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There is plenty of life left in the North Sea oil and gas industry, insists UK Minister of State for Energy, Andrea Leadsom MP The oil and gas industry is an essential part of the Government’s plans to provide a secure, reliable energy source to UK homes for decades to...

Maria Wardrobe, Director of External Affairs at National Energy Action outlines the importance of tackling fuel poverty in the UK Fuel poverty remains a bigger killer across the UK than road accidents, alcohol or drug abuse combined. In our UK Fuel Poverty Monitor 2014-2015, we estimated that in addition to 125,000...

Gavin Whitmore, Senior Manager – Biodiversity at the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) looks at how integrated pest management supports the sustainable intensification of agriculture Society is increasingly aware of the dual challenge of feeding a growing population whilst protecting the environment. Organic agriculture is often marketed as being an environmentally...

Daniel Skog from the City of Malmo outlines how locally produced vehicle fuel could help the city’s transport become more sustainable In Malmö every third trip is done on a bicycle. Also the local railways and coming trams are experiencing increased business but still there is a need for sustainable...

Open Access Government looks at how Sweden is aiming to become a sustainable nation, highlighting the government’s key environmental priorities Sweden has gone through something of a recycling revolution in the past decade. More than 99% of all household waste is recycled in one way or another – compared to...

Nate Bauer and Hajo Eicken from the International Arctic Research Center (IARC), highlight how research can help gain invaluable knowledge about the Arctic and its surrounding environments Across the Arctic, researchers continue to identify signals that the region and its ecosystems act as an important amplifier of global climate change. While the...

Residents in Herefordshire can discover how energy efficient their homes are via a new online heat map… If you live in Herefordshire and want to know how efficient your home is a new heat map released by the council can tell you. Herefordshire Council carried out a heat survey across parts...

Ivar Berthling, Department of Geography, NTNU, Norway There are a number of significant feedbacks and interactions between processes and materials at the earth surface and in the atmosphere. This is a crucial point when considering global warming and climate change effects because such feedbacks might amplify the ongoing warming. One...

EU Commissioner for the Environment, Karmenu Vella highlights the need for climate action and environmental protection in the Arctic As preparations for the UN climate conference (COP 21) in Paris this December move into full swing, one region undeniably affected by the changing climate is high on the international agenda....

Katarina Luhr, Vice Mayor of Environment in the City of Stockholm outlines how they strive to become a truly sustainable city for generations to come. Sweden’s capital city Stockholm has been working on climate change mitigation and adaptation since the 1990s. The city is a frontrunner, with well implemented climate...

As we consider the challenges that global climate change poses for food security, it is insightful to look at past episodes of food insecurity for possible solutions that can be adapted to current situations or for any mistakes made and lessons learned. Historically, one of the major causes of...

New ways to deal with the complexity and dynamics of change in our cities On-going urbanisation makes cities focal points for economies and societies. As its share of resource consumption and emissions grows, economies become knowledge intensive. City life accelerates, its complexity grows exponentially along with various instabilities, challenges, uncertainties...

Ian Hutchcroft, Head of Local Delivery at the Energy Saving Trust explains how local authorities can retrofit for energy efficiency and deliver benefits for carbon reduction, health, jobs and growth There is no doubt that the drivers for local authority action on housing energy efficiency are strong, and getting stronger. With...

There are five major challenges in transitioning to a sustainable energy future. First, scale; the energy system must supply adequate energy to meet the needs of the expected global population growth over the next century. Second, availability; our current energy system is largely dependent on finite, non-renewable energy resources...

Elena Nekhaev, Programmes Director at the World Energy Council, details how energy analysis is important in order to achieve future energy sustainability According to the World Energy Council’s Scenarios, the total primary energy supply (TPES ) will increase by 27-61% by 2050 and despite the continuing strong growth of renewables,...

Because of the human cycles of production and consumption, our food, energy and environment are intricately linked. According to the projected growth of the world population (9.1 billion people by 2050) and consistent global development, it is increasingly difficult to satisfy our world with sufficient food and energy. BFS blue...

Dr Thomas J. Sauer, Research Leader at the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture details the importance of agroforestry for the environment Agroforestry is a land-use practice that involves growing perennial woody vegetation (trees, shrubs, or hedges) integrated with forages, crops, fruits, berries and nuts, herbs,...

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, environmental contaminants have been transported from temperate latitudes to the Arctic via the atmosphere, ocean currents and river systems Research and monitoring in the Arctic have revealed how pesticides, industrial chemicals, metals, and also radionuclides, have found their way into animals and human...

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia details the importance of small and medium-sized urban areas in the context of the EU Urban Agenda Approximately 70% of Europeans live in cities and towns. They play a significant role in territorial development of the EU, and...

The city of Toronto is a massive never-ending blur of concrete. The immense redevelopment of the waterfront consists of apartment towers as far as one can see. Looking at the city from the Sky-tower the outskirts have a green look, but don’t let the image fool you: down at...