Outrage discourses have become increasingly commonplace in all forms of media. Recently, proposed regulations in New York City regarding wood- and coal-burning cook stoves – dubbed by some ‘New York’s War on Pizza’ – have been the focus. What can we learn from this and how can this episode inform our own communications strategies when promoting complex or nuanced climate or energy-related actions?
With concrete goals and a focus on community planning, the St Andrews Forest is shaping up to be a great climate action initiative. But one vital next step in its development is identifying specific data that need to be collected from forest locations in order to quantify progress towards its goals of carbon sequestration, supporting biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Through the University’s 2022 Summer Teams Enterprise Programme (STEP), a team of seven St Andrews undergraduate students from across degree programmes and with diverse backgrounds were brought together to create a draft protocol for assessing the benefits of the Forest programme.
Whilst many political leaders appear to prioritise the health of citizens over economic growth during this pandemic, why have they not prioritised the health of the planet over economic gains in the face of climate change?