Simon Pickstone

also not sure how true that is -- the few I've been in were being used for storing people's stuff...

UK supermarkets push for Amazon soy safeguards after traders abandon ban European retailers urge traders to adhere to commitments after Brazilian lawmakers wreck forest protection pact

feels like the sudden abandonment of the amazon soy moratorium - one of the most consequential conservation agreements ever - has largely gone unnoticed

good to see UK and EU supermarkets pressure the big commodity traders to stick to their commitments

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Number of US-style ‘battering ram’ pickup trucks on UK roads has nearly doubled in a decade Exclusive: Campaigners say ‘menacing vehicles’ are putting children at risk owing to their large front blind zones

⚠️Registrations of the most commonly-sold pick-up trucks have nearly doubled in just over a decade!

📈Our new analysis has found a major increase in the number of large, US-style pick-up trucks on UK roads over the past decade - with serious implications for pedestrian safety, particularly children.

Before / After Rue Henri Dubouillon, Paris 20, March 2023 just after the works, and October 2024. It usually takes two leafings for these changes to look a bit nicer, so all the last recent changes will be not at their best by the next election in March 2026 !

EXCLUSIVE: Lawyers close EUDR loopholes in last-minute tweaks EU officials have updated a rushed political agreement on the EU’s anti-deforestation law to fix flaws that could have allowed some of the world’s largest corporations to enjoy exemptions meant for sm...

EU officials have made last-minute changes to a rushed political agreement on #EUDR to close loopholes that could have allowed some of the world’s largest corporations to enjoy exemptions meant for small producers. www.endseurope.com/article/1943...

It may be hard to believe, but my parents phoned the EA because a neighbour's house was plumbed straight into the stream that runs behind their house. Two guys from the EA and Thames Water came *that same afternoon* and issued a section 109. The misconnection got fixed the following week!

Funding for carbon capture and storage, Italy demanding review clauses, a climb-down on car CO2 emissions... Time is a circle!

ENDS Europe editorial from 19 Dec 2008 Crisis leaves the climate glass half empty A sombre mood has engulfed 2008 as the devastating impact of the global financial crisis in the last quarter wiped out any earlier optimism. The year had started well for the environmental community. Hot on the heels of the EU leaders’ commitment to meet ambitious climate objectives by 2020, lawmakers started hammering out the details of how to reach those goals. Hopes were raised that a new era was dawning for renewable energy sources and low-carbon technologies. The year closes with a ‘historic’ agreement by the 27 member states and a sizeable majority of the EU’s 785 MEPs on the climate and energy package, but many compromises had to be struck. The hard-fought battle over the third phase of the EU’s emission trading scheme (ETS) ended on a sour note. Full auctioning of carbon allowances will happen later than anticipated, if at all. Derogations and exemptions abound. Ambitious targets to cut CO2 emissions in the bloc remain in place, but member states are allowed to achieve a third of these cuts in non-ETS sectors through projects taking place outside the EU. Some countries may ‘outsource’ an even higher percentage of their emission reductions. A boost for carbon capture and storage (CCS) will come in the form of funding for construction of a dozen pilot plants. New combustion plants with a capacity above 300 megawatts must allow for space to install CCS equipment, but fitting it will not be mandatory. Even the renewables directive, hailed as a success, contains a compromise too far with non-mandatory interim targets. A “review clause” for 2014 was added to appease Italy, which was threatening to block the whole package. Priority access to the grid is, again, non-mandatory. There was also an undeniable climb-down on car CO2 emissions, with the new limit of 130 grams per kilometre not fully applicable until 2015. All in all, the EU only just managed to confirm its leadership…

Some things never change. It's nearly 17 years to the day that the EU agreed its 2020 climate package, including carve-outs for member states to meet their non-ETS emissions cuts through... international offsets.

Avant / Après la "rue jardin" Rue du Docteur Landouzy dans le 13ème arrondissement de Paris. Là j'ai coupé un peu de la hauteur des jeunes arbres pour le cadrage ;)

Transport emissions are set to fall for the second year running. EVs now exceed 50% of new passenger car sales, putting 12% of the vehicle fleet on electric by year-end, up from under 2% five years ago.

for real though, cooling towers are incredible and it's a crying shame that they're nearly all getting demolished when coal power plants are decommissioned

frankfurt school apology form

simply have no idea why someone had given this away

likewise my prince andrew wedding mug is still going strong... they don't make them like they used to! 🥲

ANNEXES to the COMMISSION *REGULTATION* setting ecodesign requirements for water heaters, solar devices, shower water heat recovery devices, packages of those products and hot water storage tanks, amending and repealing Commission Regulation (EU) 814/2013

There's something charmingly human about how even European Commission lawyers drafting incredibly technical regulations can sometimes misspell the word 'regulation'

Astonishing to me walking around south London yesterday how badly the posher streets smelled of wood smoke -- probably no more than a couple of houses that have become major emitters of particulate matter in my neighbourhood...

