Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. Latest News

Government committee takes evidence on carbon budgets from Tyndall Director

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:17:34 +0100

As seen on Parliament TV

Professor Adger talks about his new book 'Adapting to climate change'

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:17:09 +0100

Watch the interview, from Oslo, on YouTube

Either survive or thrive argues new book

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:16:38 +0100

The costs of adaptation will force governments to redefine what they mean by progress, argues Professor Adger’s 'Adapting to Climate Change', published this week by Cambridge University Press.

Adapting to Climate Change is the latest science of how the risks of climate change will impact water availability, biodiversity, flooding, land inundation and health, and how those impacts might be handled by society. The book comes in the same week that the UK’s Environment Agency called for a doubling of funding to protect the UK from flood damage resulting from future climate change.

Government launches new UK climate projections

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:15:52 +0100

These are the most detailed UK projections to date and include a probabilistic component

Climate change in a myopic world

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:15:24 +0100

Our latest Briefing Note is an opinion piece from Professor Kevin Anderson

ADAM policy conference and final report

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:14:58 +0100

The EU-funded ADAM project (Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies) last week delivered its key findings in Brussels

The final report highlights the key findings of the research. The final section summarizes the findings of two internal evaluations of the researchers' learning experiences within the project

The final report is available below and Cambridge University Press will be publishing a series of four edited books that will discuss in more detail the ADAM project findings

Happy birthday climate change science

Mon, 18 May 2009 13:14:06 +0100

150 years ago on 18 May 1859, John Tyndall's experiments showed the existence of greenhouse gases and therefore 'proved' a greenhouse effect.

£4.5m boost for Tyndall Centre

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:21:56 +0100

The Tyndall Centre has received £4.5 million of new investment to further groundbreaking and independent research. The funding, a combination of UK Research Council and University of East Anglia (UEA) investment, will ensure the long-term continued development of the Centre

The increasingly urgent dimension of climate change demands interdisciplinary and systems-oriented research. With this new investment the Tyndall Centre and its UEA headquarters are now further equipped to respond to these challenges. “In a very short time the Tyndall Centre has developed an outstanding international reputation and UEA is working together with the Tyndall partnership to ensure that its intellectual contribution continues to analyse what is needed for humankind to respond to climate change,” said Prof Trevor Davies, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at UEA. The increasingly urgent dimension of climate change demands interdisciplinary and systems-oriented research. With this new investment the Tyndall Centre and its UEA headquarters are now further equipped to respond to these challenges.

“UEA’s ongoing support will aid the further internationalisation of the Tyndall Centre’s distinctive research and partnerships through new developments across science, the social and economic sciences and engineering.

“I am also delighted that Prof Kevin Anderson from Tyndall’s University of Manchester team has joined Prof Robert Watson at the University of East Anglia to oversee the centre’s new and developing research agenda.”

Professor Anderson’s new role as Research Director is shared between the University of Manchester and UEA.

Prof Anderson said: “Only when we bring together our understanding of science, technology, politics, behaviour and economics we will be in a position to respond to the urgency and magnitude of the challenge we now face. I will ensure that Tyndall continues to apply its expertise to the increasingly international climate change agenda.”

The funding from the Research Councils is for a re-orientated research programme in three cross-cutting themes critical to responding to climate change: transitions to a low carbon society; food, water and human security; and resilience for vulnerable people and places. This new research programme maps to the recently launched Living with Environmental Change partnership of the Research Councils and Government and public bodies.

“The UK and EU cannot tackle the issue of climate change alone,” said Prof Robert Watson, Tyndall’s Director of Strategy and Chief Scientist at the UK’s Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs. Engaging the wider international community, particularly the emerging industrial nations of China and India and Latin America, is central to tackling climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Tyndall Centre and the University of East Anglia are uniquely placed to contribute to this international agenda through its cutting-edge interdisciplinary research.”

Climate Change, Food Security and the Role of Science and Technology

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:21:32 +0100

Tyndall Briefing Note written by Tyndall's Strategic Director, Professor Bob Watson of UEA

Tyndall wins Scottish Award for Quality in Planning

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:19:56 +0100

The 2008 Royal Town Planning Institute Award was won by Glasgow and the Clyde Valley, Seb Carney of the Tyndall Centre, and the METREX Consortium for "outstanding performance and quality in development plans"

The judges said that the work was "innovative an piece of work and offered a solid foundation for future collaboration and the development of measures to control climate change both within Scotland and our wider European partners" The work is based upon the Greenhouse Gas Regional Inventory Protocol (GRIP) that Sebastian developed as part of his PhD - which is now being used in 18 European Regions.

