Will McDowall
willmcdowall.bsky.social
Will McDowall
@willmcdowall.bsky.social

Academic at UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources.
Check out my new book for kids: https://www.walker.co.uk/9781529509151/your-planet-needs-you-brilliant-jobs-to-protect-your-world/

Energy 25%
Environmental science 22%

Reposted by Will McDowall

Why do definitions of the ‘green economy’ matter for different outcomes? And how can we measure its impact more accurately? 🌿

Read more in the blog and paper by @ucl.ac.uk's @willmcdowall.bsky.social: tinyurl.com/32yu8peh
Rethinking "green" economic data: Why definitions matter - ESCoE
The report reviews the definitions of ‘green’ economic activity, and recommends ways to improve measurement.
tinyurl.com

Reposted by Will McDowall

🌱 What counts as “green” economic activity? And how should we measure it?

A new ESCoE paper by
@willmcdowall.bsky.social & Janina Fuchs explores how we define and track the green economy, and why getting it right matters. tinyurl.com/32yu8peh

#Research #Sustainability
Rethinking "green" economic data: Why definitions matter - ESCoE
The report reviews the definitions of ‘green’ economic activity, and recommends ways to improve measurement.
tinyurl.com

I absolutely agree that there are no easy approaches. The solutions in the book all help, but none is a silver bullet.

Delighted to see my own book on this list!

"Your planet needs you: brilliant jobs to protect your world" explains solutions to climate change, through the climate-saving jobs that kids can grow up to do.

Order your copy now!
We're publishing an amazing range of beautiful books in July!

Learn more about all of our July books at www.walker.co.uk

My children's book on climate action comes out today, from the brilliant @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social

The book introduces kids to the solutions to climate change, through the climate-saving jobs they can grow up to do.

Get your copy now! uk.bookshop.org/p/books/your...

Reposted by Will McDowall

We're publishing an amazing range of beautiful books in July!

Learn more about all of our July books at www.walker.co.uk

Reposted by Will McDowall

BREAKING: Over 100 U.K. advertising organizations have joined forces to back a nationwide ban on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship. 💪

#FossilFuelAdsMakeMeSick #GreenSky

🗞️
U.K. Ad Agencies Call For Total Ban On Fossil Fuel Marketing
British ad industry organizations have launched a campaign calling on the government to treat fossil fuels much as it treats tobacco products.
www.forbes.com

#Heatflation is here: the UK's driest spring/early summer is pushing up the cost of food.

File under #costsofinaction on #climatechange

www.ft.com/content/aeef...
Dry weather pushes up UK food inflation as harvests suffer
Price increases in June hit highest rate in more than a year, according to British Retail Consortium
www.ft.com

They haven't! They've just said they cannot keep the internal temperature low enough to make learning possible.

Lots of young street trees in London are suffering and dying in these hot/dry conditions. If you live near a young street tree, give it a bucket of water today!
Cycling on a hot and humid day like this, you definitely notice the streets with trees. Planting trees in cities might not be a climate mitigation strategy but it’s definitely an adaptation one.

Reposted by Will McDowall

Cycling on a hot and humid day like this, you definitely notice the streets with trees. Planting trees in cities might not be a climate mitigation strategy but it’s definitely an adaptation one.

For the second time in two weeks, my son's school is being closed early because of extreme heat.

It was built in 2012.

The UK is shockingly under-prepared for climate change.

I'm delighted that my forthcoming children's book on climate change has been profiled by @thebookseller.com

The book explains the solutions to climate change, through the jobs that kids can grow up to do. Pre-order here: www.waterstones.com/book/9781529...

Reposted by Will McDowall

Genuinely shocked how far and fast the Conservative Party has fallen on climate change. They’re now at the accusing climate scientists of ‘bias’ and considering quitting the Paris Agreement stage of things.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

New paper!

Should we ban adverts for polluting goods?

Our case study shows that banning adverts of a harmful product can induce innovation in a benign alternative

doi.org/10.1016/j.ei...

@badvertising.bsky.social
Advertising restrictions and sustainability transitions: does banning advertising of harmful products induce innovation in benign alternatives?
Environmental activists increasingly seek to ban advertising of polluting products. Advertising bans (of tobacco and alcohol for example) have been wi…
www.sciencedirect.com

It's great to see this in print - I had fun commenting on an earlier draft.

