UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources Annual Review 2013 by UCL Corporate Partnerships

UCL INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE RESOURCES

ANNUAL REVIEW 2013

Foreword In the two years since its establishment, the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources has come to exemplify UCL’s ambitious vision for our research: we seek to bring our collective and varied expertise to bear on problems of major significance. The Institute embodies our university’s commitment to research leadership, to the value added by cross-disciplinary interaction, and to the impact on policy and practice made possible through partnership. It has made substantial contributions to UCL Grand Challenges – described on page 24 – an institution-wide programme to develop robust, evidence-based and equitable solutions to aspects of the major problems facing humanity, by drawing on and synthesising insights from across our university’s subjectspecific research. Cities are, of course, great consumers of natural resources. They also cultivate the knowledge and creativity – the human resources – required to re-imagine and make sustainable our lifestyles and economies. It is therefore fitting that the Institute has been working particularly closely with the UCL Grand Challenge of Sustainable Cities in the lead-up to a major joint event in November 2013. I am delighted by the record of achievement described in this report, and look forward to yet more success in the Institute’s interactions and interventions across and beyond our global university. Professor David Price UCL Vice Provost (Research)

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Director’s report It is now possible to see the shape of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources (UCL ISR) over the next few years, following very substantial recruitment over the past twelve months, as detailed elsewhere in this report. I am particularly pleased to welcome Professor Raimund Bleischwitz to UCL in August 2013, as BHP Billiton Chair in Sustainable Global Resources. Raimund was appointed over stiff competition from internal and external candidates, and complements our existing expertise in a number of key areas, while maintaining our core emphasis on research excellence and high-level policy influence. We are both supported by an absolutely cracking team of research and support staff, which should ensure that we fully achieve the potential that UCL ISR now clearly possesses. The other really big recruitment over the last twelve months was 14 out of the 15 remaining PhD studentships so generously provided for in the BHP Billiton founding agreement of UCL ISR. Again, places for these studentships were hotly contested, with over 90 applicants. The final appointees, who will join us as a single cohort in September 2013, are of the highest quality, and I have no doubt will produce PhD research of excellent quality.

addition, we will be committing significant staff time to this issue, given its complexity, and plan to make one more appointment, of an established macro-economic modeller, to ensure that we have real progress in this area to report this time next year. Our EU research projects are all now up and running and starting to generate interesting results, which will be presented across the Institute at the first UCL ISR Awayday on August 29th. This will also give a chance for our many new recruits to get to know each other better, and we are also looking forward to being joined on that day by the PhD supervisors from other UCL departments and faculties without whom we could not possibly have delivered the requisite level of supervision for all these new PhD students. Many thanks indeed to all of them. With these students, and the 50 students we are expecting on our new MSc in the Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment, UCL ISR and our sister institute UCL-Energy, will be buzzing at a new scale of intensity.

The largest group will be focusing on what is meant by ‘sustainable resource use’ across the different resources we are considering – an entirely appropriate focus, given the name of our Institute, but also given the substantial confusion that still exists over the issue. This is a programme which should significantly lessen that confusion, both within and outside academic circles. Our other major focus through PhDs is modelling green growth and the green economy more widely. We are being joined by two researchers (one an eminent professor, one a PhD student) from China for a good part of 2013-14, and will be appointing another. In

Professor Paul Ekins Director Professor of Resource and Environment Policy

Appointments UCL ISR has been rapidly expanding over the past year, growing our core and research staff with a number of new appointments.

Senior academic staff Raimund was previously Co-Director on ‘Material Flows and Resource Management’ at the Wuppertal Institute in Germany, and has been Visiting Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium since 2003. An economist by training, Raimund has more than twenty years’ experience in research on environmental and resource economics, resource efficiency, incentive systems and policies, raw material conflicts, industry and sustainability. He is often invited as a speaker, acknowledged as an influential policy adviser and cooperates with business in projects such as the EU Eco-Innovation Observatory and the research network for forward-looking activities and assessment of research and innovation prospects in the fields of climate, resources efficiency and raw materials, a five-year EU Coordination and Support Action project. Raimund joined UCL ISR in August 2013, following a two-month fellowship at the American Institute

for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) at Johns Hopkins University Washington DC. Dr Paolo Agnolucci Lecturer in Resource and Environmental Economics Dr Paolo Agnolucci has a PhD in Economics and more than ten years’ experience in academia and the energy industry. Paolo has extensive experience of undertaking quantitative analysis, including

estimation of energy and electricity demand, assessment of economic instruments used in environmental policy, quantitative trading and hedging strategies, evaluation of government policies, and barriers to the uptake of energy efficiency. His experience spans fields as diverse as energy economics, resource efficiency, renewable electricity, scenario analysis and modelling infrastructure. He joined us from UCL-Energy in June 2013.

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Prof Raimund Bleischwitz BHP Billiton Chair in Sustainable Global Resources

Research staff Chiara Armeni Chiara is a UCL Research Associate and Deputy Director of the Carbon Capture Legal Programme, Centre for Law and the Environment, UCL Faculty of Laws. Chiara’s main research interests lie in international and European environmental law, with special focus on Carbon Capture and Storage and the law and policy of climate change. Chiara holds degrees in Laws and a specialised degree in Environmental Law and Policy. Dr Teresa Domenech Teresa’s research interests lie in resource efficiency, new business models and industrial symbiosis networks. She is currently working on an EU project on Policy Options for a Resource-Efficient Economy. Teresa also acts as a Sherpa to Paul Ekins at the European Resource Efficiency Platform, set up by the European Commission to provide policy recommendations in the area of resource efficiency and has been actively involved in the working groups developing the platform proposals on industrial symbiosis and waste prevention. Paul Drummond Paul is responsible for the EU CECILIA 2050 project, aimed at understanding how climate change policy instruments interact and perform, and how European climate policy should evolve to

