This week, the Environmental Audit Committee published a report on the state of investment in low carbon technology, outlining a 56% drop in investment in cash terms in 2017 compared to 2015. The Leeds Climate Commission is tackling this head on, by bringing together investors and projects at the launch of the Project Development and […]
Using data for London, this research finds that elevated levels of air pollution have a positive and statistically significant impact on overall crime – and therefore that improving air quality in urban areas through tighter environmental policy may provide a cost-effective way to reduce crime. read more »
Meeting the commitments made in the Paris Agreement on climate change will require different approaches in different countries. However, a common feature in many contexts relates to the continued and sometimes increasing significance of the carbon footprints of urban centres. These footprints consider both production or territorial (i.e. Scope 1 and 2) emissions, and consumption […]
The UK’s 50 largest cities could save £7 billion annually and create over 90,000 years’ worth of extra employment by adopting simple measures to cut their energy use and counter climate change. The most comprehensive survey yet of cities’ energy-saving capabilities shows they are failing to capitalise on profitable opportunities which could slash costs for […]
The rationale for energy efficiency policy can be framed in terms of a variety of different benefits. This paper considers how different benefits have been used within the overall rationale for energy efficient retrofit policy in different contexts. We posit that different rationales may be used for the same policy response, and that the form […]
The rapid urbanisation of the twentieth century, along with the spread of high-consumption urban lifestyles, has led to cities becoming the dominant drivers of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing these impacts is crucial, but production-based frameworks of carbon measurement and mitigation—which encompass only a limited part of cities’ carbon footprints—are much more developed and […]
A significant portion of finance for a low-carbon transition is expected to come from private sources. This may be particularly the case in the transport sector, where there is a large private sector presence and substantial investment needs, and in low-income countries, where climate action is unlikely to be the first priority for public finances. […]
Achieving net zero emissions by 2050, as envisioned in the Paris Agreement, will require radical changes to urban form and function. Securing the necessary commitments and resources will be easier in the presence of a compelling economic case for mitigation. Focusing on Recife in Brazil, this article evaluates a wide range of low-carbon measures under […]
The literature on socio-technical transitions considers how technological innovations can be established within the context of an incumbent regime that is often resistant or inflexible to change. Strategic niche management is an approach to catalysing a transition to a new regime using protected ‘niche’ spaces to enable development and experimentation with an innovation. Intermediary actors […]
Cities remain blind to a huge slice of their overall carbon footprint, a new study by CCCEP researchers has found. Calculations by the team at the University of Leeds, based on a study of Bristol, suggest that less than a third of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the electricity or the fuel used […]
