More than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic first swept the globe, we’re still learning to live with this novel disease. How close are we to the ‘new normal’, where COVID-19 is endemic, relegated into the background of daily life, and what will it take to get us there? At…

The UK government has made a legally binding commitment to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. A report commissioned on how to make this a just transition concluded: “Change on this scale has not been seen since the Industrial Revolution two centuries ago: an overhaul of industry —…

March 2021 saw the colossal megaship named Ever Given get lodged in the Suez Canal, one of the world’s busiest waterways. The resulting traffic jam involving hundreds of ships severely disrupted trade between Asia, Europe and the middle East. The stranded ship was responsible for holding up an estimated $9.6bn…

Construction accounted for 38% of the world’s total CO2 emissions in 2019. If we have any hope of reaching net zero we need to rethink our reliance on steel and concrete and use other more sustainable materials. But what will these houses of the future look and feel like? The problem with concrete Concrete…

From intense droughts to extreme flooding and wildfires — we’re already seeing the devastating impacts of climate change on people’s lives and livelihoods around the world. But global warming doesn’t just affect individuals. It poses risks to financial institutions too. …

For #NetZeroWeek, Rebecca Ford, Research Director of the UK’s Energy Revolution Research Consortium, explains why a whole systems approach is vital to meeting our net zero goals. The science could not be clearer. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that there is only a brief…

A decision aid toolkit provided a vital lifeline to carers during the COVID pandemic In March 2020, the UK government took the unprecedented step of ordering people to stay at home to limit the spread of COVID-19. …

For Clean Air Day, we asked Jenny Baverstock, outgoing UKRI Clean Air Co-Champion, to talk about how the Clean Air programme is driving vital research to tackle air pollution. In 2016, a Royal College of Physician’s report stated that around 40,000 early deaths can be attributed to poor air quality. …

Two years ago today, the discovery of the first ever lifesaving treatment for COVID-19 — an inexpensive, readily available steroid called dexamethasone- was announced to the world. In the following nine months, dexamethasone saved an estimated one million lives worldwide, including 22,000 in the UK. The treatment was found by…