Oxford University is due to receive £1.2 million from the Bank of America to fund research into greenhouse gas removal and sustainable finance. This project to tackle climate change and improve sustainability within financial services will be carried out at the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment.

The research will cover two key areas and will be split across two sites. The first will identify methods of taking greenhouse gases out of the air in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner. It will be based at the Greenhouse Gas Removal Hub (CO₂RE). Dr Stephen Smith will direct this project.

The second group will be led by Dr Ben Caldecott and will investigate using environmental data about the climate and nature-related factors in financial decision-making. This will be based at the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group and the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment (CGFI).

The funding will support three years of research into these two critical areas, as well as contribute funding to a Director’s Research fund. This will allow the School to undertake other sustainable research opportunities.
This partnership is pivotal, according to Bernard Mensah, president of International at Bank of America. “Successful partnerships between business, academia and governments are critical if we are to accelerate the transition to sustainable, secure and affordable energy and bring forwards the path to net zero,” he said. It is the first partnership of its kind for Bank of America in Europe.

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) and other climate change activists and organizations have also stressed the need for international cooperation and a global response to climate change. Chatham House wrote in its article commenting on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on 6 April 2022, “To deliver a world that restricts global warming to 1.5°C — an internationally agreed target — systemic change is needed.”

This collaboration between the University and the Bank of America is a move to a more international approach to tackling the climate crisis. Mensah said he feels it “has the potential to transform scalable carbon capture and greenhouse gas removal and also the integration of nature-based metrics into sustainable finance frameworks.”

These projects endeavour to make influential progress combatting climate change. The research is key to moving towards a more sustainable future and achieving the goals outlined by the IPCC and governments by 2030. The Bank of America itself published their commitment to environmental sustainability on their website, with a goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in support of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The results and data from the research will be used to inform financial services decision making. It seeks to inform more implementable, sustainable business models. Professor Cameron Hepburn, director of the Smith School, commented, “This project has a pressing need considering the current climate crisis. It hopes to make impressive and influential progress combatting climate change, to one of action.”

The Smith School is taking a key role in driving systematic change in combatting climate change. Previously they have worked with 20 separate governments worldwide in finding solutions to green recovery. Its research is influential, directly informing global financial institutions across the globe.

Image credit: Marcin Jozwiak

During his recent visit to Oxford, Prince Charles spoke with a group of 12 ‘under-represented’ students to hear about their experiences and challenges. The 30-minute conversation took place in the residence of Baroness Amos, master of University College (Univ), after the Prince’s visit to unveil the new Levine building at Trinity college last Thursday. 

Baroness Amos is the first black head of any Oxford college and the co-founder of the Amos Bursary program for talented students of African and Caribbean descent. Recipients of this bursary as well as others who had participated in the Opportunity Oxford program were invited to the meeting. He was eager to hear about their journeys to Oxford and thoughts on access at the university. 

The conversation came at the request of Prince Charles, who is working on some projects to make university more accessible for students from a variety of backgrounds. Chloe Bardou, Univ JCR Access and Equality rep was one of the students who spoke to Prince Charles. She talked highly of the conversation, saying that although she “was a little bit starstruck”, he made everyone feel at ease and “was keen to hear our feedback on what did and didn’t work” in regards to Prince Charles’ ideas. 

The visit comes as the JCR at Univ is pushing for access to be a main priority for the college in the coming years. The college hosts regular visits from schools in Univ’s linked areas in South-East England and engages with direct outreach to these groups from student ambassadors. 

Additionally, the college participates in the Opportunity Oxford academic program, which aims to support students who come from under-represented state school backgrounds to prepare for Oxford teaching and living. This year also saw many new events put on by Univ’s JCR and MCR this year to improve inclusivity including a Diwali bop, Chinese New Year celebrations, candle lighting for Hanukkah and a college-wide Iftar. Bardou is pleased with progress like this. However, she hopes the college will do more to make it easier to put on such events and allow small changes that can make students feel more welcome, like rewriting aspects of their Flag policy. 

The meeting left participants optimistic about Univ’s inclusive future and the Prince’s decision to discuss such matters with students did not go unnoticed by those he met with, and the many others who gathered outside the master’s residence to spot him leaving afterwards.

Image credit: Ed Nix

In those nervy interview days, the first person you met at Oxford was a porter. They handed over the keys to your new abode for the next few nights. We see porters every day, yet few understand or fully appreciate what they get up to.

