Andy Norton

Carbon offsets fail to cut global heating due to ‘intractable’ systemic problems, study says Analysis of 25 years of evidence shows most schemes are poor quality and fail to lower emissions

Offsets: worst problems were with issuing credits for projects already in the pipeline; impermanent projects, e.g. planting trees that later burn; projects with leakage, such as protecting part of a forest but pushing loggers elsewhere; & double-counted projects. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Before and after images show glaciers vanishing before our eyes They are melting like never seen before, changing landscapes around the world beyond recognition.

Losing glaciers in the Alps. My mother grew up in Vienna before the war and her parents loved the mountains. We have a little album of black and white family photos showing the wonder of this landscape in the early 30s. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Many American Jews sharply critical of Israel on Gaza, Post poll finds Most Jews say Israel is committing war crimes — and 39 percent say genocide — while often distinguishing between the country and its leadership.

Poll.
61% of American Jews say Israel has committed war crimes, 40% say Israel is guilty of genocide against the Palestinians.

That's not antisemitism. That's moral and ethical responsibility.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump ‘Determined’ the U.S. Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told

Rogue state committing extra-judicial executions in international waters. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

Starmer can help shape the future of the world at Cop30. He can’t let fear of Farage stop him | Michael Jacobs The battle inside No 10 about whether the PM should attend an absolutely crucial climate summit in Brazil is ludicrous. He must assert himself – and go, says economist Michael Jacobs

Michael Jacobs on the fight in No10 about whether Starmer attends Lula's 'leaders summit' that will preceded Cop30 & why it's so important that he does go www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The dawn of the post-literate society And the end of civilisation

Neil Postman crops up so much in analysis of cultural and democratic crisis these days & it's merited. "Amusing ourselves to death" is painfully prophetic. This is a good piece. jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-o...

The New Statesman: politics and culture Politics Podcast · Updated Semiweekly · Helping you make sense of politics, culture and world affairs – every weekday. Anoosh Chakelian, Andrew Marr and the New Statesman team bring you sharp reportin...

Latest New Statesman pod on links between the Tony Blair Institute and Oracle/Ellison is worth a listen. How it put their funding on steroids and the implications for UK and global politics. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

How tech lords and populists changed the rules of power Digital moguls and strongman leaders are more than disrupters of the old liberal order. Together they seek to sweep it away, writes Giuliano da Empoli

A compelling piece on the 'battle between power elites for control of the future'. Giuliano da Empoli. Gift link. on.ft.com/4nI2kdT

Why do headlines say "norms shattered" when what is meant is "laws broken" or "Constitution violated"?

China’s plans to cut emissions too weak to stave off global catastrophe, say experts Xi suggested US not rising to the climate challenge in his UN speech, but critics say new cuts fall ‘far short’ of what is necessary

China's NDC and expert reactions - basically 'could be better, could be worse'. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Nations’ plans to ramp up coal, gas and oil extraction ‘will put climate goals beyond reach’ New data shows governments now planning more fossil fuel production in coming decades than they were in 2023

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Two steps forward and two steps back. Wryneck on Papay yesterday, a lifer for me. Old world woodpecker island birds. Thanks to @papaybirder.bsky.social for the finding skills.

Hard-Fought Treaty to Protect Ocean Life Clears a Final Hurdle

Some good news. High seas treaty comes into force as the 60th country ratifies. Well done Morocco and time for the UK to get a move on! www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/c...

Israel’s killing of 31 Yemeni journalists marks deadliest global attack in 16 years - Committee to Protect Journalists Washington, D.C., September 19, 2025—Israel’s targeted strikes on two newspaper offices in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, which killed 31 journalists and media support workers on September 10, signal that it...

The list of war crimes just keeps growing .
cpj.org/2025/09/isra...

UN faces $500m budget cut and 20% job losses after big drop in US funding Core budget to fall to $3.2bn next year and initial minimum 3,000 job cuts expected amid streamlining process

The age of indifference www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Key factors are the ruthlessness of the emerging project and the willingness of swathes of big capital to strike bargains. Social media is context more than cause. It could have grown with checks and balances of established media. Choices led to the absence of those.

My mother grew up in a middle class Jewish family in Vienna in the 30s. She always recalled that what shocked the adults around her about what they were observing in Germany was not the rise of the Nazis but the speed with which the liberal elite & its ruling ethos totally collapsed.

Artists are losing work, wages, and hope as bosses and clients embrace AI Visual artists, illustrators and graphic designers share their stories about how AI is being used to lower wages, degrade work and even replace it altogether, in this installment of AI Killed My Job.

Freelance illustration gigs drying up. Ad agencies using Midjourney instead of hiring human artists. Costume design turned over to AI wholesale. Good work vanishing.

These are the stories of working visual artists, who describe losing jobs, wages, and hope as their clients and bosses embrace AI.

It Isn’t Just the U.S. The Whole World Has Soured on Climate Politics.

As you might expect from David Wallace-Wells this is an excellent piece on climate politics & how startlingly different things look now from 2015. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/m...

Higher defence spending is pointless without climate aid, says UN chief Achim Steiner says cuts to development budget are shortsighted in an interconnected global economy

Achim Steiner - higher defence spending is pointless without funding climate aid is pointless. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

US tells countries to reject UN ship fuel emissions deal or face tariffs, sources say The United States has told countries to reject a United Nations' marine fuel emissions-cutting deal or face tariffs, visa restrictions and port levies, U.S. and European officials and sources told Reuters.

US seeking to stop global deal on green levy for shipping fuel. Key vote at the IMO is next month. www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...

Melvyn Bragg decides to step down from presenting In Our Time After 26 years on the programme, the legendary presenter bids farewell to the series

Melvyn Bragg, who invented the podcast in the early Middle Ages, is stepping down. I'll miss him. www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

Yvette Cooper accused of pushing children towards people smugglers by halting refugee scheme Home secretary under fire over suspension of family reunion system that she said was at risk of exploitation

I'm sad that a Labour government is doing this. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

When my grandfather Otto left Vienna to come to the UK in March 1938 it was his intention to get a job and a place to live before bringing his family to join him. They lived under the Nazis for 6 months and made it over about 6 weeks before Kristallnacht.

But, there is no recognition that if the refugee is fleeing e.g. ethnic cleansing, then it is understandable that someone would want to get their family out ASAP.

There seems to be a degree of moral judgement in this - "stand on your own two feet" etc. She wants to see a longer gap between arriving and requesting for the family to join. In terms of UK politics you can see the motivation...

Listening to Labour Home Sec Cooper talk about suspending family reunion processes it strikes me that there is a view taken independent of context that refugees should be able to get a job and a house before they can bring their children to the UK. (1)

Maybe you should delete the app...

Collapse of critical Atlantic current is no longer low-likelihood, study finds Scientists say ‘shocking’ discovery shows rapid cuts in carbon emissions are needed to avoid catastrophic fallout

Guardian coverage of the new study greatly increasing assessed likelihood of AMOC shutdown www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I was shocked when I first saw these results from standard climate models used in IPCC reports: for high emissions, the Atlantic overturning circulation #AMOC shuts down in all 9 models that ran past 2100, and is well on the way to shutdown by 2100.
Our paper on that is out today.🧵