Global experts report on forests and climate change

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:19:29 +0100

Prof Neil Adger and Dr Anita Wreford helped to author the report on the adaptation of forests to climate change

Scrutinising the Climate Change Committee's emissions targets

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:26:29 +0100

Research by Alice Bows, Kevin Anderson and colleagues at Tyndall Manchester demonstrates that the emission reduction targets recommended by the UK’s Committee on Climate Change are too weak to meet the Government’s commitment to not exceed the 2°C threshold between ‘acceptable’ and ‘dangerous’ climate change.

While they welcome the Committee’s report as a step in the right direction, they demonstrate how it is based on highly optimistic assumptions and is in support of the UK buying over a quarter of its emissions reductions from poorer parts of the world and as much as 50% from the EU. They recommend that the Government maintains its leadership by aggressively pursuing domestic emission pathways in line with its 2°C commitment and that using offsets and buy-outs to meet targets now will lock the UK into carbon-intensive development, and make it far harder to develop a genuinely low carbon economy.

Call for papers: 4 Degrees and Beyond, 28-30 September 2009, University of Oxford

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:25:48 +0100

Despite 17 years of political negotiations since the Rio Earth Summit, global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise, which presents the global community with a stark challenge: Either instigate an immediate and radical reversal in existing emission trends or accept global temperature rises well beyond 4°C. This scientific conference will for the first time (1) assess the consequences of a change in global temperature above 4°C for a range of systems and sectors and (2) explore the options that are open for avoiding climate changes of this magnitude.

This is an open call for participants and for abstracts for presentations and posters under the themes of: i) Agriculture, Water and Food Security ii) Vulnerable People and Places iii) Ecosystems and ecosystem services iv) Earth system feedbacks and thresholds v) Emissions reductions.

Places are limited and the closing date for abstract submission is 1 May.

Low carbon society and global sustainability conference

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:25:14 +0100

The Japanese Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science at the University of Tokyo and the UK’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change announce a three day joint symposium on 19-21 May 2009 at UEA in Norwich. The conference will share interdisciplinary learning and knowledge about transitioning to a low carbon society, with specific focus on dialogue between Japanese and UK researchers and established faculty and junior researchers and students

The effects of REDD on local governance and livelihoods

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:24:54 +0100

The UEA School of International Development, the Center for International Forestry Research and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research announce a workshop on 6-7 April on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)

REDD is a proposed UN mechanism to credit the avoidance of deforestation and forest degradation under a post-Kyoto climate change agreement

The Times newspaper interviews Tyndall's Director of Research

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:06:25 +0000

The interview coincides with this week's Science Summit in Copenhagen that it is hoped will send sound science to the policy makers that will be negotiating the UN climate change treaty in December

Environment, Health and Development linked

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:47:47 +0000

Roger Few at the University of East Anglia is leading a new network focussing on the interconnections between environment and human health in the context of poverty and development faced by poorer or more marginalized regions and communities around the world

The climate change implications of Heathrow's third runway

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:24:04 +0000

"It is difficult to underestimate the impact this single decision will have not only on the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, but also in undermining the UK’s hard-earned credibility as a nation at the vanguard of the international climate change agenda. If aviation emissions in 2050 will be no more than they were 2005 (as announced today by the Transport Secretary) then by 2050 the aviation sector will consume all of the UK’s permitted carbon budget" says Professor Kevin Anderson

Tyndall at the Poznan UN climate change meeting

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:00:15 +0000

Partner Universities, Sussex, Oxford, Cambridge, East Anglia and the EU ADAM project are participating in the climate change meeting in Poland 1-12 December.

EU emissions trading and aviation

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:41:03 +0000

The impact of the EU ETS on aviation emissions will be minimal unless it has an early baseline year and an overall cap in keeping with a cumulative emission pathway of 450ppmv

This latest Tyndall Working Paper is by Alice Bows and Kevin Anderson at Tyndall Centre Manchester University

New power stations need an emissions standard

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:40:31 +0000

Jim Watson's, of Sussex University and the Tyndall Centre, new report is today featured by the Guardian newspaper

Government advisers include aviation and shipping in UK climate targets

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:40:01 +0000

The Tyndall Centre in 2005 first highlighted to media and government its rigorous analysis of aviation's conflict with climate change targets

The growing emissions of aviation and shipping and what they mean for climate change targets are ongoing research topics at Tyndall first published in 2005.

Last year's authorative analysis demonstrated what growing aviation and shipping emissions imply for the targets of the draft Climate Change Bill

The EU last week formally approved a proposal to include aviation in the bloc's own emission trading scheme from 2012. Shipping remains excluded.

Polar warming caused by humans

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:23:03 +0000

Research led by UEA's Climatic Research Unit has demonstrated for the first time that human activity is responsible for significant warming in both polar regions

Government includes aviation and shipping in UK climate Bill

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:22:28 +0000

The Tyndall Centre in 2005 first highlighted to media and government its rigorous analysis of aviation's conflict with climate change targets

The growing emissions of aviation and shipping and what they mean for climate change targets are ongoing research topics at Tyndall, with the most recent global results published just last month.

