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Good COP or bad COP? | The Aston Angle

Jan 7, 2022

6 min



Four Aston University experts reflect on COP26 and what it means for transport, community and global action on decarbonisation, support for small businesses and China’s coal consumption.


COP26 was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference held in Glasgow from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The participating 197 countries agreed a new deal, known as the Glasgow Climate Pact, aimed at staving off dangerous climate change. But will it be enough?


Dr Lucy Rackcliff explains why replacing petrol and diesel vehicles with electric ones alone is not radical enough.


The overwhelming message coming from COP26 transport day seemed to be that moving to zero emission-vehicles would solve the well-documented issues created by petrol and diesel fuelled vehicles. As noted at the conference itself, transport is responsible for 10% of global emissions, and emissions from transport continue to increase.


The WHO estimates that transport-related air pollution affects the health of tens of thousands of people every year in the WHO European Region alone. However, on-street pollution is not the only effect we should seek to address.


Transport is responsible (directly or indirectly) for a wider range of environmental issues, and a wider range of health impacts. Moving to electric vehicles will not address impacts such as loss of land for other activities, use of finite resources in the manufacturing process, the need to dispose of obsolete materials such as used tyres, and the health effects of sedentary lifestyles, facilitated by car-use.


In urban areas in particular, re-thinking policy to focus on walking, cycling and public transport-use could free up land for other activities. Car parks could become actual parks, in turn encouraging more active lifestyles, creating space for people and plants, and leading to a range of wider societal benefits.


Assuming that replacing petrol and diesel vehicles with electric ones will solve all our problems is a strategy which lacks ambition, and thus denies us the benefits that more radical thinking could deliver.


Dr Lucy Rackcliff, Senior Teaching Fellow, Engineering Systems & Supply Chain Management, Aston Logistics and Systems Institute, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences.


"Assuming that replacing petrol and diesel vehicles with electric ones will solve all our problems is a strategy which lacks ambition."


Professor Patricia Thornley reflects on the role that Aston University and EBRI can play in empowering community action and informing global action with research.


COP26 energy day was a fabulous experience. I have never before seen so many people in one place with one ambition: to support and accelerate decarbonisation of the UK’s energy systems.


We ran a “fishbowl”, which allows people with different perspectives on a topic (experts and non-experts) to participate in dialogue around a common interest. Our researchers, local government representatives, industrialists and students shared their thoughts on what our future energy mix should look like, how it should be delivered and who needs to act. Without doubt the consensus was that many different technologies have a role to play and there is an urgent need to accelerate implementation. There were reflections on the importance of governance at different levels and an interesting discussion around the relative merits of centralized solutions and devolved actions. The reality is that of course we need both and that made me think about what Aston University and EBRI can do.


Of course we should implement centrally with initiatives like the impressively low carbon Students’ Union building, but we also need to raise awareness among our students. Our film showing with the Students’ Union a week later helped with that I hope, and many more of our courses are incorporating sustainability elements which is fantastic. But what we haven’t quite achieved yet is an empowered, proactive voice that would lead to wider community action. There are pockets of excellence but a lot still to be done.


My second week at COP26 was very different with police presence outside a building where I had three meetings with industrialists on the controversial topics of forestry and land-use. It was sad to be working with key players to improve sustainability and increase carbon reductions through UK bioenergy while listening to drumbeats outside from objecting protestors. There is a real lack of understanding around forest management and global land use and we need to work harder to improve that. It is a huge challenge, but one that EBRI will work hard to address.


Professor Patricia Thornley, Director of EBRI, Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI), College of Engineering and Physical Sciences.


"There is a real lack of understanding around forest management and global land use and we need to work harder to improve that."


Professor Presanta Dey explores whether Government pledges on climate change will translate to practical support for small businesses


Following the COP26 climate change summit, the UK Government led the way in making a series of pledges and policy commitments to combat climate change. The question is: how will this translate to practical support for SMEs?


Large corporations often take centre stage at COP, which is welcomed, but if we are to see real change, everyone needs to be involved. COP26 provided a refreshing voice for UK small businesses which featured panel discussions on the ‘SME Climate Hub’, highlighting net zero opportunities and challenges for SMEs.


