NEW China has made a landmark climate pledge... that is 'critically short' of what some analysts say is needed. But it may well be better than it seems... news.sky.com/story/china-...

*If* this money is invested through community engagement and participatory budgeting, it could be quite powerful. If it just ticks off items on the council wishlist it will evaporate very quickly. So it needs to be accompanied by hyper local democratic reform. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Incidentally, if you want a flavour of #Climate research in Europe, the european climate researchers alliance with various @horizoneu.bsky.social projects present monthly #ClimateCoffee seminars - around 30 minutes long with discussions (not recorded) afterwards, the presentations are all online

Good thread this. Bad news: This target is well short of what’s needed. As such the political and investment signals it sends are underpowered. Good news: It’s extremely likely China will smash through these targets well ahead of schedule.

I gave @dwallacewells.bsky.social a hard time for still being on Twitter (I think my exact words were: “Don’t you miss us?”) and told him that Bluesky is actually a place. Give him a follow.

Some thoughts on this wonderful news: 1. Science is unpredictable - most research goes nowhere. It’s worth doing because it can improve lives in unimaginable ways. You can’t only fund things that work 2. Gene therapies like this will be expensive, and we should absolutely pay for them (via tax)

300mph is impressive engineering, but also unnecessary?

Xi: "Green and low-carbon transition is the trend of our time. While some country is acting against it, the international community should stay focused on the right direction." Who could he possible be thinking of?

New cups just dropped. www.nicholeceramics.com/shop

So, agree we shouldn't ignore the land used by extractive industries, but there is a metric to compare this apples-to-apples: land use intensity of energy (or electricity). We did a meta-analysis for electricity production if you are interested! journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Climate change isn't the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, of course. The greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world was when U2 forced Songs of Innocence onto 500 million iTunes customers.

"For the first time in its history, WIRED is dedicating an issue to politics, citing concerns about the tech industry's alignment with President Trump. @katie-drummond.bsky.social explains what this shift means for Silicon Valley and for readers."

'For every excess winter death, there are also eight hospital admissions.' Our Head of Development Danielle Butler talks about how cold, damp homes create a significant burden for the NHS. Warm Homes, Healthy Futures aims to save lives and prevent admissions to hospital.

British media pumps out daily propaganda pieces for Farage, fails to offer *any scrutiny* and basically legitimises rampant racism, then puts on its ‘innocent face’ and clutches its pearls at the rise of the far right… What a grim betrayal of our democracy. www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/how...

The speed at which AI is being embraced by higher education is quite extraordinary. We barely have principles, let along rules, as to how it could/should be used in education yet that isn't stopping some universities going all in.

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity. 1/n

"We and our students can choose not to use these technologies. Just like we have banned smoking from public spaces, we could foster that process of banning both by choosing to individually quit smoking and by demanding regulation of the tobacco industry.” zenodo.org/records/1706... 37/🧵

Are you interested in exploring #innovation from a spatial perspective? Check this position out and join our amazing team in Stavanger! #geoinno #geosky #geoinnosky www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

“Hard to abate” is the climate wonk’s term for an industry with no immediate route to zero carbon emissions. But I think there’s “hard to abate” & “expensive to abate” & then there’s “it’s just a bit difficult & we can’t really be bothered to abate”. None of this is impossible. We need to *choose*.

BBC continues its laundry job on the far right. Yeah, he's a violent racist but he loves his mum. It's just like the coronation really. Look at the photo- a patriotic street party. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Plus, there's an online tool where you can generate your own bespoke planting scheme, tailored to local pollinators...

Hi bsky 👋. Did you know I have a podcast? It’s called Energy vs Climate and I’ve been away for the past year but I’m back and if you have never listened before we have a whole back catalogue with some cool stuff. Here is a pick of some favourites from a range of different kinds of topics/shows

2. In Mexico, 90% of electricity demand could be met with solar+batteries⚡ Just 6% of solar is curtailed (in light blue) - in Jan-May when elec demand from A/C is low. The 10% shortfall (in dark blue) is in June-Sep, when A/C is max.

I clicked through to the article, promise.

Feel like we should bring back the old twitter follow friday to boost good people on here who maybe didn't get an initial boost from the starter packs. So follow @psurridge.bsky.social and @profjanegreen.bsky.social - two excellent and thoughtful political scientists.

