The University of York is consistently ranked in the top ten UK research universities, with over 50% of its research “world-leading” or “internationally excellent” according to the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. Its excellence in environmental issues is demonstrated by its close relationship with the Stockholm Environment Institute, which is ranked in the world’s top ten environmental think tanks and has a centre in York’s Environment Department.

Much of the research within the University of York is overseen by the York Environmental Sustainability Institute. Its four key themes correlate closely to the Centre for Low Carbon Futures’ concerns: sustainable environments (including sustainable cities), global change (including biofuels), food security and human health and wellbeing.

Underpinning York’s socio-economic and policy analysis on climate change is a strong body of work modelling climate change impacts on ecosystems and society. For example, York is participating in a four year project on climate change impacts on ecosystem services and food security in Eastern Africa, and specifically leading the research on the impact of climate change on biodiversity and habitats. This is intended to generate predictive models for climate impacts on ecosystem services and livelihoods and build local capacity to account for these effects in development planning. Similarly, York’s Centre for Ecology Law and Policy seeks to improve international understanding of the interactions between society and the environment. It has demonstrated a particular strength in bioclimatic modelling in developing countries, charting ecosystem and species shifts in East Asia and Africa.

York also shows strong leadership in using electronics and computer science to green outcomes. York researchers lead the Worldwide Universities Network alliance, which is pioneering green cognitive radio among other technologies. This approach exploits the unused radio spectrum and employs artificial intelligence to remember and predict the most commonly used radio stations. This reduces the power consumption and therefore improves the energy efficiency of radio communications. Similarly, York researchers are developing computational modelling systems to improve traffic flows and promote intelligent transport systems, increasing the sustainability and quality of urban lifestyles.

The Stockholm Environment Institute at York has contributed to environmental science and policy from a regional to international level. In the UK, the think tank has concentrated on issues related to consumption and behaviour and the impacts of our affluent society on the environment. In developing countries, SEI-York’s activities have concentrated on atmospheric issues, from air pollution in urban centres, to regional air pollution and its interaction with climate change. In Africa, SEI-York works at local scales, attempting to improve management of water resources in arid areas to improve agricultural yields. Many of its staff are jointly appointed with other university departments at York. For example, Professor John Barrett, now at Leeds University, was a member of the Stockholm Environment and a Professor at the University of York while contributing to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.