Sustainability Horizons is CISL’s monthly scan of issues and evidence coming into view, but which may not yet feature in the mainstream sustainability debate. This is not a prediction of the future, but a way of helping practitioners and policymakers to get early notice of new ideas, trends or evidence, to inform their own view of what might or should happen as a result. Find out more about our own work in developing new ideas and approaches that have the potential to deliver transformational change and rewire the economy.

Latest review

Sustainability of organic food production

January 2019: A study using the carbon opportunity cost metric shows that organic agriculture has a higher climate footprint than conventional farming methods. The study looks at direct and indirect land-use impacts and recommends not to look at farming methods alone, but at policy changes that favour structural reforms and a holistic approach to farming.

Bee vaccine

January 2019: Scientists developed a vaccine for honeybees and other pollinators. This study is proof of concept that insects can be vaccinated against microbes. The vaccine could support the increase of bee resilience and could protect honeybees from diseases that are currently decimating bee populations.

Hedges for urban planning

January 2019: Planting dense hedges as street level air filters cuts back black carbon, decreases heavy metals originating from traffic, and reduces the level of ultrafine and sub-micron particles in the air. Urban planners that include a combination of trees and hedges might have better results in improving health and well-being for urban residents.

Challenges in the global food system

December 2018: In a global three-year research collaboration across the globe, the InterAcademy Partnership released their findings that underline the unsustainability of our current food system. Experts point out that the cost of the damage to human health and the environment is greater than profits of the farming industry. They point towards evidence-based opportunities for businesses and policymakers that range from climate-smart food systems to international science advisory mechanisms.

Gender inequality and environmental resilience

December 2018: Gender inequality can have ancillary consequences for climate change and climate resilience. Climate change vulnerability reinforces gender disparities and can lead to higher levels of violence in developing countries.

Financial actors and climate stability

December 2018: A recent study identifies a small set of financial actors that have an extended ability to influence climate stability. It points towards an explicit link between stock ownership, global institutional investors and so-called tipping elements in the Earth’s system such as the Amazon or boreal forests.

Disease and malnutrition

December 2018: Research identifies malnutrition as the primary factor in the global burden of disease. Policies such as sugar taxes, awareness campaigns, and new data generation technologies offer a large potential to understand people’s eating habits and to design target interventions.

Inequality and poverty in Britain

December 2018: A UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty visited the UK. His preliminary report points to extreme levels of child poverty in the UK and that a fifth of the British population is living in poverty despite rising employment levels, economic growth, and pockets of high wealth levels. His findings identify poor skill levels amongst workers, weak infrastructures, lack of affordable housing, and the centralisation of political and commercial power in London as main impact factors on poverty in Britain.

Decline of vertebrate populations

December 2018: WWF published its Living Planet 2018 report. It states that between 1970 and 2014 the global vertebrate population declined by 60 per cent. The figure represents the average population decline among 4,000 species. It calls for converging the environmental and human development agenda. and estimates that nature currently provides services worth $125 trillion a year.

Starch levels in algae biomass

December 2018: Scientists found a new way of controlling the level of starch content in algae. Producing higher levels of algae-derived starch represents a valuable resource for biofuels and the production of other renewable materials such as fuel additives, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and bioplastics.

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Adele Wiliams

Adele Williams, Communications and Media Manager

Email | T: +44 (0)1223 768451

Disclaimer

The views expressed in these external research papers are those of the authors and do not represent an official position of CISL, the University of Cambridge, or any of its individual business partners or clients.

Sustainability Horizons: what’s coming into view?

Find out more about our own work in developing new ideas and approaches that have the potential to deliver transformational change and rewire the economy.