Hydrogen will play a very important role in decarbonisation... but we shouldn't expect it to be ubiquitous cure-all
🚨 New paper drop

Must-read by a stellar group incl. @mliebreich.bsky.social, @iain-staffell.bsky.social

H2 isn’t silver bullet it’s made out to be. It has a role—just not everywhere.

Best bets: parts of industry, long-haul, storage
Not useful: home heating, cars

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Reposted by Will McDowall

🚨 New paper drop

Must-read by a stellar group incl. @mliebreich.bsky.social, @iain-staffell.bsky.social

H2 isn’t silver bullet it’s made out to be. It has a role—just not everywhere.

Best bets: parts of industry, long-haul, storage
Not useful: home heating, cars

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

We've been through this cycle before with H2, so many times

Hydrogen's 'swiss army knife' character -- doing any job -- makes it uniquely well positioned for hype. Radically different interests can all see their future in hydrogen. It's a hype magnet.

I'm *loving* these air quality stripes.

Let's hope Saudi Arabia can sort out this horror show before the world cup in 2034.

Air quality stripes plot for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: airqualitystripes.info/stripes/?con...
Air Quality Stripes
airqualitystripes.info

I agree it's a critical issue - but pls expand on 'government will need to take a view'. It makes sense for heat pumps to be installed by multi-competence teams rather than 'boiler guy', but what are the policy options for reshaping the industry structure? Plenty of room for policy screwups...

Also: look at how the IEA still likes to publish futures in which the rate of solar PV growth plummets

Where's the data from James? Could you reply with the link?

Come and work at the UCL Energy Institute - We're hiring a lecturer in energy and life-cycle sustainability.

Please share widely!

www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk

Reposted by Will McDowall


📢🆕Early view❗️

How do cultures of evidence vary across countries & policy domains❔

@willmcdowall.bsky.social focuses on energy policymaking & compares the culture of evidence in #UK #Germany #Netherlands 👇

doi.org/10.1093/pols...

Really pleased to see government supporting #HeatPumps today - scrapping the 1m rule, extending the boiler upgrade scheme, and getting the market-based mechanism going.

www.gov.uk/government/n...
Help to save households money and deliver cleaner heat to homes
Up to 300,000 homes to benefit from upgrades next year, as government continues rollout of the Warm Homes Plan.
www.gov.uk

Check out my new paper - focused on differences in the understanding and use of evidence in energy policy.

What makes evidence credible? Can we separate 'facts' from 'values'? Different evidence cultures appear to deal with these questions in different ways.

doi.org/10.1093/pols...
Exploring cultures of evidence in energy policymaking in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands
Abstract. This paper explores different “cultures of evidence” in energy policymaking in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. The urgent energy system tra
doi.org

Come and work with us at UCL!

We're hiring a new teaching-focused lecturer in innovation & sustainability, to support our new undergrad programme in the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources

Feel free to get in touch to ask about the role.

www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk

Delighted that we came 4th in the #CBQuiz - yesterday's most important global news, obvs.

Thanks @carbonbrief.org for hosting!
And the 🏆winners🏆 of the #CBQuiz 2024 are....

Call Me Mabey (@e3g.bsky.social)!

Congratulations, and thank you all for playing. You can take a look at the full leaderboard below.

See you next year!

Reposted by Will McDowall

And the 🏆winners🏆 of the #CBQuiz 2024 are....

Call Me Mabey (@e3g.bsky.social)!

Congratulations, and thank you all for playing. You can take a look at the full leaderboard below.

See you next year!

Interested in doing a PhD in energy/environment research at UCL's Institute for Sustainable Resources?

Check out the UBEL doctoral training partnership. ubel-dtp.ac.uk/esrc-student...

You need to find a supervisor and an outline project, and submit an outline application by December 2nd.
ESRC Studentships Main Competition - UBEL DTP
ESRC Studentships Main Competition The UBEL DTP’s fully funded ESRC studentships cover full payment of tuition fees per year and an annual maintenance stipend. What’s on offer UBEL DTP studentships co...
ubel-dtp.ac.uk