Topic description and stories

The climate crisis and biodiversity losses are affecting the planet at an alarming pace. Cambridge researchers are helping the response to these threats, building resilience, supporting the transition from fossil fuels to a zero-carbon future, and enabling us to act sustainably to protect the planet's precious resources and reduce waste.

The climate crisis: towards zero carbon

26 February 2020

Sir David Attenborough, Dr Jane Goodall DBE and leading Cambridge University researchers talk about the urgency of climate crisis – and some of the solutions that will take us towards zero carbon.

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Wind turbine manufacturing facility in Arkansas, USA

Scientists set out immediate actions and future research priorities to help UK to reach net zero target

25 Aug 2021

A new paper by leading UK scientists sets out key solutions and policy actions that should be implemented now, as well as priority research areas for...

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Airplane landing

Cambridge-led team developing a simulator to help reach net zero flight

25 Aug 2021

University announces launch of Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA) – a team of experts in aerospace, economics, policy, and climate science, who are...

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Map showing global areas of importance for terrestrial biodiversity, carbon and water

Integrated conservation strategies could simultaneously meet biodiversity, climate and water objectives

23 Aug 2021

Managing a strategically chosen 30% of land for conservation could safeguard 70% of all terrestrial plant and vertebrate animal species, while...

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Climate change will transform cooling effects of volcanic eruptions, study suggests

12 Aug 2021

Researchers have shown that human-caused climate change will have important consequences for how volcanic gases interact with the atmosphere.

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Cells of roots colonised by fungi turn red

Blushing plants reveal when fungi are growing in their roots

23 Jul 2021

Scientists have created plants whose cells and tissues ‘blush’ with beetroot pigments when they are colonised by fungi that help them take up...

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Packaging incorporating Xampla's plant-based plastic

‘Vegan spider silk’ provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics

10 Jun 2021

Researchers have created a plant-based, sustainable, scalable material that could replace single-use plastics in many consumer products.

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The conservationist helping us to make better decisions

04 Jun 2021

Bill Sutherland has started a revolution in conservation. Put simply he’d “like us to stop doing the things that we know don't work and do more of...

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These birds will soon go extinct. But their disappearance need not be in vain.

19 May 2021

The White-tailed Swallow and Ethiopian Bush-crow are living in ‘climatic lifeboats’ with their tiny ranges restricted on all sides by temperature and...

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Trees against blue sky

Nature has enormous potential to fight climate change and biodiversity loss in the UK - report

12 May 2021

A report launched today by the British Ecological Society, with contributions from the University of Cambridge, offers the first complete assessment...

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The conservationist who started a Twitter trend and saved Nairobi’s wildlife

22 Apr 2021

Nyandire Reinhard believes the key to protecting ecosystems is to foster a love of nature in the community. He shares the story of how social media...

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River mussel

Conservationists may be unintentionally spreading pathogens between threatened animal populations

12 Apr 2021

Moving endangered species to new locations is often used as part of species conservation strategies, and can help to restore degraded ecosystems. But...

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Lake on the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Lakes on Greenland Ice Sheet can drain huge amounts of water, even in winter

01 Apr 2021

Using satellite data to ‘see in the dark’, researchers have shown for the first time that lakes on the Greenland Ice Sheet drain during winter, a...

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