guide the transformation to a lowcarbon economy. Prior to joining UCL, Paul was a consultant at AEA Group, involved in policy analysis and design, business strategy and energy analysis. Paul holds an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London, for which he created a framework for assessing investment potential in the energy-water nexus for the EBRD. Charlotte Johnson Charlotte joined UCL ISR as a Research Associate in April 2013. She is mapping UCL’s research expertise in sustainable cities. Her academic interests have progressed from a broad interest in economic development and social change to a specific engagement with the politics of resource provisioning and urban development. Charlotte also has policy experience having worked on projects for the International Energy Agency and the Scottish Government. Christophe McGlade Christophe recently submitted his PhD thesis which models the major sources of uncertainty in the medium and long-term outlook for oil and gas production and consumption. This work significantly enhanced the description of fossil fuel resources and production within the energy systems model TIAM-UCL and constructed a new bottom up economic and geological oil field

level production model (BUEGO). At UCL ISR Christophe is continuing to work on fossil fuel resource uncertainty and the role of natural gas in a low-carbon energy system with members of the UK Energy Research Centre. Michelle O’Keeffe Michelle has recently joined UCL ISR following a career in environment and sustainability in the private and not for profit sectors, most recently as Director of Technical Reporting at CDP, an international NGO driving corporate environmental reporting. At ISR Michelle is also tasked with leading business engagement activities, linking businesses and the Institute’s research work. Her own research focuses on global governance contributions to resource efficiency and the role of reporting in the green economy. Matthew Winning Matthew’s research provides economic analysis and macroeconomic modelling on the subjects of green growth, ecosystem services, natural capital and carbon market mechanisms. His PhD from the University of Strathclyde focused on the institutions and instruments related to UK climate change policy. Matthew has a Law and Economics LLB and an MSc in Economics, both from the University of Edinburgh. He also previously worked for Blackrock International.

Research UCL ISR’s research aims to generate knowledge by supporting crossdisciplinary research approaches to promote the globally sustainable use of natural resources.

consider what infrastructure and policies are necessary to promote a greening of different economic sectors and localities, country economies and the global economy.

In 2012 we were re-located within the Bartlett, UCL’s Faculty of the Built Environment, and have developed a close relationship with UCL-Energy, with which we undertake joint projects, and share research tools and approaches.

Abiotic resources: research areas here include fossil fuels, minerals and rare earth elements. Space on land (or sea where relevant) are also considered in the context of competing uses.

We also continue to seek out collaborations with other departments across UCL including joint project development and cosupervision of PhD students. Our research is built around five cross-cutting themes: Definitions and indicators of sustainable resource use: including consideration of issues of resource depletion, pollution and other environmental impacts, as well as broader social issues of the impact of such activities on communities and other social contributions of resource-related companies often included in the ‘corporate social responsibility’ agenda. Green economy: this integrates the resource programme areas with different economic models and perspectives at different levels: global, national and local. It will

Biotic resources: including land,

water, soil, forests, food, habitats and biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Which area is researched and how will depend to some extent on opportunities for research funding and the skills and interests of researchers in UCL ISR and elsewhere in UCL. Resource efficiency: research areas here include the technologies, innovation, institutions, governance processes and policies that promote the sustainable use of resources by society.

Green Economy

Definitions and indicators of sustainability

Biotic Resources

Resource Efficiency

Abiotic Resources

Research Projects 2012/13

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Environmental Macro-indicators of Innovation (EMInInn) The European research project EMInInn tracks the past development and diffusion through the economy of pervasive innovations that can be expected to have had an appreciable positive or negative environmental impact. The aim of the project is to generate deeper insights into the role of innovation in decoupling environmental impacts from economic growth, helping policy makers to both assess the benefits from past innovations as well as maximize benefits from present and emerging innovations. Focusing on environmental pressures, the project analyses the macro-environmental impacts of innovations in five sectors: energy, transport, construction, ICT and waste. Policy Options for a ResourceEfficient Economy (POLFREE) The project is exploring drivers and barriers to resource efficiency, creating a vision for a resource efficient economy in Europe and proposing policy mixes for achieving this vision. Modelling results will be used to construct different scenarios for sustainable use of resources. The project involves intensive work on creating, modelling

and visualising scenarios for the emergence of resourceefficient economies, through linking quantitative economic and ecological models, and simulating the policies and policy mixes derived in earlier work, supplemented with appropriate life cycle analysis for selected products and sectors. POLFREE has been designed to have real-world impact, by producing and effectively disseminating knowledge that is salient, credible and legitimate. Working with stakeholders and policy makers, and making use of their knowledge, contributes to the strength of the knowledge produced, and, equally

important, aids acceptance and use of the results by the stakeholders and policymakers. Policy Instruments for Low-Carbon Development (CECILIA 2050) CECILIA 2050 aims to understand how policy instruments work in interaction, what factors determine performance, and how the EU climate policy mix should evolve to transition to a low-carbon economy. The project is performing a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;stocktakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the current climate policy instrument mix at both EUlevel and within eight representative member states. Assessments of the key technologies

likely to form part of the low-carbon transition of the EU will be performed and taken into account, along with lessons learned from the first stage of the project, in analysing and designing the most appropriate mix of policies and policy pathways to realise EU targets out to 2050. The interaction and impact on innovation, competitiveness, institutions and law will also be assessed.

The Commission ran from Summer 2012 to Autumn 2013. It has consulted widely with academics, with business, with policymakers and politicians, and the work of the commission is being presented at the 2013 annual conferences of the three major UK political parties.

