Andy Norton

Trump order gives political appointees vast powers over research grants Researchers are alarmed that the move might upend a long-standing tradition of peer-review for grants.

There are a lot of details in yesterday's sweeping executive order, but the bottom line is that it gives political appointees immense power over scientific grants, which have until now been stewarded by career civil servants and experts.

My reporting:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I don't know about 'appropriate' giving that it's probably signalling Ukraine having to agree to give up sovereign territory to stop the slaughter. Loaded with significance, certainly...

great reporting from @orladwyer.carbonbrief.org on faltering efforts to raise cash for biodiversity from the private sector

Analysis: China’s clean-energy exports in 2024 alone will cut overseas CO2 by 1% - Carbon Brief China’s clean-energy technologies such as solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles are helping to cut emissions in other countries.

Electrostate in action. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chi...

The Lancet Countdown on health and plastics Plastics are a grave, growing, and under-recognised danger to human and planetary health. Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losse...

Lancet launches Countdown on health and plastics to support process of finalising Global Plastics Treaty www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

The global energy investment landscape has undergone major changes in the past decade – responding to the rise of new energy technologies and shockwaves from the pandemic & the 2022 energy crisis.

World Energy Investment 2025 examines the shifts in detail 👉 iea.li/40JSiPX

Basic message of this paper - eocsystem restoration for climate mitigation is a dead duck (while still vital for other reasons): www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Europe and Africa must push the boundaries on adaptation With the EU presidency, Denmark can help make clear progress on supporting climate resilience in Africa at upcoming summits

Given the rapidly escalating climate impacts, drastically scaling up adaptation finance, and easing delivery and access are essential to meet growing needs and close the glaring finance gap.

AP obituary for David Nabarro. I worked with him in the UK govt for a while and his achievements then and after were extraordinary. Incredible energy, passion and commitment. What a loss.

There is one place, however, where Musk, with the help of his minions, achieved his goals. He did indeed shred U.S.A.I.D. Though a rump operation is now operating inside the State Department, the administration says that it has terminated more than 80 percent of U.S.A.I.D. grants. Brooke Nichols, an associate professor of global health at Boston University, has estimated that these cuts have already resulted in about 300,000 deaths, most of them of children, and will most likely lead to significantly more by the end of the year. That is what Musk’s foray into politics accomplished.

Musk should be asked about this in every interview he does now and forever. To ignore it is a dereliction of duty.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/o...

“Staggering” Water Loss Driven by Groundwater Mining Poses Global Threat A new study finds that freshwater resources are rapidly disappearing, creating arid “mega” regions and causing sea levels to rise.

"Moisture lost to evaporation and drought, plus runoff from pumped groundwater, now outpaces the melting of glaciers and the ice sheets of either Antarctica or Greenland as the largest contributor of water to the oceans."

www.propublica.org/article/wate...

UN report: Five charts explaining the rise of global food insecurity - Carbon Brief Carbon Brief highlights five charts from the SOFI report which explain the state of food insecurity around the world.

Global food security report - hunger falling globally, but still rising in Africa. www.carbonbrief.org/un-report-fi...

There's a realistic chance we get to a position where Wikipedia is blocked while official government accounts are posting on a site that created MechaHitler AI

ICJ: What the world court’s landmark opinion means for climate change - Carbon Brief Carbon Brief explains the most important aspects of the ICJ’s 133-page advisory opinion and speaks to legal experts about its implications.

One of @carbonbrief.org 's excellent explainers on the ICJ opinion that states can be held legally accountable for their impact on the climate. Only the fifth time the court has delivered a unanimous result after nearly 88 years in operation and 29 opinions. www.carbonbrief.org/icj-what-the...

The only survivor of the original internet that didn’t turn into a tech oligarch billion$ business and it’s going to be blocked by a govt that thinks AI is going to save it.

Chartbook 400: Murder not crisis - Why Israel's starvation of Gaza is exceptional in a global context. For many months, it has been beyond reasonable doubt that the Israeli government, the Israeli military, sections of Israeli politics and society as well as their aiders and abetters abroad, have been ...

Adam Tooze: Israel is deliberately starving the population of Gaza. Yes, there are other famines, but this is different being a result of a deliberate policy by a highly capable state. "Murder not crisis". adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...

Column | As Gaza starves, Israel’s far right sees a dream coming true Members of Israel’s government embrace the Trump-inspired vision of a Gaza of gleaming towers, ritzy tourism and pristine neighborhoods, but without Palestinians.

I normally post on climate science, which is my expertise.
But this is too important to look away, so I want to share this from the Washington Post. Please read.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Coalition set sights on taxing luxury air travel to fund climate action A group of eight countries is pledging to taxing premium air flying in a bid to find new money for climate action and resilience building

explainer from Climate Home on the new coalition seeking to launch an initiative to tax luxury air travel to support climate finance at Cop30 (includes France, Barbados, Kenya) www.climatechangenews.com/2025/07/01/c...

How economics teaching became the Aeroflot of ideas The discipline is failing students by ignoring the biggest social, political and ecological challenges facing the world today

reposting this as the gift link malfunctioned last time... Ha-Joon Chang on the need to fundamentally rethink economics teaching on.ft.com/3IHtj9G

I used the system but I'll repost..

It's a gift link, non-paywalled

How economics teaching became the Aeroflot of ideas The discipline is failing students by ignoring the biggest social, political and ecological challenges facing the world today

Ha-Joon Chang on trenchant form "Economics, as it has been practised for the past 40 years, has been harmful for many people. And yet, our world not only refuses to learn from this harm, but seems determined to repeat it all the way to economic and environmental destruction."
on.ft.com/3IJOtUz

New research shows that specific food items, from olive oil in Europe to onions in India, experience much steeper short-term price rises, which fuel inflation. https://on.ft.com/3GSetN0

After 7 Decades of Measurements From a Peak in Hawaii, Trump’s Budget Would End Them

Sabotaging climate science - Trump administration looking to end atmospheric CO2 record from Mauna Loa. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/c...

🔥🌍🔥

‘We’re the canary in the coalmine’: when will Russia take action on the climate? World’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases pays lip service to tackling climate crisis and, with fossil fuels central to regime’s legitimacy, it seems happier with status quo

Putin's only concern is Russian military and political power which is funded by oil and gas. It's not realistic to expect anything of the current Russian govt apart from doing everything they can to undermine the energy transition. Has been true for a long time. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Tax on AI and crypto could fund climate action, says former Paris accords envoy Laurence Tubiana urges governments to consider levies on energy-hungry technology

new directions from the global solidarity levies TF - taxing energy-hungry digital tech (crypto and AI). And a small bit of progress on aviation. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Management of the official development assistance spending target - an ICAI information note Find out more about the Independent Commission for Aid Impact's (ICAI) information note describing the UK's management of the aid spending target

the main conclusion of the ICAI report on the UK govt handling of the aid spending target is that by 2027/8 one fifth of the UK's international devt target will likely be spent on supporting refugees and asylum seekers within the UK icai.independent.gov.uk/review/manag...

My mother grew up in Austria, At the age of around 10 in the mid 30s she recalled being shown by an elderly Alpine guide glacier shrinkage that had occurred in his lifetime.

Lord Alf Dubs, politician and campaigner Desert Island Discs · Episode

Alf Dubbs the anti-Farage of British politics on Desert Island Discs.... open.spotify.com/episode/0ggU...