Search Results for: climate

A chance to build a cleaner future as economy rebuilds

A chance to build a cleaner future as economy rebuilds

commercial property innovationThe European Union is strengthening its efforts to make its energy systems cleaner and more resilient, reinforcing its global leadership in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new energy policy review by the International Energy Agency.

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Majority of businesses moving forward with international expansion

Majority of businesses moving forward with international expansion

international expansionNew research released by Globalization Partners and CFO Research, suggests that most businesses are undeterred by the impact of COVID-19 and are still moving forward with plans for new or expanded international operations. More than half of the respondents expressed interest in expanding or adding operations in the Asia-Pacific region. The findings also claim that 83 percent of respondents said they are looking into a remote, global workforce model as a solution to the changes brought about by COVID-19. (more…)

BBP and BSRIA publish new soft landings report for property owners

BBP and BSRIA publish new soft landings report for property owners

Better Buildings Partnership, together with BSRIA (Building Services Research and Information Association), has today published the joint report: Soft Landings: The Benefits to Commercial Property Owners. The commercial property sector is waking up to the fact that it needs to take responsibility on climate change and there is a broad recognition that a significant gap exists between the design expectations and operational performance of buildings. Part of taking climate action involves minimising this gap, the report’s authors claim. (more…)

Half of workers feel more productive working from home

Half of workers feel more productive working from home

work from homeProductivity has increased due to the current lockdown situation, according to around half of  UK workers. The majority (56 percent) of workers who don’t usually work from home feel more productive than in the office. Despite this, 50 percent of those currently working from home are looking forward to their workplace reopening, although 70 percent hope their employer lets them work from home more often in future. Nearly half (45 percent) of workers would therefore welcome a flexible office arrangement that allows them to split working time between the office and home.  (more…)

Virtual work has the potential to harm trust, social cohesion and knowledge sharing

Virtual work has the potential to harm trust, social cohesion and knowledge sharing

virtual workTrust, social cohesion and information sharing are the most potentially vulnerable to damage when people work virtually, according to a study of around 750 academic papers conducted on behalf of the Advanced Workplace Institute (AWI), a global workplace management body. As organisations rapidly embrace home working and virtual work in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the study warns that without active management to respond to changes in working, team dynamics are under risk with a knock on effect on both employee happiness and performance. (more…)

Global carbon dioxide emissions fall dramatically because of lockdown

Global carbon dioxide emissions fall dramatically because of lockdown

Carbon dioxide emissions have declined rapidly during the Covid-19 lockdown according to a new global academic study, but experts are warning that the reductions may be short-lived as normal economic activity resumes. The findings appeared today in the journal Nature Climate Change. The international study of carbon emissions found that daily emissions declined by around 17 percent between January and early April, compared to the previous year and could decline anywhere between 4.4 percent and 8 percent for the whole of 2020, the largest annual drop since the Second World War. (more…)

CIPD Festival of Work goes digital for 2020

CIPD Festival of Work goes digital for 2020

There’s just one month to go until CIPD hosts its Festival of Work, which has moved online for the first time. Extended to three days, it will provide even more access to expert masterclasses, discussions and skills sessions, and a taste of large-scale events of this kind for the future. It is following a well trodden path in the current climate as a number of other events have moved online. (For an up to date list of workplace events and their status visit our Events page). (more…)

Pandemic threatens the transition to clean energy

Pandemic threatens the transition to clean energy

The coronavirus pandemic risks cancelling out recent progress in transitioning to clean energy, with unprecedented falls in demand, price volatility and pressure to quickly mitigate socioeconomic costs placing the near-term trajectory of the transition in doubt. Policies, roadmaps and governance frameworks for energy transition at national, regional, and global levels need to be more robust and resilient against external shocks, according to the latest edition of World Economic Forum’s Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2020 report published today. (more…)

Manchester set to be the next UK tech hub

Manchester set to be the next UK tech hub

Manchester could be set to see an influx of tech talent in the next three years, according to new research from CWJobs, the UK’s leading tech job board. Surveying 1,000 tech workers, Manchester emerged as the top choice outside of the capital (22 percent) to work in, with a fifth (20 percent) also revealing it’s the city they would choose to set up a tech business in the next three years, ahead of Birmingham (11 percent) and Edinburgh (8 percent). In the same survey, 505 IT decision makers (IT DM) also placed Manchester as the best location to set up a tech business, with over a quarter (27 percent) choosing the city. (more…)

Commercial property energy use fell by over 3 percent last year

Commercial property energy use fell by over 3 percent last year

commercial property energy useOperational energy consumption in the UK commercial property sector fell by 3.3 percent during 2018/19 compared to the previous year, according to the latest figures from the “in-use” benchmark published by the UK’s Better Building Partnership (BBP). The Real Estate Environmental Benchmark (REEB) compared operational energy performance between 2017/18 and 2018/19, based on 1,038 UK properties covering 11.7m sqm belonging to 31 of the partnership’s 34 member companies. (more…)

UK workers are greener at home than in the workplace

UK workers are greener at home than in the workplace

greenerNearly half of UK workers admit to being greener at home than they are in the office, although more and more are realising the importance of green habits, research by Instant Offices has suggested. With the government committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, the workspace innovation company has been investigating what more employers can do to help to lead the way by instituting greener practices. (more…)

New EU AI strategy focuses on ethics

New EU AI strategy focuses on ethics

AIThe European Commission has put forward a strategy to promote the development of AI and robotics while putting people first and defending European values and rights. The strategy acknowledges that AI can open up new opportunities for businesses and bring solutions to challenges such as climate change. However, it aims to address the social, legal and ethical impact of new technology. (more…)