Scientific analysis is increasingly calling into question the ability of the Earth’s natural systems to continue to supply the food, water and energy that humans need to survive, let alone thrive, in a context of climate change and growing stress on ecosystems and biodiversity. UCL’s Green Economy Policy Commission will both try to clarify these issues and make policy suggestions as to how the UK should position itself to derive maximum benefit from growth in the ‘green economy’ worldwide.

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Green Economy Policy Commission The UCL Green Economy Policy Commission is an initiative from

UCL Public Policy. The Commission brings together academics from across UCL to consider how the UK can foster an economy that delivers not only prosperity, but also environmental quality, resource security and climate stability.

Natural Capital and the Macroeconomy Through this HSBC funded project we are developing a step-by-step procedure through which financial analysts can assess the exposure and vulnerability of the economies of different countries to shocks related to environmental change and the availability of natural resources. The rationale for this work is that as the environment and its resources come under greater pressure from the growing human population and the scale of their consumption, one can no longer take for granted the availability of natural capital and the smooth functioning of the ecosystem services, such as climate stability, which it provides. Any disruption to these ecosystem services could constitute a serious risk to major business activities and to the economies of the countries in which they operate. While natural capital is a familiar concept in environmental economics, it has been much less used in analyses of such risks, and this work for HSBC is intended to provide a ‘primer’ for such use for financial analysts. The report being prepared works through the theoretical and business case for analysts to take more account of natural capital issues than has been common in the past, and reviews the main sources of data that are currently available to enable them to do this. It then sets

out a structured procedure through which they can assess the risks to a country’s economy from the loss or degradation of some aspect of its natural capital, and works through this procedure for the case of water resources in Australia. It is envisaged that the report will be published in September 2013. Mapping UCL Research on Sustainable Cities and Sustainable Resources The project draws together the diverse range of UCL’s research on urban sustainability to strengthen the university’s multi-discipline research culture. Cities are facing critical challenges as urban populations grow, demands on urban resources increase and climate change requires cities to have comprehensive adaptation and mitigation strategies. UCL is committed to researching these processes and, through its Grand Challenge on Sustainable Cities, has created a vehicle to bridge disciplinary divides, create novel research approaches and articulate solutions. The mapping project contributes to these objectives by generating dialogue within UCL and situating these debates within the broader research landscape. The project will result in an online tool that helps navigate current research and a short film that challenges disciplinary perspectives on the sustainable use of urban resources.

Electricity Demand in China With a major resource firm we are engaged in a project related to energy demand in China. Since China initiated its programme of economic reform in 1978 it has become the second largest energy consumer and economy, according to Gross Domestic Product measured in current US dollars. Gross Domestic Product at constant prices increased 17-fold between 1980 and 2010, and almost trebled between 2000 and 2010. Electricity consumption showed a 14-fold increase between 1980 and 2010 and a two-fold increase in the last decade. Projected level of Chinese electricity demand in 2030 has clearly important implications for the business plans of resource and technology firms. As the range of projected demand in the literature varies between 4 and 15 PWhs, UCL ISR was contacted to produce a critical assessment of published scenarios for Chinese electricity in 2030. After assessing critical factors of electricity demand and carrying out our own modelling based on econometric and simulation models, this research project provides clear recommendations on the relative merit of published scenarios and considerably narrows down the range of Chinese electricity demand in 2030.

Sustainable Use of Resources and the Environment Doctoral Training Programme UCL ISR rapidly expanded the Sustainable Use of Resources and the Environment Doctoral Training Programme in 2012/13, awarding the majority of the remaining 15 studentships funded by our donation from BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities. The new studentship starting in September 2013 will work collaboratively to develop and get established in the policy domain an indicator that shows the environmental ‘sustainability gap’ between current and sustainable uses of natural resources and the environment. Over the course of these PhDs, UCL ISR will become the premier institution globally for the understanding of ‘environmental limits’, or ‘planetary boundaries’ relating to different resources. The students work will be both scientific, developing the indicator across different environmental themes in a scientifically robust way, and advocative, to win acceptance for this indicator both among official environmental statisticians, and among policy makers and civil servants. The studentships have been

awarded to cover the follow resources or environmental capacities: • • • • • • • • • • •

Air emissions Fresh water Non-renewable resources Land/space, terrestrial biomass Ecosystems/biodiversity Marine biomass/ecosystems Solid waste Sustainable cities Sustainability and business International resource politics Macro-modelling

They focus on over-arching research questions such as the criteria and conditions for the sustainable use of natural resources at different appropriate levels; the trends in the use of the resource in the recent past; the ‘sustainability gap’ between current and sustainable use; the likely required policies, and costs incurred, to make the use of the resource sustainable; and, the implications of these sustainability issues for cities, business, international trade and models of the macro-economy.

The ISR Data Centre A large number of potential sources for data on global resources exist; however relevant information on resource-related data is fragmented, difficult to access or even nonexistent. This reflects long-lasting divisions of labour between offices dealing with geology, agriculture, environment, economics, and other dimensions.

The UCL ISR PhD programme provides an excellent starting point, with students collecting numerous data and time series as part of their studies.

UCL ISR is developing an international data hub that monitors the global resources and their nexus, i.e. the interlinkages across resources. Such a data hub should be transparent and open access, allowing strategic studies on key areas and further insights on criticality and vulnerability.

The data will be used to develop more comprehensive modelling capacities on green growth and sustainable resource management at different scales and for different markets. It will also be used for forecasting, impact analyses, scenario analyses, and strategic research on key issues.

By bringing this data into a common frame, we will build up a data hub and align it with other data sources from across UCL and globally.

In addition to the new part of the DTP, the five students awarded UCL ISR scholarships in 2011/12 have now completed the first year of their studies. These students are based at departments across UCL including Earth Sciences, Archaeology and Civil Engineering, and their projects cover a range of sustainability related topics. In 2013/14 these, and the new intake of UCL ISR students will also be invited to join an exciting programme of extra-curricular activities including seminars, workshops and away days, providing an opportunity to collaborate with our academic and industry partners.

