ENVIRONMENT IN-BRIEF
Addressing air quality and inequality
In Bogotá, Colombia, air pollution is unevenly distributed, with significant but often overlooked social impacts. Particulate matter emissions - tiny solid particles and liquid droplets from natural and human-made sources - are disproportionately concentrated in the south of the city, where population density is higher, incomes are lower, and access to infrastructure and healthcare is more limited.
While inequality is typically assessed using economic or social indicators, environmental factors such as air quality are rarely included, despite clear links to health and wellbeing. Policy responses have also tended to prioritise carbon emissions, overlooking the more immediate and localised impacts of particulate matter. As a result, they have failed to fully reflect the lived experiences of vulnerable communities.
The project received substantial media coverage in Colombia and was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for Policy Impact.
In response, researchers developed an analytical framework that places particular emphasis on particulate matter emissions rather than carbon outputs. Using this data, they assessed how exposure to air pollution varies across income and social groups. Findings showed that incorporating environmental indicators significantly increases measured inequality.
The team also developed environmental and socioeconomic indicators to support the evaluation of air-quality policies. Their analysis identified unpaved roads as a major and previously under-recognised source of dust emissions, demonstrating that paving these roads would be more effective than further regulation of industry or transport in reducing pollution in affected areas.
Working closely with policymakers, the researchers convened a joint workshop with environmental authorities to review existing policies and present evidence-based recommendations. This engagement informed the design and implementation of Bogotá’s Better Air Zones Policy, adopted by the Colombian Government, which improved air quality in some of the city’s most vulnerable communities. This resulted in an investment of 2.5 billion Columbian pesos to pave roads in the areas the research identified as being most effective.
The project received substantial media coverage in Colombia and was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for Policy Impact by a United Nations and World Bank panel, recognising demonstrable real-world outcomes.
Assessing Multiple Inequalities and Air Pollution Abatement Policies was funded by the Scottish Funding Council through the Global Challenge Research Funds (GCRF) grant and the Environment for Development Initiative (EfD).
Reducing damage and increasing yield in scallop dredging
N-Viro dredges caught
less undersized scallops
The scallop sector is one of the highest value commercial fisheries in the UK.
However, current standards do not fully meet the sustainability standards set out by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
Efforts are being made to move to more sustainable fishing practices and towards net zero. Technical gear modifications can be used to reduce impacts on target stocks and the environment, while maintaining an acceptable level of commercial viability for the fishery.
The Environmental Assessment of Scallop Innovation Gear (EASIG) project undertook rigorous testing of several modified scallop dredge gear with the aim of maintaining catch efficiency while reducing the environmental impact of king scallop dredging activity.
The industry standard dredge, termed Newhaven dredge, uses a fixed spring-loaded tooth bar to retrieve buried scallops into the retaining belly bag as it is dragged along the seabed. The dredge modifications made during the project included using the N-Viro dredge instead of the traditional Newhaven dredge, which replaces the fixed metal teeth of the dredge with individually sprung tines. A skid belly bag was also used instead of the conventional belly bag to elevate belly bags off the ground, reducing drag and seabed contact.
Efforts are being made to move to more sustainable fishing practices and towards net zero.
The use of skid belly bags improved catch performance for both the Newhaven and N-Viro dredge, increasing market-sized scallop yields by 14–19% compared to conventional belly bags. N-Viro dredges caught 42% less undersized scallops, reduced the catch of stones by three-fold and fuel consumption by 30% compared to Newhaven dredges. Gear designs with skid belly bags also created significantly smaller furrows in the seabed compared to gears with standard belly bags, reducing the gear footprint on the seabed by 55%.
The results evidence that the combination of N-Viro dredge with skid belly bag succeeded in not only maintaining catch efficiency but also in reducing the environmental impact in terms of seabed impact and greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions, and operational costs in terms of sorting time and fuel savings.
The Environmental Assessment of Scallop Innovation Gear (EASIG) project was funded by Fisheries Industry Science Partnership (FISP).
Tackling plastic pollution in Vietnam's coastal communities
Plastic pollution is a significant challenge across south-east Asia, with Vietnam particularly affected. The country’s 3,260-kilometre coastline sustains many rural livelihoods and underpins business and industrial activity worth more than US$17 billion annually to the national economy. Coastal ecosystems are also critical for food security, biodiversity, and climate resilience, making the impacts of rising plastic pollution especially critical.
The five-year 3SIP2C project brought together an interdisciplinary group of scientists, policymakers and community stakeholders to support Vietnam’s coastal communities in understanding how plastic waste - including microplastics and macroplastics - moves through rivers and coastal environments, and how it affects local livelihoods and ecosystems
Researchers worked in targeted groups to examine the impacts of plastic pollution on key industries. Their findings revealed that coastal fishers lose between 10–25% of their annual income due to plastic-related issues, including entanglement in propellers and the time required to sort plastic waste from their catches.
In addition, these groups traced the pathways of microplastics through river systems, supported evidence-based decision-making on plastic production and waste management, and enhanced community awareness of plastic use, disposal practices, and their broader environmental consequences.
Working closely with coastal communities throughout the project, the team helped identify when and where plastic pollution hotspots were most likely to occur. Communities proposed practical solutions and showed strong support for centrally coordinated schemes to address marine plastic waste.
These findings were reinforced through validation surveys and onboard waste audits with fishing communities, who highlighted the importance of incentive-based collection schemes that prioritise areas where pollution disproportionately affects low-income and marginalised groups and where interventions can deliver the greatest social and environmental benefit.
Their findings revealed that coastal fishers lose between 10-25% of their annual income due to plastic-related issues.
The ‘Sources, sinks and solutions for the impact of plastic on coastal communities in Vietnam (3SIP2C) project’ was funded by the UKRI-Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF)
