Has 'net zero' created space for 'anything goes'? Scrutiny of the physical realities of airport expansion is needed. This decision undermines efforts to transition the energy system in line with UNFCCC; makes it harder, more costly, more inequitable. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Grateful to have contributed to this piece with Kevin. Airport expansion is a clear test of whether the UK is serious about its climate commitments. New airport capacity and meeting our carbon obligations simply do not align, and the costs fall hardest on those who fly least.

Government pays lip service to the science, & wonder why anti-science parties of the right get rewarded electorally? GOV not seen to be acting on the science, acting fairly, then it sends the message that the science is not to be trusted...reinforcing Reform's FF bought message that AGW is a myth

"No speech, no clever phrasing, and no appeal to future innovation can disguise the fact: by backing aviation expansion, the Transport Minister, the Chancellor, and the Prime Minister are betraying the very climate commitments they claim to uphold."

Well yes indeed. But even that has to be better than just expanding Gatwick and expecting the problem to be solved by magic.

"Aviation expansion is not about fairness, nor the economy, and certainly not the climate. Behind slick and carefully crafted headlines, it is about privilege; protecting the frequent-flyer advantages of the few, paid for by all, while sacrificing the many."

Yes. Smoking even more does not improve your chances to avoid cancer 🤷‍♂️

5. Caroline Lucas highlights the brilliant comments from @kevinclimate.bsky.social about the British government’s continued obsession with climate destruction:

Thanks for the kind endorsement Caroline. Also - thanks to my co-author Dr Lois Pennington - an informed & honest voice & with the courage to speak out. @loispennington.bsky.social

There are so many points clearly and concisely explained. One more is the air pollution created around airports. These particles are much smaller than most, posing greater health risks. I gave a 5-min speech about this to the Gatwick Planning Inspectorate: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPwA...

Thanks for the kind endorsement Caroline. Also - thanks to my co-author Dr Lois Pennington - an informed & honest voice & with the courage to speak out. @loispennington.bsky.social

Brilliant from @kevinclimate.bsky.social as always - making abundantly clear the inconvenient truth this Govt is forever trying to duck & dodge: expanding aviation capacity is fundamentally incompatible with the UK’s climate obligations

Gatwick expansion is a direct assault on climate commitments, say experts @kevinclimate.bsky.social & @loispennington.bsky.social If you'd like your MP to hear from the experts on climate policy invite them to this briefing on 27 November: www.nebriefing.org climateuncensored.com/gatwick-expa...

Obfuscation has long been the climate modus operandi of UK governments - of different colours. Sadly many within the expert community have chosen to remain quiet, preferring our cosy lives rather than face the flack from raising difficult questions.

Articulate powerful 11 min read w/citations about the incompatibility of expanding aviation AND meeting our Paris commitments What will DESNZ and @thecccuk.bsky.social say to defend "protecting the frequent-flyer advantages of the few, paid for by all, while sacrificing the many?" #inYourOwnTime

I think airport expansion is the sort of strategy a government will adopt to grow the economy when it is bereft of any other ideas - similar to HS2. There are so many infrastructure projects that we desperately need to undertake but these vanity projects, tragically, get the go ahead.

This is a really important post & article particularly relevant to government proposals to remove Dublin airport passenger cap. Skewers the empty promise of sustainable aviation fuel while highlighting the deep inequity underlying aviation GHG emissions.

Gatwick expansion blows another huge hole in the UK Government's already perforated climate commitments. New article on Gatwick expansion with my @tyndallcentre.bsky.social colleague Dr Lois Pennington @loispennington.bsky.social climateuncensored.com/gatwick-expa...

"The UK’s net zero 2050 framing... normalises ecological breakdown... worsens climate impacts and undermines preparedness," writes @kevinclimate.bsky.social, calling for a fundamental rethink grounded in equity, scientific integrity and transformative ambition. theconversation.com/the-uks-year...

Identified here is the nut of the Gordian Knot of climate policy that has defied decisive rectification for many decades (and continuing) — going back many decades, surely to the 1970s when the impending peril became clear.

We want to be the best at it in North Karelia, but there are 100 other municipalities and regions at this type of work, covering two million citizens. It's usually the national political level that hinders our progress. hiilineutraalisuomi.syke.fi/en/hinku/

It's hardly even national news, but my region is constantly delivering real results in the traditional climate work, such as siting renewables, but also providing cheap and electrified public transport, and my town won a prize for enabling cycling year-round. Rather talk about that than 'hope'

The excellent Kevin Anderson yesterday: bsky.app/profile/kevi...

@kevinclimate.bsky.social critiques the reliance on IAMs here... www.nature.com/articles/d41...

... Integrated Assessment Models need to be abandoned. They can’t be fixed; adding more maths, social science, or data won’t turn astrology into science. We are in a climate and ecological emergency, not an incremental political game. Full transcript at: climateuncensored.com/talk-at-the-...

From my Tyndall talk: Structurally locked-in emissions dominate discourse; discretionary emissions – especially from the middle and upper classes – are ignored. Even now, questioning these lifestyles remains taboo, despite their hugely disproportionate impact and capacity for rapid change.

Thanks @kevinclimate.bsky.social for telling it as it is. "The delusion is now systemic." People who talk about "climate policy" without facing this reality usually just make things worse climateuncensored.com/talk-at-the-...