Lessons in sustainable waste management Understanding long-term impacts of human activity on an immediate environment, available via archaeology, is important for addressing modern waste treatment and land use maximisation. Using both archaeological and modern-world approaches,this project is modelling short- and long-term human impacts on the environment at Maya site of Marco Gonzalez on Ambergris Caye, Belize. The site shows evidence of positive long-term human impact through the development of fertile soils (Dark Earths) with high carbon and ceramic content. Other environmental features, such as vegetation, may also reflect human occupation. The project involves identification of activities that contributed materials to the soils, and characterisation of these materials. Salt production appears to have been a primary charcoal depositor; therefore characterisation of this activity is important for defining the system which produced the soils. The first year has included fieldwork, building on existing knowledge, to characterise archaeological deposits and sediments. It has also involved working on charred archaeobotanical remains to understand resource use and materials entering the soils; data will be processed and modelled in the coming year.

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Towards sustainable and risk free gas production from an unconventional source The United States has shown the incredible potential extracting gas from shales, however their success has yet to be replicated elsewhere. One of the reasons for this is the relatively poor understanding of shales in comparison to conventional reservoir systems. This project begins to bridge the gap by addressing the issue from a classical sedimentology perspective by examining a transect through a basin containing organic rich shales. We have chosen the Bowland/Edale basin for study given the current interest and extraction operations which began recently. After obtaining core and outcrop material, the shales will be put through a suite of analyses both quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative analyses will tell us the physical properties such as porosity, permeability and geochemistry. Meanwhile qualitative analyses will shed light on the distribution and orientation of minerals and kerogen. By repeating these experiments at different sites across the basin, we hope the gain a better understanding on the factors controlling shale deposition and gas production. It is knowledge of these factors which is vital for safe and sustainable production as they ultimately influence how the shales behave during the extraction process.

Recovery of nutrients from wastewater for sustainable fertiliser production Since the implementation of the European Directive on urban waste water treatment, the health status of our water bodies has notably improved. However, such improvement has resulted in a massive production of sewage sludge, a hazardous solid waste. What is more, increasingly restrictive regulations on water quality are likely to further challenge the sustainability of the water treatment. Nonetheless, such sludge may be digested in order to produce biogas and, if adequately stabilized, be recycled into an organic fertilizer for agricultural use. Being a widely extended technology amongst the water industry, the EU is currently encouraging the later to help in the elimination of other organic wastes through sewage sludge co-digestion. Apart from increasing Europe’s biogas yields, this new approach would largely divert such solid wastes from landfilling. Anaerobic digestion, however, also has its limitations and the extent to which an industry which is already struggling for sustainability is able to absorb other organic wastes is still to be elucidated. The final aim of this project is to enhance sustainability in large-scale sewage water treatment by integrative sludge management approaches. A special focus will be given to waste sludge production and resource recovery via anaerobic digestion.

Energy efficiency in the Zambian copper industry Zambia’s economy is heavily reliant on it’s copper industry, growth in which corresponds to growth in the economy. However, this could also cause other negative side effects. Some of the effects would lead to increased investment in the energy supply system. This could cause funds to be diverted from other primary developmental needs such as building schools and hospitals. The research has focussed on understanding how growth in the copper industry will affect other sectors and how the negative effects can be minimised. Energy use and value added are the main focus of the research. Two preliminary energy models have been developed to understand the interactions between different industry sectors; one focusing on energy demand within the copper industry while the other looks at the supply and demand of energy across all sectors in Zambia. A pilot economic and financial model has also been developed, focusing on the costs of producing copper. The next phase of the project, is to develop a simulation model. This model will capture the energy efficiency barriers and focus on individual firms’ decision-making process. Understanding the decision processes will help in developing policies and measures for a sustainable Copper Industry in Zambia.

Sustainability of ‘manufactured water’: Comparative political ecology of desalination plants in London (UK) and Chennai (India) In 2010, desalination plants were installed in Chennai, India and London, UK to supply water to the respective cities. Interestingly, what followed were contrasting, independent, debates on the sustainability of the method of sourcing water for urban supply. The premise of the research is, hence, to approach sustainability as a theme of political ecology. The objective of this research is to fill the research gap in understanding this phenomenon using two cases to explore how sustainability discourses in the global North and global South converged and diverged as arguments were framed in favour of and against desalination plants. So far, ethnographic research on domestic water usage practices in the Besant Nagar area of Chennai has been conducted in an attempt to view the social ecology of the city through the lens of water management and water as material culture. While the results have yet to be compiled, an initial analysis of the interviews suggests an overwhelming cultural and practical attachment to groundwater and household bore wells as not only an important source but also the safest and purest source possible in the given context and geography.

MSc in Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment In 2012/13 UCL ISR also helped to launch a new Masters of Science in Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment (MSc in EPEE) in partnership with UCL-Energy. The aim of this new course is to give its students the essential knowledge that they need to understand, analyse and manage environmentresource-economy interactions.

the methods and techniques about which they have learned in the taught part of the course. The course includes a wide range of modules taught by academic staff from UCL-Energy, UCL ISR and a range of other faculty including Laws, Political Science and Management Science and Innovation.

This is now a global agenda of increasing importance to business, policy makers and civil society in all countries.

Modules include:

The course will employ a range of teaching, learning and assessment methodologies, including lectures, interactive seminars and presentations from visiting speakers from a range of businesses and other organisations.