The momentum of COP26 has already inspired over 2,000 UK small businesses to sign up to the UN's Race to Zero campaign, which is designed to accelerate the adoption of credible net-zero targets. A long journey ahead still awaits us, however campaigns like these will hopefully start a ripple effect inspiring the remaining six million UK SMEs to take climate action.


Small businesses have been crying out for more assistance from the government in the form of ‘green’ grants and financial support to enable them to make the necessary long-term changes. The timely announcement of HSBC’s £500m Green SME Fund at COP26 marks a promising first step towards making it easier for SMEs to fund their green ambitions.


In summary, COP26 provided some comfort to UK SMEs seeking a higher level of commitment from government, financial services and businesses. This moment must act as a catalyst for policy makers to continue removing the barriers that are holding small businesses back.


Professor Presanta Dey, Professor of Operations & Information Management, College of Business and Social Sciences.


Professor Jun Du explains what China’s deal means for the rest of the world following its own energy crisis earlier this year…


Despite the many disappointments expressed around the COP26 outcomes, important progess has been made for the world economy moving towards carbon neutrality. Among the noticeable achievements China and the US, which together emit 43% of the total CO2 in the air, have agreed to boost climate co-operation despite many disagreements. This includes China’s pledge to more actively control and cut methane emissions during the next decade - even when the country did not sign up to the global methane pledge made in Glasgow.


Reaching net zero will be an unprecedented challenge for all countries. China will need to do the heaviest lifting among all. The country’s energy crisis earlier this year has shown just how hard it will be to reach net zero. The exceptionally early and cold winter this year will demand even more coal, so China’s willingness and resolve for climate commitments are good news to all.


While lots of attention was turned to the absence of China’s president, Xi Jinping, from the COP26 climate summit, what is less appreciated is the fact that China is serious about decarbonisation. Few countries invest as much as China in that area, nor grow as fast in finding alternative energy to coal and in green industries like electric cars. China has set specific plans in its 14th national five-year plan for economic and social development to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.


COP26 could be an additional driver for “an era of accountability” for China.


Professor Jun Du, Professor of Economics, Finance and Entrepreneurship, Centre Director, Centre for Business Prosperity, Aston Business School levy.


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Twin earthquakes in Venezuela raise serious concerns over humanitarian, health and infrastructure impacts featured image

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Twin earthquakes in Venezuela raise serious concerns over humanitarian, health and infrastructure impacts

Dr Komal Raj Aryal, lecturer in crisis and disaster management at Aston Business School, has expressed serious concern following the powerful twin earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela on 24 June 2026. "The back-to-back earthquakes, measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 and occurring within less than a minute of each other at an approximate depth of 22 km, represent an exceptionally severe seismic event," said Dr Aryal, who has more than 26 years of international research experience in earthquakes, landslides, extreme weather events and disaster risk governance. "The combination of two major earthquakes occurring in rapid succession, their relatively shallow depths, and the repeated strong ground shaking is likely to have substantially increased damage to buildings, transport networks and other critical infrastructure. Scientifically, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake releases approximately three times more energy than a magnitude 7.2 event. Experiencing both events within seconds creates an extremely complex emergency response situation." Dr Aryal highlighted particular concern for San Felipe, an important industrial, commercial and transportation centre with a population of more than 300,000 people. Built across hilly terrain, with steep streets and dense urban development, the city could face significant challenges for emergency access, search and rescue operations, evacuation and humanitarian assistance. Around 10% of the city's population is aged 65 or older, making older adults particularly vulnerable during prolonged emergency situations. "If widespread power outages occur while temperatures remain between 32°C and 35°C, communities will face compounded risks including heat stress, disruption to healthcare services, shortages of clean water, communication failures and interruptions to essential public services. These cascading impacts often become as significant as the direct earthquake damage itself." Based on the available seismic information and preliminary footage shared on social media, Dr Aryal noted that it will likely take days or even weeks before authorities fully understand the extent of structural damage across northern Venezuela. "Initial seismic information suggests a rupture along a major fault system parallel to Venezuela's northern coastline, with areas experiencing extremely intense ground shaking. If confirmed, significant cascading impacts may extend well beyond the epicentral area, affecting multiple urban centres, transport corridors and regional supply chains." Dr Aryal also expressed concern about the resilience of Venezuela's healthcare system. "Northern Venezuela contains a large concentration of hospitals and healthcare facilities. At present, it remains unclear how many medical facilities have been affected by the earthquakes. Any disruption to hospitals, combined with existing pressures on healthcare capacity, medicine supplies and emergency logistics, could significantly affect the delivery of healthcare services for both acute injuries and patients with chronic illnesses." He added that damage to airports, major highways, bridges and other transport infrastructure could delay humanitarian assistance, emergency logistics and economic recovery. "The humanitarian consequences of this disaster will depend not only on the severity of the ground shaking, but also on the resilience of critical infrastructure, the effectiveness of emergency coordination, the availability of healthcare services and the country's broader socioeconomic capacity to recover." Dr Aryal further warned that the immediate earthquake sequence is unlikely to mark the end of the crisis. "Strong aftershocks are highly likely following earthquakes of this magnitude. These may continue for months, and some could themselves be damaging. They increase risks to already weakened buildings, complicate search and rescue operations, trigger additional landslides in mountainous areas, and prolong humanitarian needs." He concluded that while casualty figures and the full extent of the damage remain uncertain, the event has the potential to become one of the most significant seismic disasters in the region in recent years, requiring sustained national and international humanitarian support.

