Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · 7h

This is a good place to start if you want to understand the development of globalisation and why the neoliberal stance of IMF and the World Bank is not the way to do it.

aeon.co/essays/how-f...?

How foreign capital can hinder, or help, economic development | Aeon Essays

How do some countries manage to channel foreign capital into economic development while others are just exploited by it?

aeon.co

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IPBES @ipbes.net · 1d

It's #WorldMentalHealthDay 🌍

#DidYouKnow Healthy ecosystems support healthy minds?

IPBES #NexusAssessment confirms: biodiversity and functioning ecosystems improve mental health. Access to biodiverse environments facilitates recovery from stress, depression & other health-related conditions.🏡🧪

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hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · 2d

Carbon offets are evidently not working. What is needed much stricter regulations. Rich polluters need to make changes by themselves, not buying their way out. At the same time, there is need for increased real green investements.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...?

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

www.theguardian.com

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Lyn Heideman @heidelyn.bsky.social · 3d

And the sounds of the Amazon: severe droughts threaten to disrupt the thunderous symphonies of macaws. Listen: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/c... (gift).

Are the Earth and its wildlife screaming for our help? 🌎 #birds

Listen to the Sounds of Climate Change

www.nytimes.com

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Margaret Stanley @ecostanley.bsky.social · 3d

Check out NZ Parliamentary Commissioner for Environment's report: 3 points politicians should agree on: 1) our economy is a subset of the environment, not vice versa, 2) critical importance of high-quality spatial data, 3) be realistic about time frames/costs of tackling env. problems. #Aotearoa 🧪🌏

Annual report for the year ended 30 June 2025

The Commissioner has released his annual report for the year ended 30 June 2025. Here is an abbreviated version of his overview. The full version can be read here.

pce.parliament.nz

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hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · 4d

Banks are giving in to threats of litigation alleging collusion, after the US election. Spineless banks prefer short-termism over a better future. Responsibility out of the windows at the top floor.

www.barrons.com/news/un-back...

UN-backed Climate Banking Alliance Ceases Operations

The Net-Zero Banking Alliance, a UN-backed initiative seeking carbon neutral investments by banks, announced Friday its immediate shutdown -- at a time of faltering climate commitments in the United S...

www.barrons.com

hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · 4d

This is an important paper concerning the need for degrowth, postgrowth, doughnut economy, DLS, or whatever you would like to call it. Conclusion for 2000-2022: moderate social global progress, intensified ecological brake down. The richest 20 % nations major cause.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries monitors a world out of balance - Nature

A revised ‘Doughnut’ providing a visual assessment of trends in social deprivation and planetary degradation over the past two decades shows more than doubling of global GDP accompanied by accelerating ecological overshoot but only a modest reduction in human deprivation.

www.nature.com

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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 5d

Here's the paper, open access: nature.com/articles/s41...

And here is an interactive website with time-series data from 2000 to 2022: doughnuteconomics.org/doughnut

Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries monitors a world out of balance - Nature

A revised ‘Doughnut’ providing a visual assessment of trends in social deprivation and planetary degradation over the past two decades shows more than doubling of global GDP accompanied by accelerating ecological overshoot but only a modest reduction in human deprivation.

nature.com

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hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · 6d

Klimaendringene kommer skape heftigere og roligere vær, vekselvis og ulikt i forskjellige regioner. Forskning peker på at Nordsjøen kan bli et område med mindre vind, noe som kan påvirke vindkraftproduksjonen. Vi trenger altså å diversifisere våre fornybarkilder.

news.mongabay.com/2025/10/clim...

Climate change is messing with global wind speeds, impacting planetary health

Climate change is disturbing wind patterns across the globe in dramatic ways. And when combined with land-use change and desertification, these changes are spawning immense sand and dust storms that p...

news.mongabay.com

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hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · 11d

Her noe som ikke har blitt lagt merke til av media førr, i hvert fall ikke som jeg har sett, og ikke i norske medier. Det som skjer med miljøet støtter dessverre konklusjonen om at Israel ikke bare begår folkemord, men ønsker å gjøre fremtiden i Gaza umulig.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...?

Israel’s ecocide in Gaza sends this message: even if we stopped dropping bombs, you couldn’t live here | George Monbiot

Consider the annihilation of agricultural land alongside the genocide – and grasp the chilling totality of this attempt to eliminate all life, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · 13d

Her er en dansk bok å se frem mot. Om Economics of Small. Fire positive ting med å drive litet er: konkrete besluttninger, fleksibilitet, ansvarlighet og utholdighet. En vei mot "a degrowth society".

www.xn--smdriftsfordele-ilb.dk/boglancering

Smådriftsfordele - Lanceringsevent — Smådriftsfordele

www.xn--smdriftsfordele-ilb.dk

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hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · 15d

This is encouraging scientific news about agroecology.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

India’s agroecology programme, ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’, delivers biodiversity and economic benefits without lowering yields - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Analysis of crop yields, farmer income and bird species abundances identifies multiple positive outcomes of a large-scale Indian government-incentivized agroecology initiative.

www.nature.com

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hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · 16d

We have had a heat pump for 3 years now. It functions well in the winter, and we haven't had any problem with dry air. The important thing with a heat pump is were you place it, so that it heats as much as possible of your household to make it economic.

