How we feed animals to feed humans
Today’s livestock industry is resource-intensive and detrimental to the environment; it causes considerable damage to ecosystems, biodiversity and ecological resilience [1,2]. In 1990, global meat...
Ecological Economics
Ecological Economics addresses the interdependence and coevolution of the economy, society and the natural environment, understanding the economy as an embedded subsystem of the planet. Student work in this section discusses social and environmental issues from this perspective.
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The Very Hungry Human: How consumption is destroying our wildlife biodiversity
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a popular children’s book written by Eric Carle. The book depicts a caterpillar who eats more and more each day...
Food poverty and unfair distribution: How can we achieve a zero-hunger UK?
Despite special offers at your local supermarket chain, eating well is still a luxury for an increasing number of households in the United Kingdom. Trussell...
Deforestation in the pursuit of rootless economic growth: A matter of scale
In 2017, we lost one football pitch of forest every second [1]. From the dawn of the industrial revolution up until now, the global forest...
Plastic waste: Now you sea it, now you don’t
Look around. From your chair, to your pen, to that fancy walking jacket you like to wear - plastics are everywhere. But with many of...
The labour of care
As Philip Hammond rolled out this year’s budget, it comes with further deliverance of injustice. With eight years of public spending cuts, 85% of the...
The lost city of Jakarta?
Home to over 10 million people, Jakarta is one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the world. The 13 rivers that flow...
UK vehicle emissions and sustainable scale – It’s all full of hot air
Vehicle emissions are certainly in the forefront of the UK public’s mind, no better demonstrated by Volkswagen dieselgate. The Hoaxwagen [1] scandal consisted of manipulating...
By Royal Decree: The physical and financial oppression of the Maori people
Māori are expected to live shorter lives than non-Māori New Zealanders. For women, this difference is five years, but for men the average difference is...
Man-made hunger: The income famine of Yemen
While the World looks away, Yemen stands on the brink of a famine that the UN have warned may be the worst in 100 years...
A basic macroeconomic model of energy depletion in the presence of an alternative energy source
Introduction – why system dynamics System dynamics modelling has grown alongside the development of modern computing, starting with Forrester’s World Dynamics (1971). The purpose of...
Are we running out of fish?
Overfishing is one of the greatest threats our oceans face. By catching more than the seas can sustain, humanity trespasses the limits of the environment...
Afloat on a Raft of Plastic
If trends continue, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the World’s oceans than fish [1]. This is an especially shocking prediction seeing as...
Too Much Here and Not Enough There: Unfair Distribution and Food Insecurity
“The explanation for hunger is more complex than “too many people” combined with “low farm productivity”” (Peoples and Bailey [1]) Food insecurity is defined as...
The elephant in the ocean: global plastic pollution
I’ll never forget my snorkelling trip to idyllic Indonesia. Imagine white sandy beaches and a stunning maze of vibrant coral. Now litter the sand with...
Unsustainable Scale: Can’t See the Forest for the Trees
Tropical forests cover just 7% of total land but within them contain 50% of all plant, insect and animal species, making them one of the...
No future for the young?
A modern cure to the epidemic of unemployment The financial crisis of 2008 has had devastating impacts on the world's economies[1]. While economic recovery has...
Inequality - is it driving the breakdown of trust in society?
Surveys taken in the US show that from 1958 to 2014 trust in government fell from 73% to 24%. From 1972 to 2014 trust in...
Why the global air pollution crisis won’t simply blow over
Recently, New Delhi became the latest city to be placed in the global media spotlight for its air quality issues. With concentrations of the most...
We’re suffocating on the fumes of our own consumption.
Air pollution is often seen as a product of modern living, of industrialisation and urbanisation and is essentially taken for granted. A primary source of...