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

Carbon storage in mature forests

April 2020: Mature forests may have limited capacities to absorb extra carbon in the atmosphere due to restricting environmental growth conditions. The results could significantly impact forest carbon accounting methods and severely impact government strategies to achieve carbon neutrality targets.

Resilient energy systems in the built environment

April 2020: Extreme weather events challenge the resilience of energy systems in the built environment and can lead to a higher frequency of costly partial or total blackouts. Researchers recommend increasing adaptive capacities and mitigation efforts for exiting systems and focussing on energy resilience during urban planning.

Beach erosion

April 2020: Climate change may amplify natural beach erosion which could significantly impact on sensitive wildlife habitats and coastal communities. Researchers are calling for increased adaptive capacities from coastal communities to build resilience and to increase efforts to curb climate change.

Changes in distribution of marine species

April 2020: Increasing ocean temperatures may be a significant contributor to latitudinal changes in population distribution, abundance, and seasonality of marine species. Marine species migrating away from the equator towards cooler poleward waters present significant risks to food security for coastal communities and may cause knock-on effects on local marine ecosystems.

Urban drainage systems

March 2020: Current urban drainage systems are at risk of system failure due to climate change induced rising frequencies of extreme weather. Experts recommend augmenting current capacities using hydraulic distribution systems (e.g. relief tunnels, storage units) and combining them with green infrastructures.

Building design to minimise carbon emissions

March 2020: A novel technique to assemble wooden buildings uses preconfigured sub-units of cross-laminated timber to build 8-12 story high buildings. The technique only emits half the emissions compared to conventional steel and/or reinforced concrete constructions and allows for buildings to absorb carbon post construction.

Net emissions from electric cars

March 2020: Electrification of passenger road transport and domestic heating may lead to emissions reductions, regardless of the source of the electricity. The reports support the expansion of electric heat pumps and electric cars alongside decarbonising electricity generation, insulating homes, and improving public transport to reach emission targets.

Consumer driven de-growth

March 2020: Consumer driven ‘de-growth’ may incentivise large scale shifts in social values and production or consumption patterns. These shifts could lead to less resource intense and localised production patterns or integrating services into core business such as repair services. If economies were to embrace zero or negative GDP growth, it could potentially offer competitive advantage for businesses that are able to adapt.

Environmental change as enabler for disease transmission

March 2020: The spread of emerging infectious disease can be amplified by climate change and habitat loss. Environmental change is altering human-wildlife interactions which can accelerate the spread and intensity of disease outbreaks. It is recommended to treat disease outbreaks as symptoms of environmental degradation instead of isolated incidents.

Accelerated ice loss in Greenland

February 2020: Accelerated ice loss in Greenland corresponds to the IPCC high-end climate scenario and identifies warming oceans and warmer air temperatures as primary catalysts. Melting ice will cause sea levels to rise, which, in turn, exposes more coastal communities to flooding, hurricanes, and storm surges. It strengthens calls to mitigate climate change and limit warming to the IPCC’s low-end scenario.

Other resources

Education

Contact

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.