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Can we give nature legal rights? What does that mean, and how would it change things? Our resident Kickstarter and law expert Charlie gives an overview of ‘rights for nature’ and how this could be a game-changer for the environmental movement. The root of the matter: ‘legal personhood’ Firstly, what is ‘legal personhood’? In Western legal systems, there’s a difference between a person and property. A person or thing that has legal personhood has rights and obligations, and ca

January 2021: we begin the new year with a re-entry into national lockdown owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it may feel like we are ‘back where we started’ last March, the past 10 months tell a different story. There has been a huge amount of change, spread right across the spectrum from extremely positive to extremely challenging. Looking at this through the lens of transitions to new economies, however, we find cause for hope. The word ‘economy’ literally means ‘m

New skills are needed in the workforce to address the challenges posed by climate change and the drive for sustainable development. However, there is a lack of clarity about what exactly is required of employees in terms of sustainability skills across all sectors, and what so-called ‘sustainability skills’ (also referred to as competencies, attributes, literacy) might entail. This scoping study, by Change Agents UK and the EAUC, examines perspectives from three key stakehold

In mid-March, prior to the announcement of lockdown in the UK, Change Agents UK published a blog post that speculated on the potential environmental impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, both positive and negative. This explored the potential effect of many changes on national and global carbon emissions, such as the normalisation of remote-working practices, and the vast reduction in air travel. Four months on (the longest third of a year on record), we want to re-examine the

The response to the spread of COVID-19 has made strides towards reducing global climate emissions, or so it would seem. Carbon dioxide emissions from China declined by 25% in February compared to a similar time last year, due to the drastic reduction in industrial processing and output (1). Vast improvements in air quality have also been measured in Hubei province (2). This trend can also be seen in the Italy’s industrial north and in other polluted cities, where both traffic

The SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS or the GOOD LIFE GOALS: What are they and will they make a difference to the quality of life in the UK? Any child who starts primary school in September 2019 will complete its secondary education in around 2033. No one can predict with any certainty how the world will change over this period, but it is likely to change in many significant ways. An expanding population, increasing globalisation and advances in technology, including robotics, w