Below is the original 2005 press release, and last year's authorative analysis of what aviation and shipping implied for the targets of the draft Climate Change Bill

The EU last week formally approved a proposal to include aviation in the bloc's own emission trading scheme from 2012. Shipping remains excluded.

Professor Lenton awarded Times Education's best research project of the year

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:20:00 +0000

Tim Lenton won the prestigous THES award for his work on climate change tipping points published earlier this year

Tim's research into the planet's climate change tipping points is part of the GENIE project. His recent work described nine components of the climate system that are at risk of passing a tipping point.

China's emissions to 2100

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:11:13 +0100

These scenarios are co-produced with a range of organisations in Beijing and London to provide valuable insights from Chinese and international experts

This Tyndall project by Tao Wang and Jim Watson at Sussex University aims to assess alternative energy futures for China, and to evaluate the scope for mitigating China's emissions. The central question is whether China can avoid the problem of ‘carbon lock-in’ that is faced by most developed countries and characterised by dependence on carbon intensive energy systems and infrastructure that is difficult to change.

Download your copy of the Tyndall Centre's annual magazine

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:41:06 +0100

This year's edition of The Effect includes research that is supporting climate change policy in the EU, the UK, Mexico, China, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, major cities, coastal England, and at the United Nations.
Hard copies are available please email:

tyndall@uea.ac.uk

Have a target of 2 degrees and plan for 4

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:25:54 +0100

Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows have today published a rigorous analysis of where modern-day emissions might be heading

Their paper, published by the Royal Society, is the first to look at global emissions since 2000 and so includes the rapidly industrialising economies of Asia and South America and incorporates recent deforestation, and spans the six 'main' greenhouse gases. They conclude "By focussing on long-term emission targets, such as 50% by 2050, climate policy has essentially ignored the crucial importance of current emission trends and their impact on cumulative emissions. As a consequence, although we should aim to reduce global emissions in line with a 2ºC target, adaptation policy must focus on climate change impacts associated with 4ºC or more."

2008 Survey on attitudes to climate change & carbon offsetting

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:23:02 +0100

This web survey asks about your attitudes to climate change and carbon offsetting. Your help in completing this web survey will be invaluable for the study.

First International Summit on Policy, Technology and Investment

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:22:32 +0100

The Cambridge Climate Summit 'Entrepreneurship for a Zero Carbon Society' aims to step-up collaborations and understanding between policy, academia and business through enabling the latest research and ideas to be presented by international experts from the key fields involved in tackling climate change.

The Summit is designed to bring together cutting-edge energy research and innovative businesses to move the highly multidisciplinary clean energy innovation community forward on the scale required for a carbon free future. Relevant fields also include environmental tax reform and commercialization of low-carbon technologies. Pioneering technologies will be showcased by industrial participants as well as the latest student research in these areas.

All who are interested in politics, policy making, science, engineering, energy supply and green-technology are welcome. Held in the historic city of Cambridge amongst its impressive ancient and modern buildings, the meeting includes a banquet and plenty of opportunity for relaxed discussion and networking. We look forward to seeing you in September...

The challenges of using market mechanisms to trade ecosystem services

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:21:19 +0100

This is a summary of a recently published paper by Esteve Corbera and Katrina Brown in the leading development studies journal World Development

Their research exposes the difficulties in designing institutions to market forest-carbon and the constraints and challenges facing developing country governments if they are to effectively participate in global markets.

Measuring Impact : Highlights 2007-2008

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:20:39 +0100

This Briefing Note summarises the science and knowledge exchange highlights within this year's Annual Report to the UK's Research Councils

Adaptation and Mitigation for Europe

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:19:56 +0100

The EU ADAM project, a consortium of 26 research organisations led by Tyndall UEA, has published its interim research results

ADAM is supporting the EU in the development of post-2012 global climate policies, in the definition of EU mitigation policies to reach its 2020 goals, and the emergence of new adaptation policies for Europe with special attention to the role of extreme weather

Director appointed to Living with Environmental Change

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:17:26 +0100

Professor Andrew Watkinson, of the University of East Anglia and the Tyndall Centre Director, has today been appointed the first director of the UK's dynamic initiative in response to the real and urgent threats posed by our changing environment.

Living With Environmental Change (LWEC) is an unprecedented partnership of 17 research, business and policy-making organisations working together to find ways to adapt to the environmental changes that we face now and in the future. The programme, which has been driven forward by the Natural Environment Research Council, aims to ensure that policy-makers, businesses and individuals are best equipped to address challenges such as climate change, flooding, food and water shortages, globalisation and population growth.