Sustainability

Climate services are intended to improve climate-sensitive decisions by making climate information ‘useful, useable and used’. Professor Milind Kandlikar’s (SPPGA; IRES) co-authors a study to evaluate whether this model of climate science has been successfully implemented in the public sector (Subscription).

The World Trade Organization hopes to conclude negotiations over fishing subsidies this year after a twenty-year impasse. SPPGA Professor Kristen Hopewell was quoted on this article on environmentally damaging fisheries subsidies worth $35 billion, with China handing out the most (Subscription).

After state officials unveiled Wyoming’s Natrium nuclear project, industry critics are doubtful plans will follow through. Director Allison Macfarlane warns that “we can’t pin our hopes on [nuclear] as the thing that’s going to get us out of the next 20 [crucial] years.”

This book, edited By Mary Menton and Philippe Le Billon, is about environmental defenders and the violence they face while seeking to protect their land and the environment.

With the WTO and Biden administration prioritizing environmental concerns, Professor Rashid Sumaila (SPPGA; Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries) is optimistic that an agreement to ban harmful fisheries can be reached in the near future.

Professor David Boyd (SPPGA; IRES; UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment) brings an inspiring message for this year’s Biodiversity Day.

“The pollution in Mpumalanga is just one example of the devastating impact of air pollution on children.” Professor David Boyd (SPPGA; IRES; UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment) intervenes in a landmark legal case in South Africa as a friend of the court.

Professor David Boyd (SPPGA; IRES; UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment) comments on plastics manufacturers taking the federal government to court after Ottawa designated their products as toxic (Subscription).

Want to know how a certain farm intervention affects yields in your part of the world? Zia Mehrabi & Professor Navin Ramankutty (SPPGA & UBC IRES) worked together to create FarmGeek, an online tool that will help you do just that.

Claudia Ituarte-Lima co-edited two discussion briefs that synthesize findings and recommendations from a study entitled, ‘Prosperous and green in the Anthropocene: The human right to a healthy environment in Southeast Asia (2020)’.

Claudia Ituarte-Lima (SPPGA Visiting Scholar) co-authored a new chapter titled, The Trans-Formative with Trans-Parency: Untapping Ground-up Environmental Information and New Technologies for Sustainability.

A treaty aiming to protect activists in Latin America could be a “life-saving game changer” according to Professor David Boyd (SPPGA; IRES; UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment).

SPPGA Director Allison Macfarlane speaks on the feasibility of small modular nuclear reactors and waste management in wake of New Brunswick’s plan for deployment of SMRs (Article in French).

Three independent UN human rights experts, including Professor David Boyd (SPPGA; IRES) expressed deep regret over Japan’s decision to discharge potentially radioactive Fukushima nuclear plant water into the ocean, impacting millions across the Pacific.

“One cannot have both: nuclear power and sustainable renewable energy.” Professor Ramana and co-authors makes a case against SMRs for New Brunswick.

Researchers are making use of new gene-editing techniques in medicine, bioenergy, industrial biotechnology, and beyond, and the field of crop breeding is no exception. Milind Kandlikar co-authors a study examining this phenomenon.

As the 10th anniversary of the Fukushima accident approaches, SPPGA Director Allison Macfarlane discusses how to reconceive the risks of nuclear power plants in the process of transitioning away from the carbon economy.

Professor David Boyd (SPPGA; IRES) recently presented a UN report on the global water crisis, particularly on its disproportionate effects and state/business obligations to ensure safe and sufficient water for all.

Complete transition to cooking gas reduces gender inequality by improving women’s respiratory health. Professor Milind Kandlikar’s (SPPGA; IRES) co-written paper says that improving the affordability, supply and reliability of clean fuels should be a key focus.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were created with the mission of realigning the global development track with the current realities of the world. But five years after the commitment to SDGs, MPPGA student Kingsley Eze writes, the challenges of financing remain.