We should definitely bring back follow friday, but we should also bring back starter packs! This is mine - the name hasn’t aged all that well, but the people on it are great go.bsky.app/7314iHd

Possible causes of your problems. It’s a diagram that (sadly) still seems relevant in 2025, so reposting a year and a bit on.

If you're into gardening and art, this is a very cool project...

Yet more embarrassment for the Times, which has printed a ludicrous – and almost certainly false – line about windfarms being “dismantled” near Trump’s Scottish golf course But why pick up the phone, as I did, when you can print nudge-nudge rumours instead? 1/

I don't like war metaphors for the energy transition or for climate action, because there doesn't have to be a loser here. But nobody ever got fit, or developed better habits, or kicked an addiction, by saying "this is impossible and hopeless".

This is a great cover.

So many words, YET so little sense.

Hahahahahahahaha Oh my God.

I knew that the UK's electricity generation (and consumption) had fallen quite a bit over the last 15-20 years, but I didn't realise what an outlier it was. ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-...

Shout out to the substackers doing voluntary greenwashing work for the tech companies while the actual leaders of the companies are just running into media outlets and loudly announcing the number of species they want to wipe out archive.ph/xhZds

Our Heat Pump Policy Toolkit 2.0 is now available in both French and Polish! These are the latest translations available along with a version in Korean, and the original 2.0 in English. Check them out below. @agoraew.bsky.social @clasp-ngo.bsky.social @gbpn-org.bsky.social

😊 Delighted to announce I'll be a Lead Author for ch.8 of @ipcc.bsky.social's Seventh Assessment Report, alongside 663 experts from 111 countries, as part of Working Group III. Analysis by @carbonbrief.org shows increasing diversity of IPCC authorship: tinyurl.com/462pvby9 #IPCC #ClimateReport

Great to see this new report from @britishacademy.bsky.social, highlighting the centrality of place-led initiatives, trusted intermediaries, and a people-centred approach to participation and net zero.

This would be funny if it weren't for the thought of all the many academics' time this will waste

Powering the future with hydrogen at Ferrybridge 🌍 We've officially launched our Statutory Consultation for the proposed Ferrybridge Next Generation Power Station, a bold step toward a cleaner, more flexible energy future. 💬 We're inviting communities and stakeholders to help shape the project.

Just to try and do some semi-serious maths on this… what would have to be true for AI to boost the economy by 10% in 5 years? There are two routes it could plausibly do this: 1. Raising productivity 2. Boosting demand via additional investment

The police may have impounded @ledbydonkeys.org's van with a photo of the orange with Epstein, but others are out and about in London to let him know that he's not welcomed by all in the UK.

This is a very powerful read - if you want to hear what it feels like to live on our UK streets right now. As Alex @sturdyalex.bsky.social says, we hear daily about the 'legitimate concerns' of people against less represented groups, but rarely hear this bestforbritain.substack.com/p/my-place-o...

✨Inspire, connect and learn with the Energy Community Platform! Join the energy communities network and be part of the growing movement driving energy democracy across Europe! 🗺️ energycommunityplatform.eu/communities/

Looking for a fun way to engage with young people about energy? How about becoming a house detective for the day? 🔍 Our Sherlock Homes activity pack helps young people aged 10-14 investigate energy use in their home. 🕵️‍♀️ Download it for free here 👇 buff.ly/p6R5MZj

Milestone: in June 2025 solar became the biggest source of electricity in Europe for the first time! 19.9%, 53.9TWh according to IEA.

The BIEE biennial Research Conference is next week. Visit www.biee.org/conference/research-conference-2025 for details. The theme is "Accelerating the whole energy system transition in a fractured world." Join leading academics, business leaders, and policymakers in Oxford. #BIEE2025

I recently visited the Eden Project to see the incredible work happening at Eden Geothermal - a site harnessing heat from deep underground to power the biomes and plant nursery. I’ll be raising this in Westminster to help unlock the full potential of geothermal energy in South East Cornwall.

I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore. So I wrote a blog about ten things you can do *right now* to help defeat Farage, Musk, and rightwing populism. From scrutinising Reform councillors to demanding the UK Govt leave X - get involved: guyshrubsole.substack.com/p/ten-things...

Great to see at least some of Cornwall MPs on Bluesky: @jaynekirkhammp.bsky.social @perranmoonmp.bsky.social @benmaguiremp.bsky.social @annagelderdmp.bsky.social If you're in Cornwall, do give them a follow...