Oxford City Council (OCC) has announced that it will spend £50m retrofitting and improving the energy efficiency of council housing in Oxford. The investment aims to ensure all council tenants are living in a property which meets at least the UK Government’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C rating by 2030, which is the third Read More…
Oxford City Council (OCC) has been awarded £10.9m in funding to reduce carbon emissions in key sites across the city owned by the Council, including the Hinksey Outdoor Swimming Pool. The funding, awarded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund, will enable the Council to explore the usage Read More…
One year on from the pitching of tents on the front quad of St John’s College, the group behind the occupation, which called on the College to remove its investments from fossil fuel companies, have argued that “St John’s have failed to keep the promises they made.” In recognition of the one-year milestone, Direct Action Read More…
Concerns have been raised over the £100m donation from the petrochemicals company INEOS to create a new Oxford University institute to fight antimicrobial resistance, with the Oxford Climate Justice Campaign (OCJC) claiming the donation “is a clear example of greenwashing.”
The Oxford Blue was able to ask the four ministers about the role of rewilding in supporting more sustainable agro-ecology in the UK, as well as improving biodiversity and tackling climate change.
A number of Oxford professors have been recognised for their work in the 2021 New Year’s Honours List, including in social and natural sciences. It was announced that Professor Dieter Helm CBE will be appointed Knight Bachelor, with the knighthood being awarded for services to the environment, energy and to utilities policy. Professor Helm is Read More…
Before the outbreak of a novel zoonotic disease colonised the news cycle, 2020 had been earmarked as a landmark year for global environmental politics and policy. In Glasgow, world leaders were set to substantiate their commitments to limiting climate change to 1.5ºC of warming under the Paris Agreement, while in Kunming, the international community planned Read More…
Oxford professor Yadvinder Malhi has been elected as the next President of the British Ecological Society (BES), following an online ballot of members this week. Professor Malhi will take up the post in December 2021, when the current president, Jane Memmott’s term comes to an end. Announcing the news on its website on Wednesday, BES Read More…
Oxfordshire County Council has passed a motion to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill, which was presented to Parliament by Green MP Caroline Lucas in September. The Bill calls on the government to implement “a clear framework, based on scientific reality, to deliver the UK’s commitments to the 2015 UN Paris Climate Agreement and Read More…
A report released this week has argued that natural regeneration should become the default approach to reforesting Britain’s lands, which currently have some of the lowest tree cover in Europe. Rewilding Britain, the charity behind the report, is campaigning for Britain’s tree cover to double from its current levels of 13% to 26% by 2030, Read More…