Oscar Mitcham

Editor's note #1

Sorry fruit bats, Republicans give you a bad name.

David Lammy calls for climate justice in Kew Lecture

David Lammy gave his first major speech as Foreign Secretary on 17th September in Kew Gardens. His speech was intersectional, covering global inequality, indigenous knowledge, and racial justice all as part of – and essential to – climate justice. Lammy explained the core idea of his approach that “nothing could be more

Britain’s last coal-fired power plant shuts down

Britain’s only remaining coal power plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar closed on Monday. The plant had run for 57 years and its closure has seen widespread coverage in the national press with The Guardian calling the shutdown the “end of an era.” Coal has been part of the UK’s energy

Imperial's sustainability policy is already making its mark

In 2022/23 Imperial emitted 240,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). Focusing just on Imperial’s direct emissions and emissions from purchased energy – scopes 1 and 2 respectively – it is not only among the top five highest emitting UK universities but also has the highest emissions of any

£400 Sophia Prize up for grabs again this year

Get writing. Say something.

Not the End of the World

Hannah Ritchie's Not the End of the World is a thing from which you can emerge hopeful. In it, Dr Ritchie addresses each of seven planetary crises: air pollution, climate change, deforestation, food, biodiversity loss, ocean plastics, and overfishing. The book is extremely high-level. It looks at each

Interviewing Imperial about their new climate policies

Last month, Imperial announced a series of new commitments, reports and policies setting out how the university plans to reach net zero without offsets by 2040, in line with their sustainability strategy. I interviewed Academic lead for Sustainability, Professor Tim Green, and Sustainability Officer Rhea Samra about Imperial’s new

Election time: what's in the manifestos?

UK elections are coming up on 4th July. If you can, vote. An important issue for many voters is how each political party will tackle the climate crisis if elected, so this article summarises some of what each party has promised. For more details, read their manifestos. A Friends of

Plant-based Universities motion loses 11-13 in Union Council

30th April saw the Union Council’s latest meeting. Only one motion was presented - “Just and sustainable plant-based catering at Student Union outlets to tackle the climate crisis” by grassroots campaigners from Plant-based Universities (PBU). The vote was close, with the result being 11 for, 13 against, and 2

Imperial's new plan to save 519,500 tCO2e and get to net zero

In 2020, Imperial committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2040 and reducing their emissions by 15% by 2025-26. The Annual Sustainability Report 2022-23 recommits to achieving net zero for their operational emissions (about 20% of Imperial’s total) without offsets by 2040. Imperial’s decarbonisation strategy, created by

Sustainability Fortnight recap

Sustainability Fortnight was a blast, but you might not have known about it.

The tools for sustainable development

Imperial's Centre for Environmental Policy has helped write a guide for how the Global South can go from data to deal.