With summer now well underway it’s worth reminding ourselves of what a busy time it’s been in the outside world.
From the UK General Election to the start of Brexit negotiations and a record-breaking heatwave it’s certainly been roller-coaster of a summer so far.
It’s been an eventful time for climate change too as the Committee for Climate Change released its 2017 report.
We’ve enjoyed reading and sharing lots of great articles on @meuk_les this month and we’ve got loads more planned.
So here’s a reminder of the top 5 best articles to keep you up to speed:
Renewables provide more than half of UK electricity for the first time
At the beginning of June, the National Grid recorded that renewable sources had generated more electricity than coal and gas for the first time marking a major milestone towards the low carbon economy. At Mitsubishi Electric we champion reducing energy in the built environment, so we absolutely had to add this to our reading lists.
If you missed reading it the first time around, read it here
You can also read what we thought about this milestone here.
Britain on course for longest heatwave in 20 years
Towards the end of June, the majority of the country was basking in the hot sunny weather as Britain enjoyed a five-day heatwave, with the highest temperatures recorded since 1976.
Catch up on the best advice for keeping your cool here:
And read our advice on avoiding heat stress at work here
Very strong climate change signal in record June heatwave
As the heatwave faded away, scientists from the World Weather Attribution announced that the record temperatures were much more intense due to the effects of climate change.
This had everyone at The Hub talking about the wider implications of climate change on our planet and especially the built environment. You can read more of our thoughts on this issue here.
Catch up on the article from the World Weather Attribution here.
A 22-year-old has a plan to clear the oceans of plastic
Eight million tonnes of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every year, forming huge stretches of polluted water. But in a video shared by BBC3, 22 year-old Boyen Slat explains his plan to stop this from happening.
After watching this video, we were really inspired and felt we had to share it on Twitter to applaud Slat’s dedication to conserving our planet.
If you haven’t already, watch it here.
We also pontificate on whether an ocean clean up is another unintended consequence of Brexit here
Are companies doing enough to mitigate climate change?
As the Committee for Climate Change (CCC) releases its 2017 report of the UK’s progress in reducing emissions and meeting carbon budgets, we take a look at what companies are doing to reduce their carbon footprint here.
The report comes as a study shows that just 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, according to a new report.
In the meantime, you can read the full report from the CCC here.
Coming up this month,
We have articles and posts on legislation affecting commercial buildings and landlords; a look at the new refrigerants starting to appear in air conditioning; a report on sustainability in social housing; and whether prefabrication is one way of solving the housing crisis.
We are open to suggestions though and would love to hear your thoughts on these articles and the wider issues surrounding climate change, renewable energy and the built environment, so please get in touch. In the meantime make sure you are following @meuk_les on Twitter to see more of the articles we’re sharing.
Russell Jones is PR & Communications Manager for Mitsubishi Electric.
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