Sustainability Roundup [2 May 2023]

News, Events, Links, Jobs (A powerful speech by Zadie Smith, catastrophic Antarctic heating, jobs in climate propaganda and more)

Do you want your recent publication, job posting, or recent sustainability news to be featured in the Roundup? Send a link or message to rcsc@ru.nl or rcsc@substack.com

News

• Indications that the Chilean government aims to nationalize its Lithium industry

• New research warns of collapse of Antarctic ocean currents

  • Li, Q., England, M.H., Hogg, A.M. et al. Abyssal ocean overturning slowdown and warming driven by Antarctic meltwater. Nature 615, 841–847 (2023).

• Zadie Smith speaks on the distinction between climate denialism and pragmatism in a protest against a London based lobbying firm.

Events

• Hotspot TransAct Seminar series on Transformative ideas: Dr. Dick Timmer on Limitarianism: 8 May, 3:30-5pm, EOS 1.525

  

• The Radboud Centre for Sustainability seminar series on The Ocean is ongoing!

  RCSC Seminar Series on the Ocean: Spring/Fall 2023

• The second seminar in the Ocean series: Sonic Pipelines and the Value of a Whale. Dr. Lisa Yin Han, Arizona State University [15 May 2023]

  

Colloquia: Sonic Pipelines and the Value of a Whale

• Radboud Reflects, Feed the City from Within. A conversation about Urban farming. 24th May 2023.

• The Halkes Women + Faculty Network Nijmegen Event on student evaluations on May 15. Details and registration.

  

Sustainability Links

• Will Brazil Destroy the Amazon to Save the Climate? An opinion in Foreign Policy that helps us think about the impact of the energy transition in a global context.

• Sevenfold variation in global feeding capacity depends on diets, land use and nitrogen management | Nature Food

• EU needs land reform to stop Big Agri swallowing up small farms. Opinion in the EU Observer

• Financial profitability of diversified farming systems: A global meta-analysis | Ecological Economics

  A global meta-analysis of 3192 effect sizes from 119 peer-reviewed articles provides evidence that diversified farming systems are at least as profitable as simplified farming systems.

• Who’s Tipping the Scales? The growing influence of corporations on the governance of food systems, and how to counter it. New report on corporate consolidation in the food system by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food System.

• The latest episode of the Landscapes podcast, “Nature’s Vote” takes on the issue of how humans aim to speak for biodiversity.

• Winkler, L., Pearce, D., Nelson, J. et al. The effect of sustainable mobility transition policies on cumulative urban transport emissions and energy demand. Nat Commun 14, 2357 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37728-x

  “We conclude that, as well as implementation of emission-reducing changes in vehicle design, a rapid and large-scale reduction in car use is necessary to meet stringent carbon budgets and avoid high energy demand.”

• The Food Policy Coalition EU released a report”: Sustainable Food Systems Law – Policy Recommendations for a Meaningful Transition, Endorsed by 24 organisations, including: Agroecology Europe, Arche Noah, BEUC, BirdLife, ClientEarth, CiWF, ECVC, EEB, Eurogroup for Animals, EHN, EPHA, Eurocoop, FTAO, Feedback, Fern, FIAN, Greenpeace, IATP, IFOAM Organics Europe, Oxfam, SAFE, Slow Food, Seas at Risk, WWF.

Sustainability Jobs

• PhD position at Utrecht in redefining nature-based solutions

• Postdoctoral position on the justice dimensions of urban agricultural intensification ( Norway and the Netherlands)

• Post Doctoral Associate - Climate Change Disinformation and Propaganda

  • Plus other PhD and research positions in climate disinformation