News

Citation

(2012), "News", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 13 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe.2012.24913aaa.002

News

Article Type: News From: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Volume 13, Issue 1

EWG report – “Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change and Health”

This report, by the UK-based Environmental Working Group (EWG), seeks to provide useful information about the climate, environmental and health impacts of our protein choices. To assess climate impacts, EWG partnered with CleanMetrics to do life cycle assessments of 20 popular types of meat and fish, dairy and vegetable proteins, calculating the full cradle-to-grave carbon footprint of each food item based on the greenhouse gas emissions generated before and after the food leaves the farm. It notes that different foods and different production systems have varying health, climate and other environmental impacts. Lamb, beef, cheese, pork and farmed salmon generate the most greenhouse gases, largely because producing them requires the most resources. Meat, eggs and dairy products that are certified organic, humane and/or grass-fed are generally the least environmentally damaging (although a few studies of the impact on climate showed mixed results for grass-fed versus confined-feedlot meat). Greenhouse gas emissions vary depending on the quantity of chemical fertilisers, fuel and other production inputs used, differences in soil conditions and production systems and the extent to which best practices (cover cropping, intensive grazing, manure management, etc.) are implemented along the entire supply chain. This report discusses the emissions associated with different life cycle stages, as well as making recommendations for how to reduce diet-related carbon footprints. It also discusses the links between meat eating and health, and the benefits of organic, grass-fed and pasture-raised produce. Details can be seen at: www.static.ewg.org/reports/2011/meateaters/pdf/report_ewg_meat_eaters_guide_to_health_and_climate_2011.pdf

iGreen – the new CHARM Facebook application

The CHARM project (www.projectcharm.info/), funded by the RCUK Digital Economy Programme, integrates practice theory from sociology, the social norm approach from social psychology, and digital technologies to investigate novel routes to sustainable behaviour change. Social psychology research shows that our everyday activities are influenced by what we believe to be “normal” behaviour. With this in mind, the social norm approach attempts to change behaviour in socially desirable ways by telling people what other people do. Practice theory emphasises the habitual, routine nature of individual behaviour and the ways in which behaviour is shaped by the broader sociotechnical context within which it takes place. This approach suggests that sustainable or unsustainable behaviours are best understood as a product of everyday, taken-for-granted practices, such as heating, lighting, cleaning, travel or recreational practices.

The CHARM approach is distinctive because it employs a diverse range of digital technologies to provide sophisticated social norm feedback to participants. The latest development in the CHARM project is the launch of iGreen, the CHARM Facebook application. iGreen captures and feeds back responses to a series of sustainable lifestyle quizzes. Participants will receive feedback about their own sustainable lifestyle scores and the average scores for their own Facebook friendship group. At a later date, participants will be invited to retake the sustainable lifestyle quizzes, with further rounds of social norm feedback.

Online discussion – “Which technology innovations will meet the world’s energy challenge?”

Comment:Visions invites participation in a new online discussion considering technology innovations with the potential to meet the world’s energy challenge. Comment:Visions was born out of a partnership between the global channel euronews, and the economist-owned newspaper, European Voice, in association with Shell. This project explores the views of thinkers, innovators, decision makers, and scientists about possible solutions to global warming, overpopulation and dwindling resources. Details can be seen at: www.commentvisions.com/2011/07/11/blog/contributing-to-innovation-discussion-on-commentvisions/

Report on “Global governance: the rise of non-state actors” produced

Climate change, growing consumption and urbanisation, spiralling resource use and new health risks are just some of the global pressures the world will face in the twenty-first century. These are the findings from the Assessment of Global Megatrends, recently launched as part of the State and Outlook of the European Environment Report. Since then, the EEA has also released a supporting background report, “Global governance: the rise of the non-state actors”, which describes how non-state actors such as multinational corporations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and scientific organisations are increasingly involved in global governance. These relatively new actors are now taking part in formulating, negotiating and implementing policy at local, regional and global levels. Evidence of this change can be seen in the number of NGOs holding advisory status to the UN Economic and Social Council, which has increased constantly from approximately 700 in 1992 to almost 3,200 now. Details can be seen at: www.eea.europa.eu/highlights