The Next Frontier of Climate Policy: Joining the Dots of Bricks, Trade and Embodied Emissions from Cambodia and Bangladesh to the UK, 2020-2021

Building on the achievements of the ESRC-DFID funded project Blood Bricks, in Cambodia and Safe and Sustainable Cities, in Bangladesh, this program aimed to extend the in-country benefit of those projects upwards and outwards in order to examine the intersections between poverty, environmental sustainability and fragility of livelihoods. Bringing together experts in supply chain analysis, embodied emissions, and construction to work with government and industry on the environmental and human impacts of international trade, the impact activities frame the issue of embodied emissions not only in terms of carbon emissions, but also poverty and inequality, highlighting how international trade and investment serve, as shown in our prior grants, to exacerbate poverty in the global South due to the 'close links between climate change and social inequality'.

he project undertook an expanded supply chain analysis to highlight the social and environmental footprint of the UK's £1.4 billion of trade with Cambodia. It calculated the emissions embodied in bricks imported from Bangladesh, where brick production is associated with 'toxic fumes and atrocious working conditions'. The project also addressed growing concerns over the impact of air pollution and massive topsoil harvesting for the brick industry on local people's ability to sustain traditional livelihoods. Additionally, it conducted independent fieldwork in study sites in Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka to explore environmental impacts and livelihoods associated with UK supply chains. Original photography was undertaken in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka to document these findings visually.

The archived collection contains only the secondary data from open sources, reports, and selected photographs due to the need to protect the identities of participants and respect their privacy wishes. This selective approach ensures compliance with ethical standards while allowing for a broad dissemination of the findings.