•

• • • • • • •

•

Research Concepts and Methods Advanced Quantitative Methods

• •

Environmental and Resource Economics Modelling, Methods and Scenarios Political Economy of Energy Policy Evidence, Policy Assessment and Environmental Law Advanced Energy-EnvironmentEconomy Modelling UK Energy and Environment Policy and Law Energy, Technology and Innovation Energy, People and Behaviour Business and Sustainability

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Students will also be able to attend the wide-ranging seminar series organised by UCL ISR, UCL-Energy and the other Schools contributing to the MSc. Assessment methods will differ between modules, and will comprise examinations, assessed course work, including hands-on modelling projects, and a dissertation for students to put into detailed practice

Activities and Outreach UCL ISR event attendees by sector

Business Government Other Other HE Third Sector UCL Staff UCL Student

Industry

Visionary

Academia

Practical

Policymakers

Reflective

Third Sector

Through our events and outreach we have expanded our networks and improved our communications, as well as built our reputation as a cross-disciplinary institute. We now have more than 300 followers on Twitter (@UCL_ISR) and almost 600 subscribers to our newsletter, with numbers for both continuing to rise steadily. Our subscribers come from all over the world and a range of professions including academia, policy and industry.

Preferred event topics/speakers

Topical

In 2012/13 UCL ISR continued to develop our public engagement programme with a range of events for UCL students, staff and the general public which ran throughout the academic year.

Research Insights

Other

UCL ISR also has an active blog with contributions from staff, students and other stakeholders on a diverse range of topics, from recycling to good governance to the controversies of shale gas, and our staff often make contributions to mainstream media in print, online and on tv/radio. In July 2013, we conducted the first annual survey of our events programme. The feedback we received is valuable in assessing how our events have performed and what changes we can make in the coming year.

BHP Billiton/Grand Challenges Symposium Series In 2012/13 UCL ISR launched our BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities/UCL Grand Challenges Symposium Series, as a forum to bring together a variety of stakeholders integral to the debate around issues of global concern. The series has a particular focus on the sustainability of natural resources. The aim is to view this globally important issue through the lens of the four UCL Grand Challenges: Sustainable Cities, Global Health, Intercultural Interaction and Human Wellbeing. The series will run over five years from 2012, and began with a strategy and question setting forum. Subsequent events will take a more in-depth look at the implications of resource sustainability in each of the Grand Challenges areas.

The event concluded with the publication of a discussion document, ‘Closing the Gap’ which provides a summary of the debate, raises additional questions, and will act as a guideline to the content design for subsequent events in the series. Sustainable Resources for Sustainable Cities In 2013, we also started a yearlong series of activities leading towards the second event in the series, Sustainable Resources for Sustainable Cities, to be held in November 2013. Among the minimum requirements for a city’s population are housing, food, safe water, waste disposal, and energy for heating and cooling.

The symposium will specifically look to address the challenges around provision of resources for growing urban populations, with regard to the physical built environment, infrastructure, transport and water. It aims to address the question of how cities can continue to meet their present needs without compromising the future of the city, the region or the planet. In addition to the main Sustainable Resources for Sustainable Cities Symposium in November, UCL ISR has undertaken a programme of supporting activities throughout the year. This has included a six-month research project on sustainable cities related research at UCL (see p9), as well as providing catalyst grant funding.

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‘Closing the Gap: Aligning Strategies towards Sustainable Resource Use’ In October 2012, the Symposium Series was launched with the ‘Closing the Gap’ seminar, a strategy-setting gathering of senior academic, industry and policy representatives, brought together to debate some of the current challenges in global sustainable resource use.

Symposium related activities

Developing a network for delivery of urban biodiversity networks The project aims to develop a biodiversity monitoring technique that can be used to measure changes in biodiversity by both ecologists and non-ecologists alike.

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The field of urban biodiversity monitoring is in its infancy but the development of an innovative and accessible method of biodiversity monitoring will greatly advance the field of urban ecological practice and policy and contribute an urban perspective to the field of biodiversity monitoring.

The Symposium Series Catalyst Grants provided ÂŁ5,000 of funding for five six-month research projects, aimed at enabling researchers to develop realistic and relevant research partnerships across disciplines, and research strategies with the potential for significant national or international impact. The grants are designed to facilitate the development of projects which have the potential to produce on-going research activity, and successful projects were required to have a connection to the theme of the conference: Sustainable Resources for Sustainable Cities.

The five winning projects were: Population Change and Energy Consumption in Urban Transition This project investigates the net effect of urbanisation by investigating the demographic change in cities, comparing consumption patterns of urban and rural populations. The research aims to contribute to the understanding of rural vs urban consumption, the effects of population structure in creating observed consumption patterns, and to promote the sustainable use of energy in the future.

Algal Bio-fuels for Sustainable Transport This project seeks to develop methods of utilising micro-algae as an alternative source of bio-fuels to traditional sources, as unlike currently utilised vegetable oils, no competition with food resources exists. In particular the project will consider the role bio-fuels can play as a future fuel for urban transport, but will also investigate the potential of genetically modifying micro-algae to secrete oils, greatly simplifying harvesting of a fuel. Common Road to 2050: Energy Networks and Policy Design This project aims to identify key policy options to produce an energy network which meets the multi-dimensional requirements (economic, societal, environmental,

legal and security of supply) by 2050. The project will analyse the main barriers (political, integration and public acceptance) to plan and implement a long-term strategy for use of different resources to achieve environmental commitments, as well as energy security for Europe. The aim is to build a forum to engage researchers and the wider community leaders in examining the challenges of combining various energy resources and the impact on the energy networks. Reducing Resource Use in the Household The objective is to develop a specification for a computer-

based tool which would be used in interactive household interviews to examine current use of resources, including the tracking of actual consumption patterns; and to explore how these patterns might be modified – both marginally and radically – to reduced overall resource consumption, either in response to market forces (e.g. price signals) or aspirational target reductions levels (e.g. CO2). The tool will focus on reducing household energy consumption, by examining the trade-offs between different possible activity and consumption patterns in the built environment and transport network, including embedded and end-use energy, using a case study of a community in the Isle of Wight.

