Ian Wright of the UK’s Food & Drink Federation, which represents food manufacturers, has warned that the just-in-time system on which the UK’s supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants have relied is “no longer working” and may not work again. In his view, the UK could face “permanent shortages” in the sense of not all products being available all the time.

Online conferences have the advantage of reducing carbon emissions from travel, particularly air travel, but they can be less convenient when it comes to networking and developing personal connections. The November meeting of the European Biological Rhythms Society tried to fix this by inviting psychologists to develop remote ways of encouraging networking.

The UK’s Food and Drink Federation has released its 2017 progress report, which tracks the progress of its members in the food and drink industry towards meeting its Ambition 2025 environmental goals.

This paper examines the common assumption that local foods are more sustainable than foods sourced from more distant locations. Using the multi-criteria decision aid method (MCDA), which allows for multi-dimensional criteria to be assessed, this paper answers the following research question: “how do selected local or global food products compare and which rank first in terms of sustainability performance?”. 

Europe is reforming its biofuels policy due to concerns raised about its impact on global land use change patterns and global food markets. The negative environmental impacts of the biofuels policy have been well demonstrated, but what is less clear are the economic implications.

An interesting article demonstrating the rebound effect resulting from increasing energy efficiency in the road freight transport sector in Portugal. Matos F J F and Silva F J F (2011). Energy Policy. The rebound effect on road freight transport: Evidence from Portugal, 39, 5, 2833-2841

In November 2009 Japan's Ministry of the Environment released an Annual Report on the Environment, the Sound Material-Cycle Society and the Biodiversity in Japan 2009, Abridged and Illustrated for Easy Understanding.