It was when I locked myself out of my room in freshers that I first met Nikki.i. I had never seen a female porter before, which both surprised and interested me. Whilst Nikki is not the only female porter in the university, nor the first female porter that Hertford has had, she is one of a small minority of women in the profession.

The gender disparity that really jumped out to me. However, Nikki highlighted that being a woman in the role ‘hasn’t affected me at all’. Describing some of her main roles as a fire warden, first aider, email responder and student conversationalist she said that ‘all those jobs a woman can do’. You just need confidence, courtesy and professionalism. 

In recent years there has been much attention dedicated to narrowing the gender equality gap in the workplace. However, there are still many sectors that seem traditionally gendered. Nikki pointed out how strange and nonsensical it is, noting that one of her sons works as the only nurse practitioner in a nursery. It is just a societal norm that certain jobs are considered to be more feminine or masculine, but that doesn’t mean that it is right or impossible to change. Films such as Meet the Fockers emphasise the gendered stereotypes further by constantly promoting that Ben Stiller’s character is a male nurse. But, just as Nikki and her son prove, there is no reason why careers need to be gendered in this way. 

As a student, Nikki dreamed of being a chef, another sector which is heavily male-dominated. After missing out on the course she applied for, she went down the route of baking. However, that was not all she hoped it would be as she said that icing 400 donuts in the morning was not quite the career she had imagined. It was the hotel industry where Nikki felt she grew and developed the skills that she now implements in her day to day tasks as a porter. 

Perhaps one of the most fundamental parts of the job is looking after the college cat, Simpkin, and it turns out that liking cats is part of the job description. Interviewing for the job as a porter at Hertford, Nikki was asked if she was allergic to cats. This just goes to show how central the little black cat is to the college. Simpkin IV is part of the team as he joins the porters on their daily patrols around the grounds. Nikki describes him as a cantankerous character who can be stroked twice but never more. A tip that is good to know as a Hertford student. He is, as a result, a bit of a divisive figure and students, as well as Walter the Exeter cat, have faced the consequences of his third stroke. Although Nikki did note that in the notorious cat feud with Walter that Simpkin ‘always comes off worse’. 

However, Simpkin is not the only source of excitement. As gate-keepers of the college, porters are the first point of call for not only students but also celebrity guests. It was hard to miss the Hollywood buzz around Hertford last term as the set of Wonka landed onto the streets of Oxford. Students camped out in the Hertford marquee, eagerly waiting for a glimpse of Mathew Baynton, Jim Carter or Hugh Grant. However, always maintaining professionalism, the porters were tied to their office, (when they weren’t checking the Bridge of Sighs to ensure students weren’t hanging out the window). Although it must be noted the porters were on the student’s side, often having to remind the filming crew that the college is the student’s home not just a film set. 

Throughout filming, the porters were constantly answering questions about updates on Hugh Grant’s plans to go to his green room in college. But, unlike the rest of us, the porters stayed quite cool and calm in their office. It was, therefore, Hugh Grant himself that approached Nikki, confused that unlike the rest of the student population, she wasn’t falling at his feet. Their conversation was friendly, with Grant curious about her role too. However, what puzzled him the most was the fact that Nikki wasn’t wearing a bowler hat. To his question she answered that it’s because Hertford porters are ‘more relaxed and chilled out’, but quickly added this did not make them any less professional. 

Whilst Nikki didn’t manage to see the much sought after Timothee Chalamet, she could certainly hear the screams and gasps from outside the window. 

Of course, the job of a porter is not all glitz and glamour as the celebrity chats may suggest. There are jobs that no porter wants to do. It’s not hard to guess what comes bottom of the list: cleaning toilets and vomit. All Nikki had to say on the matter is ‘that kettle works hard’ pointing at the little metal appliance in the porter kitchen where we had our discussion.  

The timings of a shift porter allows for flexibility which enables Nikki to pursue other interests. Whilst of course she loves cats, it is her dogs Coco and Prince that happily await her return at home. 

It is clear that Nikki quite clearly loves being a porter. Every day is different, forcing her to think on her feet. Working as a shift porter moving from night to day especially brings a kaleidoscope of experiences. From cake to cats, Nikki proves that it is possible to break through stereotypes and that professionalism means much more than gender barriers.