Film and poster competitions In addition to the support provided for research activities, UCL ISR has created two competitions targeted specifically at the student community as part of the symposium activities. The short film and research poster competitions both link to the overall conference theme and more specifically the theme of ‘urban metabolism’ which will be explored on the first day of the conference proceedings. Entries will be required to link to one of the following themes: • • •

Urban challenges Resource supply Resource consumption

The competitions aim to allow students to explore and present their research but also develop their creativity. Each competition will offer two prizes one overall winner and one people’s choice selection, picked by delegates attending the conference in November 2013.

The application of inorganic Phase Change Material thermal stores in sustainable building design in Europe Grant funding from the Symposium Series has also supported one, larger, 18-month research project focused more closely on the area of sustainable building products. The winning project was submitted by Oliver Wilton, at the Bartlett School of Architecture UCL, and addresses the applicability of inorganic Phase Change Material (PCM) thermal stores in sustainable building design in Europe with the objectives of evaluating viability and identifying environmental benefits and any potential detriments. PCM thermal stores in buildings have the potential to provide significant energy savings by delivering highly controllable passive summertime cooling and wintertime tempering of incoming air. These development are particularly timely given developments in the construction industry. The principal results of this research will be the development of a broader understanding of the potential role of non-organic PCM thermal stores in sustainable architecture in Europe, including potential benefits and losses, as well as the development, prototyping, testing and evaluation of a new PCM thermal store product/ system.

Overall Winner: Egyptâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lifeline Elizabeth Gardner PhD Candidate UCL Geography

Student Runner-up: Inseparability: the Price of Convenience Hiu Chuen Poon MSc Student Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management

Resources:Framed Photography Competition In 2012/13, UCL ISR launched our Resources:Framed Photography Competition, open to all UCL staff and students as an opportunity to showcase UCL’s creative talent. In its first year the competition ran under the theme ‘natural resources in the human world’ looking for striking images that captured the relationship between people and our planet. The competition was well received by the UCL community with almost 100 entries in its first year. It concluded in March 2013, with judging by a panel including renowned environmental photographer and director of the Hard Rain Project, Mark Edwards, and a public display of the winning and short-listed images at UCL. The competition will return in 2013/14.

Staff Runner-up: The GoldenEye Dam Dr James Paskins Coordinator UCL Grand Challenge of Sustainable Cities

Lectures and Seminars In addition to our larger scale, oneoff events UCL ISR ran a series of seminars and public lectures throughout 2012/13. Our public lecture series aims to bring high profile, international speakers from academia, industry, policy and civil society to UCL to speak on issue of sustainable resources use and raise awareness of critical issues. In the past year the series has included the following : ‘Green Growth the New Normal’ Jeremy Oppenheim, McKinsey & Co Starting off the Public Lecture Series in the autumn, Jeremy Oppenheim presented a lecture reviewing McKinsey’s earlier publication ‘Resource Revolution’. In the lecture Jeremy looked at the fundamental shift taking place in the global resource markets as a result of massive increases in global demand; the nature of the market and policy response; and what changes in the economic model and leadership paradigms will be required to operate the global economy in a way that addresses the joint challenge of lifting the next 2-3 billion people out of poverty with that of living inside planetary boundaries.

Jeremy is a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company leading the global Sustainability and Resource Productivity Initiative (SRP), the Firm’s hub on green growth, resource productivity (water, energy, land-use, carbon) and the wider sustainability agenda. ‘Civilisation: the Frog in the Saucepan’ Jeremy Grantham, Grantham Foundation Continuing the series, Jeremy Grantham visited UCL in the spring to give a lecture again considering changes in resource markets and resource scarcity. In 1998 Jeremy and his wife Hannelore established the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment which seeks to protect and improve the health of the global environment. Its grants focus on climate change and biodiversity conservation, with an emphasis on international initiatives.

of giving the billions who currently lack them access to modern energy services; as well as the response of industry to such policies, in light of the fact that frameworks which will drive investment in the energy sector to unprecedented levels at an unprecedented pace will need to be constructed. Joan has been an influential figure in energy and climate policy in a variety of UK, EU and international roles. Among her many roles Joan is an Honorary Fellow and President of the Energy Institute, a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, a member of the International Advisory Board of UCLEnergy.

Our sustainability seminar series promotes cross-disciplinary, collaborative research into the sustainable management and use of natural resources.

‘World Energy Trilemma’ Joan MacNaughton, Energy Institute The final lecture in the series for 2012/13 was given by Joan MacNaughton.

The series began in the spring term 2013 and showcased cutting edge research or recent findings from work within UCL or through partnerships with other institutions, government departments or industry.

In it, Joan considered the likely policy responses to predicted growth in global energy demand of more than 30% by 2035 and the challenge

It covered a range of topics, and presentations were given by invited speakers from across UCL. In 2012/13 the series included:

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‘Rare Earth Elements: from Mine to Magnet’ Dr Adrian Jones, UCL Earth Sciences This seminar described some of the recent trends in this strategic market sector, looking at the production life-cycle of rare earth minerals from mining through to recycling, and the impacts on industry and government alike.

‘Sustainable Transport: Meeting the Challenge’ Prof Peter Jones, UCL Centre for Transport Studies This seminar looked at the role of transport infrastructure both as an emitter of greenhouse gases, consumer of raw materials and source of pollution, but also as part of the wider urban environment and the ripple effect changes in transport infrastructure can have on the urban system.

