Stories

Cambridge Zero is now recruiting for a number of key roles within the team. Find out more and how to apply here.

This summer Cambridge Zero and the University of Cambridge’s Sustainability team are offering seven paid internships for undergraduates and recent graduates.

These internships will provide the opportunity to gain experience of working on current issues in climate change and the environment in a fast paced and impactful environment. Interns will have access to real-life institutional issues and the professionals that handle them.

Cambridge Zero is pleased to be partnering with the University of Cambridge Careers Service on delivering the University’s second Green Careers Fair and first Green Careers Festival. The transition to a climate-resilient, net zero world will require skilled and talented individuals working in all sectors of society from finance and law to education and healthcare. The changes that will be needed both to mitigate the effects of climate change and adapt to life with climate change are wide-ranging and will need innovative thinkers from across disciplines.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to become part of a joint initiative between the University’s Sustainability Team and Cambridge Zero. This role will support the planning and delivery of a consultation on perspectives towards sustainability across the University which will inform the University’s next Sustainability Strategy.

Are you a problem solver who thrives on challenge? Do you want to take action on climate change? The Cambridge Carbon Challenge is an initiative for student and staff teams to develop ideas to decarbonise our everyday lives!

We are pleased to present our annual report for academic year 2020-21. This report outlines the huge amount of work done by our growing team both across the University of Cambridge and with local, national and international partners during our first full year of operation.

Across the November fortnight in Glasgow, a plethora of those from the Cambridge community contributed to a diverse array of COP26 events and initiatives, reflective of Cambridge’s strength in breadth and depth. Here we round up just some of the many events the University of Cambridge was involved in.

Cambridge Zero is offering a unique opportunity for a highly motivated postdoc to join our team as part of a 3 month mini-fellowship programme. This is an ideal opportunity for a Postdoc or recent PhD student looking to gain experience of climate research engagement in an interdisciplinary environment.

Over the course of a November fortnight, Cambridge students were among the strong Youth contingent which descended on Glasgow for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26. Of those in attendance, a sample have spoken to Cambridge Zero about their experiences, sharing their reflections on the conference and the final agreement.

Engage for Change is a twelve-week programme for students at the University of Cambridge who want to learn to make change happen. You will design, implement and evaluate your own environmental sustainability-related intervention, aligned with the University's Environmental Sustainability Vision, Policy and Strategy.

Raheela Rehman summarises the first Symposium of this Michaelmas term, 'Climate Science'. Bringing together academics and early career researchers, the afternoon showcased the latest research taking place in this field across the University of Cambridge and British Antarctic Survey. The fundamental scientific models spanned the physical environment, from the atmosphere to the oceans and ice sheet loss.

This paper presents a complementary new approach for calculating ocean fronts using an unsupervised classification method called Gaussian mixture modelling (GMM) and a novel inter-class parameter called the I-metric. By researchers at the University of Cambridge, the British Antarctic Survey and Sorbonne University LOCEAN-IPSL Laboratory.

Dr Joanna Depledge, expert in international climate change negotiations, unpicks the intricate global politics which underlined COP26 in Glasgow.

The People’s summit for Climate Justice in Glasgow was attended by Cambridge Student Maryam Grassley who has fed back the poignant quotes which moved her from the range of talks and discussions.

On COP26’s impromptu Saturday, an agreement was made by the parties. Friederike Hartz stayed in Glasgow and caught almost all interventions, including an emotional plea from Tuvalu’s representative, emphasising the agreement’s human impact by showing his grandchildren.

On COP26’s final Friday, pressure mounted for parties to reach an agreement. Friederike Hartz reports on the presidency’s informal stocktaking and the people’s plenary which discussed transparency and inclusivity problems.

On the penultimate day of COP26, negotiations were ongoing and issues like finance proved difficult. Read the highlights alongside on the ground reporting from Friederike Hartz.

A round up of week two’s Tuesday and Wednesday negotiation developments, and Cambridge’s involvement ranging from COPTV to students attending the Presidency event and updating on China’s energy transformation.

A round-up of highlights and reports from Cambridge on the Ground at COP26 on Adaptation, loss and damage day. Here from Friederike Hartz about her first day at COP26, and read about Cambridge Zero's Arctic Basecamp event.

In an incredibly busy Friday and weekend at #COP26, many Cambridge academics and students alike were involved and have fed back their insights! Read here highlights, two politics lecturers protests commentary and see two student’s photos from taking part!

My personal view would be “so far so good”. In fact, I would venture even further, and say that COP 26 has exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations. Perhaps it’s because I am following the Conference from the comfort of my home office, and haven’t been frustrated by queues, restricted access, the threat of Covid, and poorly functioning online systems. But I detect a positive buzz and – dare I say it – a sense of cautious optimism among many, especially veterans of the process.

Young people, families with little children, teachers with groups of students, the elderly, representatives of indigenous communities… Climate marches are no longer a scream from the youth, traditionally viewed as less-risk averse, more innovative, impulsive, eager or even rebellious. The Climate March that we have seen this morning 6th of November in Glasgow is an example of that.

In the evening of November 4 (“Energy Day”) in the COP26 UK Pavilion, researchers from the project on the Economics of Energy Innovation and System Transition (EEIST) presented the new flagship report on “The New Economics of Innovation and Transition: Evaluating Risks and opportunities”. The report, which has 28 authors, was led by Prof. Michael Grubb (UCL) and has seven authors from Cambridge's Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance.

COP26’s energy day proved to be suitably explosive in its announcements! To help you make sense of all day 5’s news, read the highlights alongside on-the-ground thoughts from Cambridge’s Dr Sam Strands. We also include insightful comments highlighting the need for regional nuance when discussing Energy at COP26 from Dr Sam Short and Dr Ryan Nehring.