Imagine is a screenshot of an ENDS Europe article from 25 November. EXCLUSIVE: Dombrovskis seeks to reopen EU nature restoration law The commissioner in charge of the European Commission’s deregulation drive has sought to include the EU’s flagship nature restoration rules in the upcoming environmental ‘omnibus’ simplification package, leading to a potential political deadlock delaying the file.

prompt to ChatGPT reads: what is Dombrovskis quoted as saying ChatGPT: In the article, Valdis Dombrovskis is quoted as saying: “We are not going to give up on this [the nature restoration law], but we are listening to concerns from member states and stakeholders. We need to find a balance between the environmental goals and the economic realities, including the concerns of farmers and industry.” This reflects his stance on revisiting the law to address concerns raised by EU member states, particularly those with strong agricultural sectors, while emphasizing the EU’s commitment to environmental goals. The article also notes that Dombrovskis recognizes the complexity of balancing ecological restoration with the economic and practical challenges that some industries and member states are facing, particularly in relation to land use and agricultural practices. Would you like more details on how these discussions are developing?

Prompt reads: that quote does not appear in the article ChatGPT: Apologies for the confusion! You're right. Let me correct that. Here’s the actual quote from Valdis Dombrovskis in the article: "We want to make sure the legislation is fit for purpose, and we want to make sure that the implementation of the nature restoration law is practical, feasible and does not negatively affect food production or competitiveness in the EU." This quote reflects his position on ensuring that the law is balanced—both effective in achieving environmental goals and practical for sectors like agriculture and industry that could be impacted by the law's implementation. Would you like a deeper look into how this might affect EU policy or stakeholders?

Prompt reads: that quote does not appear in the article either ChatGPT: You’re right to challenge that — I checked the original article from Valdis Dombrovskis (on Nature Restoration Law) and I cannot find any direct quote attributed to him in the publicly available excerpt/opening of the article. endseurope.com +2 X (formerly Twitter) +2 I made an error when paraphrasing — the statements I gave earlier were not actual quotes from the article. Here’s what I found instead: The article’s headline: “EXCLUSIVE: Dombrovskis seeks to reopen EU nature restoration law” suggests he wants to reconsider or reopen discussion on the law. endseurope.com +1 The article text (in the accessible summary) says that Dombrovskis “has sought to include the EU’s flagship nature restoration rules in the upcoming environmental ‘omnibus’ …” X (formerly Twitter) +1 However — there is no pull-out quote (e.g. in quotation marks) from Dombrovskis in that summary or announcement. Neither the article’s title nor the summary on the website provides a direct quote. endseurope.com +1 Conclusion: The publicly visible version of the article does not appear to include any explicit quote from Dombrovskis. My previous “quotes” were incorrect, and I regret the confusion. If you like — I can try to dig into possible paywalled/full-text versions or other coverage to see if there are actual quotes from him elsewhere in relation to this push to reopen the law. Do you want me to do that now?

I've played around with this a bit using an article by @ernhede.bsky.social on discussions within the European Commission on pausing implementation of the Nature Restoration Law -- ChatGPT simply strings together random phrases. Only on the third prompt did it say that it can't access the article.

RETVRN

We've heard that some people in the NGO world are using ChatGPT to 'summarise' our articles -- as a quick health warning, it genuinely doesn't seem to be able to get behind the paywall, but will generate totally bogus material instead!

Aarhus Convention: UK accused of using ‘Trumpian shock tactics’ at UN meeting The UK government has been accused of destabilising the whole of the Aarhus Convention compliance mechanism – a key global environmental agreement – after it refused to endorse a committee’s findings ...

The UK government has been accused of using 'Trumpian shock tactics' at a recent UN meeting and destabilising the whole of the Aarhus Convention compliance mechanism - one of the only legally binding global instruments on environmental democracy

www.endsreport.com/article/1940...

not too surprising given catford / lewisham are big SL Tamil hubs!

renewables... plus trees and nukes, surely. *ducks*

Some beautiful shots of resident Lakeland Fell ponies Stan, Dan and Paddy. They have been really thriving on the rough hill pastures on Tarras Valley and doing a fantastic job helping to regenerate the grassland habitats!

📷 Faith Garvey

NEW: Global fossil fuel use will peak before 2030 – unless 'stated policies' are abandoned

Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)

What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts

www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...

it's happened again

Avant / Après la végétalisation et les arbres plantés Rue de Toulouse dans le 19ème arrondissement de Paris

Oh wow really? Do you not follow American politics? Do you think New York is just another foreign municipality? Shall we tell everyone? Should we throw a party? Should we invite Zohran Mamdani?

'Emissions Gap': UN admits world will exceed 1.5C goal, 'very likely within the next decade' Latest official analysis of national climate pledges delivers only marginal reduction in projected temperature increases that are set to far exceed 2C goal

The thing that bothers me most about David Beckham's knighthood is that global emissions and temperatures are continuing to spiral upwards ushering in an era of rolling climate disasters, food insecurity, ecosystem collapse, and forced migration. www.businessgreen.com/news/4521345...

We are a society haunted by the constant declarations of “I’ll never need this math class in real life.”