‘Good Governance Scale and Power: a Case Study of North Sea Fisheries’ Dr Liza Griffin, UCL Development Planning Unit In this seminar Liza examined the discourse and practice of ‘good governance’ in the context of fisheries management, examining the ‘crisis’ of fisheries in the North Sea, caused primarily by overfishing and failure of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy. It then analysed reforms to this policy enacted and planned between 2002 and 2013, and the proposition that collapse of fish stocks could occur as a result of deficiencies in new governing arrangements. Following feedback from our annual events survey, in 2013/14 we will be expanding the sustainability seminar series, increasing the variety of subjects covered and inviting speakers from a range of sectors.

As well as our own sustainability seminar series, UCL ISR co-hosted

a number of seminars with our partner institute UCL-Energy. These included: ‘Sustainable Energy Delivery Models that Target the Poorest’ Ben Garside, International Institute for Environment and Development Energy access was a political hot topic in 2012, with the launch of the UN Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative. Analysing some of the expectations versus realities of universal access to energy, Ben Garside discussed the SE4ALL approach, and lay out some of the principles behind energy delivery models that go beyond business as usual to specifically target the needs of the poor. ‘The Burning Question’ Duncan Clark, the Guardian In this seminar Duncan Clark revealed insights from his recent book, authored with Mike BernersLee, and discussed the real challenge of persuading the world to write off oil, coal and gas reserves worth many trillions of dollars – at least until we have the means to put carbon back in the ground. Breakfast seminars These informal seminars ran fortnightly throughout the academic year exclusively for UCL staff and students. They provided an opportunity for UCL ISR and UCLEnergy staff and students to present their work or recent findings to colleagues.

Careers in Sustainable Resources Workshop UCL ISR also engages with the student community and in 2012/13 we launched our annual careers workshop event. The workshop aims to give UCL students access to some of the worlds largest resource-related firms and an opportunity to find out more about potential career paths. We invited six lead organisations in sustainability to join the workshop which involved brief presentations from the organisations’ staff on their own career experiences, a question and answer session and an informal ‘speed networking’ session in which students could talk to the representatives in small groups.

communications and reporting, as well as climate change and carbon management. BHP Billiton The largest mining company in the world with headquarters in Australia and management offices in London. Unilever One of the world’s largest consumer goods company. Unilever invest in research to respond to everchanging consumer needs.

Sustainability is at the forefront of Unilever research and many of their projects that are aimed at addressing social and ecological issues. Forum for the Future A Non-Government Organisation (NGO) which aims to offer sustainable solutions to global problems with a focus on three global systems: food, energy and finance. The workshop will return in 2013/14.

In 2012/13 the companies involved included:

Deloitte One of the largest consultancy companies in the UK with a growing interest in sustainability. The company’s Sustainability Services provides advice and assurance on business strategy, governance,

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Arup A multinational company which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment.

Industry and Business Engagement At UCL ISR we recognise that much of the global expertise in resource use, and how that use can be made sustainable, rests with the companies whose business is the extraction, processing or use of natural resources.

In 2012/13 we have taken the first steps towards establishing a Business Engagement Board by inviting a select group of companies, both resource producers and users, to explore policies that could strengthen corporate and national resource security by achieving a step-change in the resource efficiency in businesses and the wider economy, and what conditions could lead to the implementation of such policies. The companies we have invited to join this group are from a range of sectors, but all have a global dimension and have already taken steps to increase their own resource productivity while showing the ambition to achieve more in this area.

image (c) iStockPhoto/simmisimons

It is therefore important for UCL ISR to build strong, mutually beneficial relationships with businesses of this kind, to learn from their dayto-day experience, while sharing our academic knowledge and understanding of the issues, with an emphasis on innovation, business and appropriate public policy.

Our work with the Business Engagement Board will feed off and feed into our research, in particular our European research projects, in this area. This group will seek, through its combined experience and expertise to make resource use more sustainable, and to show what public policy frameworks could help bring about the step-change that is required. We plan to hold the first meeting of the Business Engagement Board in late 2013.

BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities is the founding sponsor of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, providing funding for appointments, PhD studentships and events. BHP Billiton and UCL ISR will also continue to grow the existing relationship through development opportunities including industry placements and sabbaticals for UCL staff and students, and research project opportunities for BHP Billiton employees.

Working across UCL UCL ISR also works closely with colleagues across UCL faculties and departments from Anthropology to Engineering and as far as the UCL School of Energy and Resources in Adelaide, Australia, part of our remit as a cross-disciplinary institute. Through these relationship, and a network of contacts in Asia, North and South America, Africa and Europe, UCL ISR already forms part of an international institutional and research community committed to developing innovative responses to the complex economic, legal, environmental, technological and cultural issues facing humanity’s use of resources. Academic Engagement Group To facilitate these relationships we have created an Academic Engagement Group comprising colleagues from across UCL which meets three times a year to discuss opportunities for collaboration. Such collaborations take the form of joint research projects, cosupervision of PhD students and a range of events from topical half-day workshops to a series of smaller seminars. Our collaborations across UCL include the following institutes and departments:

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UCL-Energy Bartlett School of Graduate Studies Development Planning Unit Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research Centre for CO2 Technology Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering Department of Earth Sciences Department of Economics Department of Geography Department of Mechanical Engineering Department of Political Science Environment Institute European Institute Faculty of Laws Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction Institute for Security and Resilience Studies Institute of Archaeology School of Energy and Resources (Australia)

Working with the Grand Challenges UCL ISR also has a direct relationship with the UCL Grand Challenges, primarily through our Symposium activities, but also more generally. This relationship aims to address issues of global concern.  Resources and Sustainable Cities With more than 50% of the global population now living in urban

areas, the number of cities of more than one million inhabitants is set to continue to grow. This will place continuing pressure on both land use and resources.   Resources and Global Health Access to resources has a profound impact on global health. Loss of biodiversity and pollution from resource extraction can have a negative impact on human health while access to resources, in particular clean water, could substantially reduce disease, malnutrition and poverty-related mortality.  Resources and Intercultural Interaction Resources from water and food to energy and building materials are critic to social development and economic growth. The development of a ‘green economy’ aims to simultaneously address resource and economic stress as well as social cohesion.  Resources and Human Wellbeing An estimated 925 million people currently live in poverty. More equitable and sustainable management of resources including food and water could profoundly reduce currently levels of poverty as well as the support additional two billion people expected by 2050.