The world is burning useful waste, and cleaner alternatives are needed featured image

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The world is burning useful waste, and cleaner alternatives are needed

When we talk about clean air, the conversation usually turns to traffic: exhaust fumes, congestion, school runs and the air people breathe on busy streets. That focus is understandable because road transport remains one of the most visible sources of poor air quality in everyday life. But Clean Air Day should also draw attention to a less visible question: why are useful materials still being burned as waste? Clean air is about more than traffic Around the world, huge quantities of leftover straw are still treated as waste to be cleared quickly, with rice straw one of the clearest examples. More than 700 million tonnes of rice straw are produced globally every year, and around 80% is burned. That contributes directly to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, while also destroying material that could have value. At Aston University’s Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute, researchers are exploring alternatives to open burning of crop residues, including whether materials often treated as waste could instead become useful sources of energy, fuels or bioproducts. This matters because the clean air debate needs to look beyond transport. How we manage waste, land and energy also plays a part, and agricultural residues should not automatically be seen as rubbish to be burned. In many cases, they could be resources with real value. Why burning crop waste matters The World Health Organization describes air pollution as one of the greatest environmental risks to health, estimating that ambient outdoor air pollution caused 4.2 million premature deaths globally in 2019. Much of that risk comes from exposure to fine particulate matter, which is linked to cardiovascular and respiratory disease and cancers. That is particularly relevant when residues are burned in the open, as smoke and fine particles can travel beyond the field where burning takes place, affecting nearby communities and wider air quality. There is a practical issue as well as an environmental one. If burning is the fastest and cheapest way to clear land, it can easily become the default, which is why any cleaner alternative has to work for farmers and communities in practice. It is not enough to tell people to stop burning; they need practical alternatives that make sense economically and locally. Turning waste into cleaner alternatives Biochar and bioenergy are two examples of how waste crop material can be treated differently. Instead of being burned in the open, residues can be converted into useful products or sources of renewable energy. Biochar can also offer practical benefits for farmers when it is produced and applied appropriately. Studies have shown that addition of biochar to the soil can improve its structure, help retain nutrients and, in some cases, reduce the need for synthetic fertilisers, which will lower associated emissions and economic demands. The water-holding capacity of biochar can also support crops during dry periods, potentially reducing irrigation demand in drought-prone seasons. Work connected to rice straw has shown that cleaner alternatives to burning can produce measurable environmental benefits while supporting local economies. Community-scale rice straw bioenergy systems, for example, can avoid 2.7–3.5 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions per hectare each year, while creating fuel savings and reducing post-harvest losses for rice farming communities. Research and interviews have shown that farmers and local stakeholders are willing to participate in these transitions when alternatives are designed around their needs and priorities. During community engagement activities, participants consistently highlighted cleaner air as an important benefit, not only for environmental reasons but also because of concerns about the health impacts of smoke and the financial burden of illness. For many households, avoiding respiratory problems and expensive hospital bills was seen as just as important as generating additional income from agricultural residues. That matters because cleaner air is linked to more than one policy area. Transport is important, but so are farming, energy and waste. Research can help identify what works, where the trade-offs are, and how promising ideas can move beyond the lab. It can also support industry, policymakers and local partners to develop alternatives that are practical rather than theoretical. For policymakers, the lesson is that air quality cannot be improved by focusing only on the most visible sources of pollution. Transport matters, but so do homes, industry, farming, waste and energy systems. There is no single answer. Agricultural residues vary, local conditions vary, and technologies need to be assessed carefully, but cleaner air will require better options than burning. Clean Air Day should prompt us to ask why useful materials are still being burned in the first place. If we want cleaner air, we need to reduce what we burn and get smarter about what we waste. This article was written by Dr Samuel Sogbesan and Thea Mae Baltazar from Aston University’s Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute. (Photo by Sandie Peters on Unsplash)

