Study involving 100 sitting MPs in the UK reveals gulf between perceptions of the political class and realities of public attitudes on environmental issues such as insulation and green taxes. MPs also think the UK electorate is far more divided than it is over climate policies. Researchers find statistical evidence for a ‘spiral of silence’ effect in the British Parliament.

Amidst global environmental and energy crises, China has institutionalized its Ecological Civilisation as a transformative governance paradigm, synergising multiple policy instruments with environmental modernization. This paper utilises Grounded Theory to systematically analyse 56 environmental policies with significant energy governance components.

Debates on contested emerging technologies illustrate how publics make sense of science and technology by making unexpected connections between scientific insights, values, hopes and fears.

Urban governance, the interplay of governmental bodies with other actors shaping decision-making and its implementation, plays a key role for mitigation and adaptation measures in cities. While knowledge co-production is advanced as an instrumental approach to support climate action, a gap between knowledge and implementation persists.

Scientific knowledge can help policymakers understand, identify and assess policy options. A new EU document identifies the rationale behind building capacity of science-for-policy ecosystems, as well as the challenges encountered at the science-policy interface.

There is a significant global lack of policy action on consumption of sustainable diets. Application of political science theories such as theories of the policy process can help in understanding policy inaction. Applying these theories could provide a more in-depth understanding of how various influences on the policy process shape decision making for consumption of sustainable diet policy.

COVID-19 presents a opportunity to transform democratic engagement in the governance of global public goods. To make us more resistant and resilient to future global health crises we need transformative thinking to democratically engage global citizens.