Blog

Updates on COP21 negotations

Updates during the Paris climate change negotiations from the charity Legal Response Initiative (I’m a trustee)

The Legal Response Initiative (LRI) supports delegates from poor and particularly vulnerable developing countries as well as civil society observer organisations free of charge in the international climate negotiations. LRI works through a global network of lawyers from law firms, barrister chambers and universities who provide hands-on assistance during meetings, publish briefing papers and build the capacity of lawyers and negotiators from developing countries. Continue reading Updates on COP21 negotations

The quiet revolution: a ray of hope

As the date of the UN climate change negotiations meeting in Paris draws near, there’s a steady stream of increasingly alarming reports about the likely impacts of climate change, only slightly mitigated by the increasing number of pledges of mostly inadequate action. Continue reading The quiet revolution: a ray of hope

Storytelling for behaviour change

A few weeks ago, I found myself discussing the role of storytelling in behaviour change with Sarah Dillon, one of the lecturers in Cambridge University’s Department of English. As a “techie” by background, visiting the Department of English was new territory for me, and when I learnt that Sarah’s academic specialisation was in “poststructuralist philosophy” I wondered whether I was going to understand a word she said. Continue reading Storytelling for behaviour change

Innovation and inequality

The other day, I was discussing the relationship between inequality and innovation with a couple of academics. Although our current political leaders seem to believe that the UK’s growing economic inequality incentivises innovation and growth, the academics point out that the research data suggests that inequality actually reduces the level of innovation. Continue reading Innovation and inequality