Graham Smith is Professor of Politics at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster and a specialist in democratic innovation and citizen engagement, with a particular interest in climate politics and the representation of future generations. He is the Chair of FDSD’s Board of Trustees. Britain is about to make a fundamental...
Monthly Archives: May 2016
The EU Referendum and UK Poverty
On May 24th, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published: “The first evidence-based briefing of how the outcome of the EU referendum on June 23 could affect people in poverty”. The paper was written to ensure that places and people with the lowest incomes are not ignored in any decision to leave or remain within the EU....
Public health in a changing climate
Whether it’s direct or indirect, climate change will have an impact on public health. A recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the New Economics Foundation reviews current local strategies by public health institutions to address climate change. In considering “how shifting public health from primary care trusts to local authorities has affected efforts...
Citizens sue their governments for action on climate change
“Global warming is already disrupting the planet’s weather”, a recent New York Times article reads, “now it is having an impact on the courts as well, as adults and children around the world try to enlist the judiciary in their efforts to blunt climate change.” After a landmark ruling in Holland in 2015, in which...