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Evan Walker @ecologicalev.bsky.social · 16d

“The high seas are the world’s largest crime scene — they’re unmanaged, unenforced, and a regulatory legal structure is absolutely necessary”

🌎 apnews.com/article/high...

Nations ratify the world's first treaty to protect international waters

The first treaty to protect marine diversity in international waters will come into force early next year after being ratified by the 60th nation, Morocco.

apnews.com

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hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · 16d

The rhetorical brilliance of the US president made everyone change their minds ... or maybe not.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...?

‘Science demands action’: world leaders and UN push climate agenda forward despite Trump’s attacks

Leaders unveil new targets to cut planet-heating pollution after Trump called climate crisis a ‘con job’

www.theguardian.com

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Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union | Global Dialogue @boelleu.bsky.social · 17d

🟢 Europe’s climate ambition is stalling just as global leadership is needed. Von der Leyen is showing deft tactics but little long-term climate strategy.
💡 Read @rkefferputz.bsky.social's monthly letter and check out our new content & upcoming events! 👉 96701.seu2.cleverreach.com/m/16472522/
#COP30

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hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · 18d

Interesting and enlightening take on the problem of plastics. Plastics changed business models, that's why getting rid of plastics depends on changing business models - by consumers, by regulations.

news.mongabay.com/2025/09/cons...

Consumed by convenience: The culture of disposability

When Saabira Chaudhuri began covering consumer-goods companies for The Wall Street Journal, she thought she was writing about marketing campaigns, product launches, and quarterly results. What she fou...

news.mongabay.com

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Greenhouse Communications @greenhouse.agency · 19d

🌊High Seas Treaty to become law in 2026 🌍

A global agreement to protect high seas marine life has been ratified by 60 nations – a move expected to fuel opposition to the deep sea mining debate.

Find the full article in the @financialtimes.com👇
www.ft.com/content/b024...

High Seas treaty looms over deep-ocean mining plans

Global agreement will become international law after ratification by more than 60 countries

www.ft.com

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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 20d

Reporting here: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Israel attack on Yemeni newspaper was second deadliest on journalists ever recorded

Press freedom group says ‘brutal and unjustified attack’ is deadliest since 2009 Maguindanao massacre in Philippines

www.theguardian.com

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Kevin Wood @drkevinwood.bsky.social · 23d

Our new open access study on human-nature connectedness is now online.

We show that engaging in outdoor environmental activities increases human-nature connectedness, with mindfulness and encounters with wildlife showing the largest increases.

Full paper here: doi.org/10.1016/j.pe...

🌍 🧪 🦤

An infographic showing six images of people engaged in outdoor activities, which serves as the graphical abstract for our newly published paper on human-nature connection. The first image, showing a man and girl looking at an otter, represents encounters with captive animals. The second image, representing educational activities, shows a woman and two children pond dipping and identifying the animals that they find. The third image shows a group of people on a 'Landrover safari' looking at waterbirds, which represents encounters with wildlife. The fourth image represents gardening, and shows a group of adults and children creating a new garden. The fifth image shows two people in the distance walking alongside an estuary, representing recreation. The final image represents mindfulness and shows a person meditating in nature. For each activity, the mean value for the change in human-nature connectedness is reported, based on the analyses undertaken in our paper.

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Ade Martin @ademartindc.bsky.social · 26d

Hi. Today in "One day, one paper", from 2000 to 2020, over 50% of global forests—especially tropical ones—became more fragmented. Ecological metrics show major losses in connectivity and aggregation, driven by agriculture and logging. Protected tropical areas significantly reduced fragmentation 🌎

Fragmentation increased in over half of global forests from 2000 to 2020

Habitat fragmentation, in which contiguous forests are broken into smaller, isolated patches, threatens biodiversity by disrupting species movement, shrinking populations, and altering ecosystem…

www.science.org

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Lyn Heideman @heidelyn.bsky.social · Sep 10

The study demonstrates that dramatic losses can occur even where human impacts are minimal, suggesting climate change may be a key driver: phys.org/news/2025-09...? Research: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/.... That noise you hear is insects screaming that climate change is real. 🌎

Even untouched ecosystems are losing insects at alarming rates, new study finds

A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that insect populations are rapidly declining even in relatively undisturbed landscapes, raising concerns about the health of eco...

phys.org

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hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · Sep 10

Kanskje burde man endre den ulykksalige beslutningen fra 2023 da man innførte studieavgift for statsborgere fra land utenfor EØS/Sveits?

www.nature.com/articles/d41...?

These nations are wooing PhD students amid US funding uncertainties

Pauses to some US graduate programmes have led universities in several countries to launch initiatives to entice would-be PhD students.

www.nature.com

hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · Sep 10

Nordiskt samarbete på sitt bästa. Uff!

www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/Oo...

”Undergräver allas framtid” – svenska miljarder satsas på norsk olja

Klimatkrisen är så allvarlig att jorden är på väg att lämna ”livets korridor”. Då rekordsatsar Norge på ny olja. Och Sverige hjälper till.

www.aftonbladet.se

hansweinberger.bsky.social @hansweinberger.bsky.social · Sep 9

I kind of like the play with acronyms here: WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic) versus WISER (Well-being, Inclusive, Sufficient, Empowered, Resilient). To scientists from the London School of Economics have a comment on neoliberalism.

www.thelancet.com/action/showP...

www.thelancet.com

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