context of the climate crisis. The Global Indigenous Youth Summit On Climate Change (GIYSCC) held on the 9th of August brought Indigenous youths from all over the world to co-create dialogues that fostered the exchange of climate crisis mitigation and adaptation ideas.
Efforts today focus on limiting the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C or less. However, this average masks the much larger increases that will be experienced by many people for significant periods of the year. This is particularly acute in cities and urban environments due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect.
Rosebank, if approved, would create more CO2 (through burning oil and gas) than the combined emissions of all 28 low-income countries in the world, including Uganda, Ethiopia and Mozambique.
Last month’s Spanish election left no party with an outright majority. The inconclusive results coincide with Spain’s Presidency of the Council of Europe. Spanish political gridlock could mean a backsliding on EU climate policy.
Commercial environmental law is based on the polluter pays and precautionary principle Environmental laws and commercial responsibility are quickly increasing in the lead up to the UKs legally binding net zero legislation The polluter pays and precautionary principle are often weak in practical application - increased sanctions and more joint consideration for the environment, society and economy ought to be had
Precision fermentation combines molecular biology with the brewing industry to produce essential ingredients such as proteins, fats and medicines. It offers the chance to make ingredients with substantially less environmental footprint, even upcycling waste materials. Scaling precision fermentation processes is notoriously difficult and hampered by high infrastructure costs.
We need to decarbonise the building sector, which amounts to 39% of global GHG emissions. While traditionally the focus has been on operational carbon, we need to tackle embodied carbon. Reducing embodied carbon in buildings is a multifaceted challenge, involving decarbonisation of manufacturing of construction materials, and of construction operations.