This post originally appeared on Manchester Climate Monthly. Climate scientist Professor Kevin Anderson spoke to Manchester Climate Monthly on Monday 23rd November. In the two separate videos that follow, you can see him outlining what is at stake in the upcoming Paris climate conference - the nature of the individual nations' pledges (INDCs) and how... Continue Reading →
Learning Curve: Australia and the #Climate Negotiations #Paris
Below is a short briefing, in the format of a Q and A, about the upcoming Paris climate talks, and Australia's role over the last 30 years (and the motivations behind that). There's also a short glossary, a timeline, references and the standard disclaimer. (My basic opinion on Paris, written in February, is here). You... Continue Reading →
The Prospects for Paris – not good. #climate #debacle
The "Earth Negotiations Bulletin," the best summary of the climate talks, has this (in part) to say about the last official meeting before the up-coming Paris talks; “Leaving [the last UNFCCC meeting before the Paris conference, held in October in Bonn], many delegates concurred with Laurence Tubiana, who spoke for the incoming COP 21 Presidency,... Continue Reading →
A lively dodo!! On extinction, Derrida and solastalgia
Went do a corking seminar this afternoon, at the end (well, middle) of a corking day (more on that another time). It was by Gitanjali Pyndiah, a third year PhD student at Goldsmith's University (scene of a crime against academia and activism 10 days ago, but I digress). She's looking at how 'we' (people from... Continue Reading →
Oh, btw, Shell, we have that ‘hybrid world’ – thanks in part to you…
Yesterday I posted a piece on Shell's beautiful (in a Leni Riefenstahl kind of way) new advert in which two vegan, pierced women act as spokespeople for the exploration, extraction and burning of natural gas. I should have pointed out that this advert is also an appropriation of the whole "we need more women in... Continue Reading →
Simians Cyborgs and Shell: on corporate propaganda and fallback positions
The oil major Shell has a blisteringly slick and seductive new advert that extols the virtues of gas as a ‘transition fuel’ (which it isn't). As a piece of propaganda, it would make Donna Haraway guffaw with delight. It’s 80 seconds of ‘Jenna and Cory’ who live together extolling the virtues of hybridity. They are 'alternative'... Continue Reading →
Of Monbiot, Manchester and miserable ‘feral’ futures.
Nature as redeemer, nature as escape, nature as the solace for our "gridded, controlled, mannered urban lives." So far so romantic. Well, nature is on the road, and she’s gunning for the lot of us. We’ve poked the beast, and now it really is waking up. On a quiet day, you could hear it snoring.... Continue Reading →
2 brilliant articles on our SNAFU civilisation – #climate #nuclear #culture #doom
Carol Cohn (1987) Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals Signs, Vol. 12, No. 4, Within and Without: Women, Gender, and Theory. (Summer, 1987), pp. 687-718. link Thomas Homer-Dixon, Brian Walker, Reinette Biggs, Anne-Sophie Crépin, Carl Folke, Eric F. Lambin, Garry D. Peterson , Johan Rockström, Marten Scheffer, Will Steffenand Max Troell... Continue Reading →
Two different papers on the history of #Australia and environment may be of interest.
In Ward (2015) "Tea Party imitators? The campaign against the carbon tax, the media and a new uncivil politics", Australian Journal of Political Science, 50:2, 225-240, there is a very handy account of the bizarre and distasteful year of 2011, when Julia Gillard as Australian Prime Minister skilfully steered the ‘Clean Energy Futures’ legislation through... Continue Reading →
When will we give up on “two degrees”? And what will that mean?
Climate change is going to be an unmitigated disaster. It already is, in fact. But for all the talk of solar panels from 3-D printers this, and Paris that, we miss the big picture. The big picture is that we are screwed, more and more people know that we are screwed, and that it won't... Continue Reading →
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