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Impacts: I) Enhanced public engagement with, and understanding of, climate mitigation by individuals, delivered through two successful popular science publications and sustained bodies of media and outreach work. II) Public policy formation related to climate change mitigation.
Significance and reach: Impacts of the popular science books include >5,500 sales of a children's book (2009 - 2011) and documented household-level behaviour changes in energy usage. The European Commission issued new directives on energy saving appliances in December 2008.
Underpinned by: Research into the role of individuals in climate change mitigation, undertaken at the University of Edinburgh (2001 onwards).
Climate change, and the need to feed 9-10 billion people by 2050, are two of the greatest challenges facing humanity this century. Agriculture needs to provide more food from less input, and with agriculture contributing around a quarter of human greenhouse gas emissions, it needs to do so while reducing its impact on the climate. Research in UoA6, led by Pete Smith underpins (a) international climate policy choices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and (b) development of a greenhouse gas accounting software tool, The Cool Farm Tool. This is being used in 18 countries around the world (including some of the largest emitting countries) by a consortium of the world's leading agri-food companies including e.g. Unilever, PepsiCo, Tesco, Heineken, Heinz, McCain, Sysco, Ben & Jerry's, Costco, Yara and Marks & Spencer, to reduce the climate impact of farming. These major companies control large parts of the global food supply chain and have ambitious emission reduction targets. Through both policy and industry channels, this work is having a global impact on greenhouse gas emission reductions in agriculture, by raising consciousness of emissions from agriculture, and engaging farmers and producers in practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thereby promoting climate friendly farming.
The specific impacts on the environment are: (a) increased awareness of greenhouse gas emissions by producers, reduced climate impact of farming for growers and suppliers, (b) influence of policy debate on climate change and farming; impacts on production are that costs of production have been reduced, and impacts on commerce are: (a) the adoption of new technology and (b) improvement in the environmental performance of leading agri-food companies.
Since 2005 the Agriculture and Environment Research Unit has undertaken an extensive programme of research related to mitigating the climate change impacts arising from agricultural land management policies and practices. The research findings that identified the impact on climate change of various policies, schemes and farming initiatives have been instrumental since 2008 in providing UK policy makers, farmers and their advisors with data and tools that helped to formulate improved climate change mitigation policies. They also contributed to the development of key guidance materials that supported the implementation of these policies on the farm.
This case study describes the impacts of the work undertaken at Manchester Metropolitan University's (MMU) Centre for Aviation, Transport, and the Environment (CATE), on international and national policy and legislation for reducing CO2 emissions from aviation and shipping. The research has provided a robust technical basis for emissions reductions of CO2 from aviation and the maritime sectors. It has influenced international and national policy development of the International Civil Aviation Organization through their Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (ICAO-CAEP), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the European Commission (EC), and the UK Committee on Climate Change (UKCCC). Greenhouse gas emission reductions have been pledged under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP) as a result of the United Nations Environment Program's (UNEP) influential report "Bridging the Emissions Gap", in which a chapter on aviation and shipping was led by CATE staff ([1], sec.3, numerical references to the research).
This case study highlights the impact of LSE research on national and international carbon pricing policy. This includes a fundamental change in the way the UK government sets a carbon price for policy and project appraisal, and its approach to carbon trading in Europe. LSE work has also had impact beyond the UK, in particular on legislating — for the first time — policies to price carbon in strategically important countries across the world, including Australia, China, Mexico and South Korea.
Joint research by the Logistics Research Centre (LRC) and the Transport Research Laboratory Ltd directly influenced the government's decision in 2008 to allow which categories of longer and heavier vehicles (LHVs) onto UK roads. One category out of seven was recommended. This decision was informed by findings relating to impact on the railfreight business and road infrastructure. The LRC subsequently provided advice on cost/benefit of the excluded category (longer semi-trailers) which contributed to the government's decision in 2011 to undertake a ten year trial of 15.6m and 16.6m trailers on UK roads. In 2010-11 the LRC's research on double-deck vehicles was used by the UK government and Freight Transport Association as evidence for opposition to an EU proposal to limit trailer heights to four metres, a measure which would have imposed a significant economic and environmental penalty on the UK.