How to make early release and alternatives to prison safer

Professor Alex Sutherland, Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Decarceration and Professor in Practice of Criminology and Public Policy at the University of Oxford, explores the options for making early release and alternatives to prison safer.

Smartphone “epigames” could transform how we prepare for future pandemics

A new paper in Nature Health calls for behavioural experimentation to become a core pillar of pandemic preparedness, arguing that digital tools can help scientists test how people respond to outbreaks before the next global health crisis begins.

Could oil price surge accelerate the UK’s shift to renewables?

Researchers from across the Smith School of Enterprise & Environment and Oxford Martin School discuss how renewed instability in the Gulf is reshaping global energy markets and what this means for UK consumers, businesses and policymakers.

A faster, cleaner way to recycle electric vehicle batteries

Electric vehicle batteries are typically recycled by breaking them down with heat or strong chemicals. But new research shows that recycling does not have to begin with destruction.

How to avoid food security crises in Africa’s megacities

Only 40 years ago, the urban population of sub-Saharan Africa was just over 100 million; today, the UN estimates this figure at 560 million. The continent contains some of the fastest growing urban areas on the planet with Cairo, greater Lagos, Kinshasa and Dar es Salaam each being home to more than 10 million people and still growing.

Refugees’ right to work and economic integration: evidence from Ethiopia

A randomized evaluation conducted through research-policy partnership with Ethiopia's Refugees and Returnees Service.

Global population living with extreme heat to double by 2050 - Oxford study finds

A new University of Oxford study finds that almost half the world’s population (3.79 billion) will be living with extreme heat by 2050 if the world reaches 2.0°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels – a scenario that climate scientists see as increasingly likely. Most of the impacts will be felt early on as the world passes the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement, the authors warn.

Africa’s offshore ties to Asia are growing, but their consequences remain largely unexamined

New research from the University of Oxford finds that African offshore finance is increasingly routed through Asian financial centres, a shift that risks creating blind spots for regulators, researchers and policymakers. The study is the first to connect flows through Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong as part of a single reconfiguration of offshore finance.

Rethinking security in an interconnected age: Achim Steiner on national security in a world of shared international risks

As geopolitical tensions rise alongside climate shocks, AI disruption and pandemic risk, former UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner has returned to the Oxford Martin School to rethink what national security really means in the 21st century. In this interview, he outlines why security must now integrate climate change, emerging technologies, health and cooperation – and how a new global initiative aims to help governments, institutions and societies prepare for systemic risk.

New study estimates NHS England spends 3% of its primary and secondary care budget on the health impacts of temperature

A new University of Oxford-led study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, is the first to link daily temperature data to health-care use and costs across primary and secondary care in England. Analysis of 4.37 million patient records in England has found resources asymmetrically impacted by winter cold and summer heat, with about 64% linked to common cold days while very hot days drive sharp same-day demand surges.

How can we effectively regulate international trade in wild species?

Global food systems driving twin crises of obesity and global heating

A major review in Frontiers in Science warns that unsustainable food systems pose an urgent threat to both human health and the climate.