“To an economic or IAM modeller, Judas simply got the price wrong, he should’ve asked for 300 or 3,000 pieces of silver. But to most of us, selling a friend, a child, or a lover isn’t a pricing error, it’s an ethical violation.”

7-min read shorturl.at/aCYL4 Powerful evocative and credible words from @kevinclimate.bsky.social, who looks back over the last 35 years of trying to tackle our existential crisis. "..the UK would need to cut emissions by 12–15% annually" to meet UK's +2°C Paris commitment. #CriticalDecade

So powerfully put - and terrifyingly accurate. We no longer hear the truth, because the truth is deeply inconvenient & because it poses a direct challenge to vested interests - and as a result, our lurch towards climate catastrophe accelerates

Another section from my #CriticalDecade presentation (see attached). Full transcript at climateuncensored.com/talk-at-the-...

From my talk ... #CriticalDecade #Tyndall25UEA

"Discretionary emissions – especially from the middle and upper classes – are ignored. Even now, questioning these lifestyles remains taboo, despite their hugely disproportionate impact and capacity for rapid change."

Here is my talk from Day 1 of the Tyndall Centre "Critical decade" conference (8 Sept 2025): climateuncensored.com/talk-at-the-... #CriticalDecade #Tyndall25UEA

This is the first post of my new newsletter Technosphere Earth. If you like this sort of thing then please sign up here: www.technosphere.earth#/portal/

"We have failed through our dishonesty in the Global North to deliver on what we said we would do, and therefore we should be held to account through reparation to the poorer parts of the world to help them adapt to #climate change that we have *knowingly* impossed on them" @kevinclimate.bsky.social

“building high-carbon infrastructure like airports is a matter of life and death, and we already know whose lives will be devastated. This development is yet another manifestation of colonial selfishness and a blatant disregard for the future of our own children.” — @kevinclimate.bsky.social

As @kevinclimate.bsky.social has pointed out till he's blue in the face, including overshoot in scenarios and policy + relying on tech to deal with it, has always been about what's politically palatable / kicking can down the road (including by scientists) not what is known to be effective and fair.

As the world rapidly heads into #climate #overshoot I've noticed a disturbing pattern in journal articles recently. I'll summarize it quickly in this thread 🧵

#CriticalDecade for #ClimateAction Conf, Day 3: 📘 Plenary w/ Nigel Topping, Charlie Wilson & Jim Hall 💭 Directors reflect: What needs to be done differently for climate action? W/ Robert Nicholls, @lwhitmarsh.bsky.social, Mike Hulme, @clequere.bsky.social & @kevinclimate.bsky.social #Tyndall25UEA

In the transport sector, sufficiency would surely lead to a drastic reduction in aviation demand, banning SUVs and large private cars, and a big decrease in leisure travel? Q: how do we ensure sufficiency without carbon rationing and individual budgets? Equity demands it, surely?

I don’t know if there is a term that fits the climate policy meaning in a single word. ’Kohtuus’ is a direct translation but it doesn’t entail the process, such as prioritising active mobility over private cars in municipal planning or changing into healthier diets by structural policy.

In Swedish there is even a word that captures the notion of "sufficiency." It's "lagom" (which actually has many uses). I think the connotations include "enough" "appropriate" and "just right" but native speakers may want to weigh in. How about Finnish @aarnegranlund.bsky.social ?

@catherinemitchell.bsky.social closes her #Tyndall25UEA talk with the attached slide: to paraphrase, academics wanting to make a real world difference should stick with integrity & ditch political expediency (&near-term prestige -my addition). Good to hear, but the decadal timeframe is a problem?

@catherinemitchell.bsky.social at #Tyndall25UEA makes the v.important observation that, in the UK, the ‘first past the post’ political system reinforces short-termism. Without changes in this it’s difficult to see how the scale of change to deliver on our climate commitments can be achieved.

It does not help when 1.5 degrees C has a 'mantra-like' status, setting aside troubling evidence. Perhaps years after smashing through 1.5 we will have the same with 2 degrees C and on and on. Optimism needs a basis in radical GHG reducing policy changes implemented rapidly.

Good to see @goneri76.bsky.social refer to “sufficiency”. I see this as the key framework for rapidly curtailing emissions, while low carbon tech substitute for oil/gas norms. But sufficiency needs to focus on discretionary emissions &fairness to be effective (&help avoid opposition). #Tyndall25UEA

@goneri76.bsky.social points to current global low point in political engagement on climate change. In my view all the more reason for climate academics to stand up to make their evidence heard - we need to go well beyond just academic papers & conferences. #Tyndall25UEA #CriticalDecade

Keynote at #Tyndall25UEA conference by @goneri76.bsky.social He links zero CO2 by 2050 with Paris 1.5°C commitment without overshoot, etc. I really can’t see how this can be possible. Latest 50% 1.5°C carbon budget is ~90GtCO2 from start 2026; just over 2 yrs of current global CO2. #CriticalDecade

Keynote at #Tyndall25UEA conference by @goneri76.bsky.social He links zero CO2 by 2050 with Paris 1.5°C commitment without overshoot, etc. I really can’t see how this can be possible. Latest 50% 1.5°C carbon budget is ~90GtCO2 from start 2026; just over 2 yrs of current global CO2. #CriticalDecade