Launched in July 2020, 'Enhancing the resilience of national infrastructure systems' is a key step in Ghana's efforts to develop resilient infrastructure that is aligned with national priorities, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Partners include Ghana's Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), the United Nations Environment Programme, UNOPS, the Global Centre on Adaptation and the ITRC team at ECI, led by Jim Hall.

In response to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the Interdisciplinary Food Systems Teaching and Learning (IFSTAL) programme held its first online summer school to resounding success at the end of June 2020. IFSTAL is coordinated by the Food Systems Transformation Group within the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford.

Prior to the global pandemic, researchers identified an uncomfortable truth: the very meetings and events meant to support the fight against climate change were themselves causing vast greenhouse gas emissions through international air travel. Building on learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic, a team of Oxford researchers have identified new measures, published this week in the journal Nature, that may reduce the carbon footprint of conference travel by up to 90%.

A new study by the University of Oxford and University of Southampton provides an evidence base for the England's Economic Heartland (EEH) Draft Transport Strategy. It maps the EEH road and rail transport network and uses advanced modelling to demonstrate a variety of 'pathways' EEH could take to achieve a net zero carbon transport system by 2050.

A new report from Oxford's Nature-based Solutions Initiative and collaborators including the Environmental Change Institute has found that nature-based solutions are key to reducing climate change impacts such flooding, soil erosion and loss of food production. The report is the first systematic review of the evidence for using nature-based interventions from around the world and investigates nearly 400 scientific studies.

A new report, published in Nature, identifies two key areas for action to stop global biodiversity loss and 'bend the curve' towards recovery by 2050 or earlier - without jeopardising the achievement of other Sustainable Development Goals. The study calls for bold conservation and restoration efforts, alongside a transformation of the global food system. It forms a core part of WWF's Living Planet Report 2020, and authors include Michael Obersteiner, Director of the ECI.

From September 2020 Michael Obersteiner will become Director of the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford. Prof Obersteiner will assume 80% of the Directorship, working closely with Dr Friederike Otto, who will now step into the role of Associate Director, with oversight of ECI's communications and strategic research direction. Read on to learn about Michael's new role, research interests and hobbies - including plans to paraglide over the Farmoor reservoir.

A new study, published in Science magazine by an international team in the Brazilian Amazon, shows that redesigned conservation projects could deliver big gains for critical freshwater ecosystems - raising hopes for the futures of thousands of species. 'In a time when the Amazon is under increasing pressure from human activities, this paper provides effective solutions for biodiversity preservation,' explains co-author Erika Berenguer.

Yadvinder Malhi, Professor of Ecosystem Sciences at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, has been awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, announced on 10th October 2020, for services to Ecosystem Science.

A new report led by ECI's Food Systems Research group reveals the huge value of the agri-food sector to the UK economy as well as the multiple challenges it faces. The report maps and quantifies the UK food system, aiming to act as a quantified foundation for further analyses of the UK food system.