Robert Falkner

On Wednesday evening we're hosting @jelenasubotic.bsky.social at @lseir.bsky.social to talk about her fantastic new book 'The Art of Status: Looted Treasures and the Global Politics of Restitution'. It's free to attend, but registration is necessary. Please come along! Details below...

Volume 25 Issue 4 | Global Environmental Politics | MIT Press

GEP's Special Issue on "The North–South Politics of Global Just Transitions" is now out, guest edited by Chuks Okereke, Ken Mbeva, Reuben Makomere. Several articles are available open access, including the introduction. Check them out at the link below!

direct.mit.edu/glep/issue/2...

LSE is hiring an Assistant Professor (Education track) in International Political Economy:

Primary responsibility is education; we are looking for a track record in teaching, student mentoring, and pastoral care.

Annual salary: £68,087+

Deadline: 30 November 2025.

jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

Private Eye…

Terrifying 😨

So what's the main target of Helm's polemic? Of course, Secretary of State Ed Miliband who made net zero "such a divisive political chasm." No mention of the politicians and newspapers (incl the Times) on the right who have systematically undermined the UK's climate consensus.

His advocacy of the "polluter pays principle" is part of the standard economist's response. And it's correct. But if we took this seriously (we never did), you can't at the same time complain about the costs of the green energy transition and call for help for the biggest industrial polluters.

Interestingly, Helm does not dismiss net zero altogether (though he feeds the conservative attack on the UK's net zero policy). In fact, he wants an even stronger net zero target that includes carbon imports, which would make UK climate policy even more onerous.

What of the alternative that Helm suggests, "a bottom-up coalition of unilateralist countries on carbon targets"? Germany tried this in the G7 in 2023, but when the US rejects climate science and China and Russia continue to push fossil fuels, there are few large emitters to make such a club work.

For one, a "top-down legally binding treaty" is not on the agenda at #COP30 in Brazil. This idea died back in 2009, at the Copenhagen COP. In many ways, the 2015 Paris Agreement offers all the benefits that Helm seems to want out of "bottom-up" climate action. Why rehash these decades-old debates?

We've heard it all before - the #COP process is not working, we don't need a "top-down legally binding treaty", better to work "bottom-up" with a few unilateralist countries, UK climate leadership is pointless - but he offers few if any viable alternatives.

Dieter Helm's big essay in The Times ("The COPs have failed" 8 Nov) prompted me to write a letter to the editor, to correct the muddle that Helm gets into on international climate policy and the #COP process.

Below is my response.

www.thetimes.com/comment/lett...

Hard to believe these days, but there was once a time when the US government led the debate on how to combat climate change and improve environmental quality.

Job alert!

The LSE's International Relations dept is hiring an Assistant Professor (Education) in International Political Economy. This is for academics whose primary responsibility is education. Apply by 30 Nov 2025.

Salary min. £68,087 pa incl London allowance.
jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

Image of the mechanical ladder outside the Louvre Text below says WENN'S MAL WIEDER SCHNELL GEHEN MUSS (When you need to move fast) Underneath is more German text which translates as "The Böcker Agilo transports your treasures weighing up to 400kg at 42m/min - quiet as a whisper."

The German company that makes the mechanical ladder used in the Louvre heist has used the image to advertise, with the text 'When you need to move fast'

10/10 response, no notes

It's finally here! 100+ scholars, global scope, practical insights. “Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment” shows how organized interests stall policy—and how governance can respond.

Open access available now! Or order for paperback and hardcover. cssn.org/wp-content/u...

US anti-fascism expert leaves country day after being blocked from flying to Spain Rutgers University professor who published book on antifa was told at gate his trip was cancelled after Trump threats

The new McCarthyism of MAGA America:

Rutgers historian Mark Bray, who wrote book on postwar anti-fascism, leaves US after death threats and having his home address published on social media. Turning Point USA labelled him a “financier” for leftwing movements.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Factcheck: Why Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is wrong about UK’s net-zero goal - Carbon Brief The leader of the opposition Conservative party, Kemi Badenoch, has shattered the political consensus on climate change in a speech attacking the UK’s net-zero by 2050 target.

The Conservatives are about to pledge to ditch the UK's Climate Change Act. Time to re-post this @carbonbrief.org analysis of why Kemi Badenoch is wrong to claim that climate policy is driving sky-high energy costs.

www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-wh...

The Hertie School mourns the passing of Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Claus Offe, Professor Emeritus of Political Sociology, an extraordinary scholar, teacher and colleague.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and all who had the privilege to know him.

Cancel culture on the rise again in US…

Europe’s summer of extreme weather caused €43bn of short-term losses, analysis finds Greatest damage from heat, drought and flooding done in Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Bulgaria

As many suspected, the economic costs of this summer's heatwave and wildfire season in Europe turned out to be higher than originally expected - and are set to rise in future years.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

YouTube video by LSE Climate Change, Displacement and International Justice | LSE Online Event

My favourite event with Conor is, of course, our GRI debate on Climate Change, Displacement and International Justice, held online during Covid (Conor starts at 15:29 mins): www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY2k...

We will miss you. RIP

His sharp intellect, enthusiasm and boundless energy led him to make seminal contributions to British legal and political debates. And who can forget his captivating presence as a passionate speaker in the LSE public events programme?

Sad day at LSE. Conor Gearty has died.

He will be sorely missed, among his colleagues in the law school and across the LSE and beyond. A passionate scholar and advocate of human rights, he became the first director of the LSE Centre for the Study of Human Rights while continuing to practice law.

A textbook case of how not to report polls.

'50%? Oh my god!'
'Oh, you mean a 9-point increase'?

Next was “The Market in Global International Society” by Barry Buzan and @robertfalkner.bsky.social, who demonstrate the flaws in analyzing the state and market separately and how to better understand political economy. Highly recommend

Full review: bookwyrm.social/user/bwaber/... (6/8)

Are you researching how corporate actors shaped international organisations in the long #20thcentury?

🚨Submit your proposal for our #CfP: Extractivist Enterprise and International Organisations, 1919-1989

📅 Deadline to submit proposals: 6 October 2025

You can find all the information below 👇​

How to tackle environmental issues when the world can't agree The failure to agree a global treaty on plastic pollution highlights how the UN’s requirement for unanimity holds back environmental policy, but there are better ways to make progress

📰 Professor @robertfalkner.bsky.social spoke with @newscientist.com about the challenges of global environmental negotiations.

“The consensus rule in international environmental negotiations has always been the Achilles heel of the UN #environment process,” he said.

🔗 bit.ly/4g2YoRN
#AcademicSky

Assistant Professor in International Relations at London School of Economics and Political Science Apply for the Assistant Professor in International Relations role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

The other post is focused on international relations and international security.

Salaries for both posts are no less than ca. £65k.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOD974/a...

Assistant Professor in International Political Economy at London School of Economics and Political Science Recruiting now: Assistant Professor in International Political Economy on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board

Job posting: 2 Assistant Professor positions in the LSE's International Relations department.

One in International Political Economy, preferably with a focus on climate/environment or global business.

Deadline is 7 September. Please distribute in your networks.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOD919/a...