Publications 2013 Agnolucci, P., Akgul, O., McDowall, W., Papageorgiou, L., (accepted) The importance of economies of scale, transport costs and demand patterns in optimising hydrogen fuelling infrastructure: an exploration with SHIPMod (Spatial Hydrogen Infrastructure). International Journal of Hydrogen Energy Planning Model Agnolucci, P., & Mcdowall, W. (2013). Designing future hydrogen infrastructure: Insights from analysis at different spatial scales. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 38 (13), 5181-5191.

Ekins, P. (2012). Safeguarding the Future of the Wealth of Nature: Sustainability, Substitutability, Measurement, Thresholds and Aggregation Issues in Natural Capital Accounting for Human Well-Being, in UNU-IHDP and UNEP. Inclusive Wealth Report 2012: Measuring Progress Toward Sustainability (pp. 231-265). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ekins, P. (2012). Some socio-economic thoughts. In T. O’Riordan (Ed.), Tipping Points. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ekins, P. (2012). The jobs potential of green growth: Emerging lessons for policy and directions for further research. Paris: OECD.

Anandarajah, G., McDowall, W., & Ekins, P. (2013). Decarbonising road transport with hydrogen and electricity: Long term global technology learning scenarios. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 38 (8), 3419-3432.

Ekins, P. (2012). Wealth Creation, Growth and Sustainable Development. The EC’s Joint Research Centre (Ispra).

Dodds, P. E., & McDowall, W. (2013). The future of the UK gas network. Energy Policy.

Ekins, P., & Dodds, P. E. (2012). Economic benefits of delivering hydrogen using the UK gas network. Presented at: IPHE Hydrogen – a Competitive Energy Storage Medium to Enable the Large Scale Integration of Renewable Energy Sources Workshop.

Ekins, P., Keppo, I., Skea, J., Strachan, N., Usher, W., & Anandarajah, G. (2013). The UK Energy System in 2050: Comparing Low-Carbon, Resilient Scenarios ((UKERC Report). London, UK: UK Energy Research Centre. Ekins, P., McDowall, W., Radosevic, S., & Zhang, L. (2013). The development of wind power in China, Europe and the USA: how have policies and innovation system activities co-evolved?. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 25 (2), 163-185. McDowall, W. A. S. (2013). The development of wind energy in the UK: critical reflections on UK policy from an innovation system perspective. Upham, P., Taylor, P. G., Christopherson, D., & McDowall, W. A. S. (2013). The role of the scientific model in policy imagery: MARKAL as boundary object. 2012 Ekins, P. (2012). Environmental Tax Reform: Experience in Europe and Implications for East Asia. In A. Mori (Ed.), Environmental Fiscal Mechanism for Sustainable Society in East Asia. Ekins, P. (2012). Post-Durban Prospects for Low-Carbon Green Growth (A paper based on a presentation to the Global Green Growth Institute’s International Expert Series on Post-2012 Climate Regime Formation).

Ekins, P., & Lemaire, X. (2012). Sustainable Consumption and Production for Poverty Alleviation ((A paper for the Rio+20 Conference for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)).). Ekins, P., & Spataru, C. (2012). Consumer Behaviour is Vital for the Green Deal to Work. Ekins, P., & Spataru, C. (2012). To work, the Green Deal needs to take seriously the Diversity of human Behavior. HHIC Journal. Ekins, P., & Speck, S. (2012). Competitiveness: What do we know from the Modelling?. In J. Milne, M. S. Andersen (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Environmental Taxation. Ekins, P., Meyer, B., & Schmidt-Bleek, F. (2012). Reducing Resource Consumption: a proposal for Resource and Environmental Policy. In H. Lehmann (Ed.), Factor X: Policy, Strategies and Instruments for a Sustainable Resource Use. Ekins, P., Pollitt, H., Summerton, P., & Chewpreecha, U. (2012). Increasing carbon and material productivity through environmental tax reform. ENERGY POLICY, 42, 365-376. doi:10.1016/j. enpol.2011.11.094 McDowall, W. A. S., Anandarajah, G., & Ekins, P. (2012). Insights into Scotland’s energy and climate policies from energy systems modelling. Fraser Economic Commentary, Special Issue No. 3, 5-8.

image (c) UCL

The UCL ISR Team

Management and Administration

Research Staff

School Support Staff

Prof Paul Ekins Director Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy

Paolo Agnolucci Chiara Armeni Teresa Domenech Paul Drummond Charlotte Johnson Will McDowall Christophe McGlade Michelle Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Keeffe Matthew Winning

Simon Buller School Manager

Prof Raimund Bleischwitz BHP Billiton Chair in Sustainable Global Resources Katherine Welch Deputy Director Aimee Walker Administrator

Students Jabraan Ahmed Teresa Camaero Lindsay Duncan Niranjana Ramesh Bernard Tembo

Kim Novelli Research and Resources Manager Alison Parker Doctoral Training Programme Manager Jennifer Luk MSc Programme Administrator Chiti Mwambazi Finance Officer Rosanna Seels HR and Facilities Manager

www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/sustainable sustainable-resources@ucl.ac.uk Follow us on Twitter @UCL_ISR Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place London, WC1H 0NN This report is printed on 100% recycled paper