Oxford Net Zero

Two more days to apply for the 2025 edition of the Global Youth Climate Training! Applications are due this Friday, 21 March. Don't wait – apply now!

Just ONE more week to apply for the 2025 Global Youth Climate Training! If you're aged 16 to 35 and you want to develop the skills to engage in global climate policy and negotiations, we want to hear from you! Scroll down for more details and the application link. ⬇️ ⬇️

Thank you so much to Dr Aline Soterroni and Prof Nathalie Seddon for their fantastic talk on why "Net Zero Needs Nature and Nature Needs Net Zero" on Wednesday! A recording will be available soon. A huge thank you to all of the speakers who were part of our "Reality of Net Zero" seminar series. We appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge with so many people! Thank you also to our wonderful co-hosts, Oxford Earth Sciences and The ZERO Institute - University of Oxford. And most of all, thank you to everyone who attended! We hope you enjoyed the series as much as we did. If you missed the seminar on battery energy storage from Prof Paul Shearing and Prof David Howey last week, a recording of their talk is now available: https://lnkd.in/eKBn6PAR You can also download their slides from the seminar series webpage (https://lnkd.in/eM86K7Bu), where you can find recordings of the previous talks in the series. University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science Oxford Climate Research Network Oxford Climate Society Oxford Climate Alumni Network Nature-Based Solutions Initiative

Join us this coming Wednesday at 12pm GMT for the very last seminar in our "Reality of Net Zero" seminar series! Dr Aline Soterroni and Prof Nathalie Seddon will give a talk on why "Net Zero Needs Nature and Nature Needs Net Zero". All are welcome. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/eenz_Xuk The ZERO Institute - University of Oxford Oxford Earth Sciences Nature-Based Solutions Initiative School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford Department of Biology, University of Oxford Oxford Martin School

We continue to celebrate #InternationalWomensDay, with the female solar engineers of #Pakistan.  The global energy market is shifting to renewables and bustling with job opportunities – but gender gaps remain in this traditionally male-dominated sector.   In a new case study, Fatima Khushnud investigates how professional network Women in Energy Pakistan and Shams Power Limited trained and empowered women to take new jobs in the #EnergyTransition. Across the Global North and South women face many of the same challenges when taking on corporate roles, including family pressures, logistical issues and social norms. Addressing these and other barriers is essential for ensuring equal opportunities in the global renewable energy sector. With thanks to our partner SSE plc and to VP of Sustainability Rachel McEwen for being a champion of this work and helping to raise the voices of women in the power sector.  fatima khushnud is an Oxford Net Zero Research Associate and Chief Operating Officer, Pact Capital AG. Sam Fankhauser Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Report in comments below 👇

Last week the UK's Climate Change Committee published its Seventh Carbon Budget, which recommends a cap on emissions for the five-year period 2038 to 2042 (we are currently in the Fourth Carbon Budget period). The UK government will now consider the report, and must propose a cap to Parliament before the end of June 2026. In a new expert comment piece for the University of Oxford website, Dr Injy Johnstone, Jess Zionts, Millie Sutton and Sindi Kuci break down what the report means for how the UK works to achieve net zero by 2050, looking specifically at carbon trading, carbon removals, aviation, land use – and the thorny issue of who pays. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e8SpYp9a Environmental Change Institute (ECI), University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment - University of Oxford Oxford Sustainable Finance Group School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford

Call for abstracts! On 31 July, we will be co-hosting the Inaugural Oxford Symposium on the Carbon Removal Budget: Bridging Science, Equity, and Innovation at Rhodes House. In the context of this Symposium, we invite abstracts (by 18 April) of 300-500 words that address, but are not limited to, one or more of the following themes:  - Defining the carbon removal budget - Equity and governance of the carbon removal budget - Embedding carbon removal budgets into #ClimateGovernance - Utilisation pathways of the carbon removal budget - Determining national carbon removal budgets - Corporate and financial applications of #CarbonRemoval budgeting In partnership with Oxford Net Zero and Oxford Sustainable Finance Group. Dr Injy Johnstone Ben Caldecott

📈 Climate rules aren’t slowing down—they’re surging! 🚀 The Oxford Climate Policy Monitor’s 2024 Annual Review is here! In 2024, we tracked: 🏛️ 250+ climate rules 🌍 Across 30 jurisdictions 📖 Covering disclosure, transition planning & public procurement And we dug deep, drawing on a global network of law firms to assess each rule against 200+ data points. So, what’s happening? ✅ 21 jurisdictions introduced new disclosure rules since 2023 ✅ 24 jurisdictions have mandatory rules around transition planning ✅ 27 jurisdictions are committing to green public procurement But here’s the catch… 📉 ⚠️ Only 16/30 require financial institutions to disclose physical climate risks ⚠️ Just 17/30 require Scope 3 emissions disclosure ⚠️ A mere 15% of policies address offsets & removals ⚠️ Only 9/20 jurisdictions consider how to implement green procurement rules at the contract performance stage The verdict? Quantity, but a critical need for enhanced quality. As we head toward COP30 in Belém, Brazil, we must ensure climate ambition turns into real action. Pledges alone won’t cut it—governments must deliver. Dive into the full report to see if climate rules are up to the task: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eQGNxVgp

Thank you so much to Prof Paul Shearing and Prof David Howey for a great seminar today on battery energy storage! A recording will be shared soon. If you missed last week's seminar from Prof Michael Kendall on equitable access to the natural resources we need for net zero, check it out on our YouTube channel: https://lnkd.in/ePtzeg9Y You can also download his slides here: https://lnkd.in/eC3B8mJU Join us next Wednesday at 12pm for the last seminar in our "Reality of Net Zero" series! Dr Aline Soterroni and Prof Nathalie Seddon will be taking us through why "Net Zero Needs Nature and Nature Needs Net Zero". Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/eenz_Xuk The ZERO Institute - University of Oxford University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science Oxford Earth Sciences Nature-Based Solutions Initiative

Happening TOMORROW: Prof Paul Shearing and Prof David Howey will give a talk on "Battery Energy Storage in Low Carbon Grids" as part of our "Reality of Net Zero seminar series. Join us online at 11am GMT – all welcome! Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/ewEbpRB5 The ZERO Institute - University of Oxford University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science Oxford Earth Sciences Oxford Climate Research Network Oxford Climate Alumni Network Oxford Climate Society School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford