Introduction
Editorial: Governance factors on the road to net zero
Abstract
In 2021, the UK Government released its Net Zero Strategy, which laid out how the country would meet its legally binding carbon-based emissions target of no net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Recent developments have shown the importance of governance in the delivery of this target. These include the 2022 Committee on Climate Change progress report to Parliament and the 2023 independent review, led by Chris Skidmore MP (a former Energy Minister), which outlined that there was further work to be done at all governance levels and that all relevant stakeholder groups who will be involved in or are affected by the transition should be mobilised to ensure that the net zero target is met.
The British Academy Net Zero policy programme is examining net zero from a governance perspective and commissioned a series of essays on the topic. Emerging themes from the essays and programme emphasise the important role that leaders and people will play in net zero governance.
Keywords
GovernanceleadershippeopleCopyright statement © The author(s) 2023. This is an open access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License
Cite this article O’Riordan with Pennington (2023), ‘Editorial: Governance factors on the road to net zero’, Journal of the British Academy, 11(4): 001 https://doi.org/10.5871/jba/011s4.001

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The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been traditionally characterised by young population demographics but is currently experiencing fast transitions into ageing societies. The region has strong narratives of respect and high regard towards the elderly that are embedded in cultural norms. However, such narratives appear to have limited practical applications as they contradict the experiences of older people. The experiences of older women and men are likely to be impacted by existing gender differentials across the life course including marriage patterns, societal expectations and access to opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated infection control restrictions have impacted the lives of older people globally, including in the Middle East. In this article, I reflect on the intersectionality of gender and ageing perception in the MENA region, drawing on qualitative data collected as part of the Middle East and North Africa Research on Ageing Healthy (MENARAH) Network between 2020 and 2022.
Uncertainties about COVID-19 vaccines and variants have been linked to vaccination refusal on a significant scale. To optimise public health communication on vaccination and inform vaccination policy, it is necessary to understand the substantive nature of these uncertainties. Our study, using a corpus of texts from 324 UK citizens, examines these uncertainties. The results suggest that major public uncertainties regarding COVID-19 vaccines are expressed in terms of: (1) concerns about the safety of the vaccines; (2) concerns about the effectiveness of the vaccines; (3) perceived lack of trustworthiness and/or competence of actors in the vaccination process; (4) concerns about the logistics of the vaccination roll-out; and (5) uncertainty about the longer-term need for vaccines and social consequences. Public uncertainties regarding COVID-19 are complex and will continue to evolve. Policy responses must be informed by an understanding of the factors that instigate and maintain uncertainties in individuals and the wider society.

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