Major trial shows increasing bone density fails to cut fracture risk in brittle bone disease featured image

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Major trial shows increasing bone density fails to cut fracture risk in brittle bone disease

An international clinical trial involving Aston University researchers has challenged long held assumptions about how brittle bone disease is treated in adults, after finding that substantially increasing bone density did not reduce the risk of fractures. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), examined whether a two stage treatment using the bone building drug teriparatide followed by the bone preserving drug zoledronic acid could reduce fractures in adults with osteogenesis imperfecta, often referred to as brittle bone disease, a rare genetic condition that causes bones to break easily throughout life. Researchers followed 349 adults treated at 27 specialist centres across the UK and Europe. While the treatment led to clear increases in bone density in the spine and hip, fracture rates were no lower than among patients receiving standard care, suggesting that bone quality may matter more than bone density alone in preventing fractures in people with the condition. The findings underline a key distinction between brittle bone disease and more common bone conditions such as osteoporosis, where increasing bone density is known to reduce fracture risk. In osteogenesis imperfecta, the study suggests that bones can become denser without becoming less likely to break, indicating that the underlying quality and structure of bone tissue may play a greater role in fracture risk than density alone. Dr Zaki Hassan Smith, an endocrinologist at Aston Medical School who contributed to the research, said: “This study shows that in osteogenesis imperfecta, simply increasing bone density doesn’t necessarily translate into fewer fractures. That’s important, because it tells us that the disease is more complex than what we see on a scan. The findings help shift the focus towards understanding bone quality and how bones behave in real life, which is essential if we are to develop more effective treatments that genuinely reduce harm for patients.” Osteogenesis imperfecta is a genetic condition that affects collagen, leaving bones fragile and prone to fracture throughout life. There is currently no licensed treatment specifically approved to prevent fractures in adults with the condition, and patients often experience repeated fractures, chronic pain and long term disability. The trial tested a sequential treatment strategy commonly used in osteoporosis, where a bone building drug is followed by a treatment designed to preserve gains in bone strength. Although this approach successfully increased bone density in people with osteogenesis imperfecta, it did not reduce fracture rates, suggesting that treatment strategies effective in osteoporosis may not directly translate to rare bone diseases. Researchers did observe improvements in some quality of life measures among participants receiving the treatment, including reduced pain interference and improved mobility. However, fracture prevention remained unchanged, reinforcing the need for new approaches that target the fundamental properties of bone in osteogenesis imperfecta rather than density alone. The study was led by the University of Edinburgh and funded by the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. Aston University contributed clinical and academic expertise through Aston Medical School as part of the large international collaboration, which involved specialist centres across the UK and Europe. The study was led by the University of Edinburgh, with Aston University contributing clinical and academic expertise as part of a wider international collaboration involving multiple specialist centres across the UK and Europe. The research was funded by the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. Researchers say the findings provide important guidance for future research, helping to steer efforts towards treatments that focus on bone quality, strength and resilience in everyday life. They also highlight the value of large scale clinical trials in rare diseases, where learning what does not reduce harm is an essential step towards better care. The paper, Teriparatide Plus Zoledronic Acid for Osteogenesis Imperfecta, is published in JAMA. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2026.6889

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