Drought linked to 46% increase in sexual violence among adolescents in Southern Africa

Study reveals climate change is increasing risks to child safety.

The age of cascading crises: Why the world keeps being surprised

From the Gulf to Ukraine to the Sahel, today’s conflicts are not isolated events but cascading shocks in a hyper-connected world, yet our institutions remain built to react to yesterday’s wars.

Strait of Hormuz disruption exposes the UK’s fertiliser vulnerability

When geopolitical shocks hit households, we tend to notice energy prices first. But another shock often follows quickly: fertiliser price spikes that raise farm costs, then food prices.

Decentralising disease surveillance and modelling approaches will support equitable infectious disease responses

By sharing data analytics instead of raw data, federated approaches enable surveillance and modelling while respecting ethical and legal boundaries.

How the world can avoid millions going hungry when supply chains collapse

Millions more people will face hunger in the coming months if the conflict in the Middle East is not resolved soon, the UN has warned.

Can 3D printing help repair the brain? Oxford Martin programme reports key advances

Researchers have built and tested structured human brain tissue, offering new tools to study how the brain develops and responds to injury.

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.

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.

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.

Reforming the UK food system isn’t just an imperative, it’s an opportunity

Speaking at a first-of-its-kind National Emergency Briefing on climate change, Professor Paul Behrens outlines the urgent need to reform the UK food system – and the diverse benefits this would bring for farmers, the public and nature.

What we told UK leaders about climate and nature at a national emergency briefing

Climate policy models are missing the human cost, says new Lancet review

A Lancet Planetary Health Review, co-authored by Professor Paul Behrens from our Future of Food programme, finds that widely used climate policy models overlook major impacts on people’s lives. The result is that prevention can be undervalued.

Global move towards plant-based diets could reshape farming jobs and reduce labour costs worldwide, Oxford study finds

A global shift towards healthier, more sustainable eating patterns could reshape agricultural employment across the world, according to new research from the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI).