EurekAlert! News by Subject: Policy & Ethics

Policy & Ethics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Oct-2026 07:16 ET (21-Oct-2026 11:16 GMT/UTC)

14-Aug-2026

UK heatwave: Four in ten adults in England take no action to protect themselves in response to heat alerts, UN publication warns

United Nations University
Reports and Proceedings

The heatwave in the UK has raised concerns about the preparedness of the nation. A new Policy Brief by the UN scientists warn that over 40% of adults in England are irresponsive to current heat alerts, exposing them to major health risks.

14-Aug-2026

European cities plan to compensate for a fifth of their emissions through carbon removal, few have thought through how

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An analysis of 103 European cities’ 2030 climate neutral plans (including 22 capital cities) shows that municipalities are planning to rely on carbon removal to compensate for about a fifth of their emissions. This would mean removing roughly 61 million tonnes of emissions from the atmosphere – close to Austria’s annual emissions.

Journal: Nature Climate Change

13-Aug-2026

Governing AI locally starts with inclusion, not technology, Gipuzkoa study finds

ELSP
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Action research involving six civil society organisations, seven provincial departments and 11 municipalities in Gipuzkoa shows that the ability to anticipate AI risks is unevenly distributed across local governance. The study proposes a place-based approach that combines digital inclusion, public participation and institutional coordination before AI systems become embedded in public services.

Journal: Law Ethics & Technology

13-Aug-2026

UN University: Ontario wildfire smoke in mid-July exposed North Americans to unhealthy air for 106 million person-days in just three days

United Nations University
Reports and Proceedings

A new investigation by the United Nations scientists show that the smoke from Canada's July wildfires exposed nearly 106 million people to unhealthy air. During the fires, Toronto recorded the poorest air quality of any major city in the world.

13-Aug-2026

In raw materials policy, security of supply takes precedence over sufficiency

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In 2024, the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) came into force. The regulation is intended to secure Europe’s supply of critical raw materials, especially minerals and metals such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements. The EU is therefore focusing on reducing its dependence on third countries such as China, boosting domestic minerals and metals production, and expanding recycling. In a study published in Communications Earth & Environment, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) show how the pursuit of security of supply has increasingly pushed sustainability principles into the background. The study also highlights how researchers can help to strengthen sustainability principles in political discourse.

Journal: Communications Earth & Environment

12-Aug-2026

Indigenous land restitution empowers communities, but environmental gains require extra support

University of California - Santa Barbara
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Charting a better future will require redressing the problems of the past. That’s one reason that many countries have begun to return dispossessed land to Indigenous peoples.

Journal: Nature Sustainability

12-Aug-2026

American Journal of Public Health highlights the importance of public deliberation in developing efficient public health policies

American Public Health Association
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Public health policies are often evaluated based on their fiscal efficiency. However, policy success also depends on evidence quality, political feasibility, implementation, and public trust. A recent analytical study introduces five dimensions of efficiency for public health policymaking and highlights how public deliberation can strengthen policy development by improving decision-making and fostering greater public trust. The findings suggest that embedding public deliberation into routine policymaking could lead to more effective and durable public health policies.

Journal: American Journal of Public Health
Funder: Kevin Gould Family Fund, Alan and Jane Jacober Family Fund