Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
Climate scientist, writer, speaker, dragger of sand into the house. Works at UBC, co-chair of Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body.
Environmental science
58%
Geography
17%
Pinned
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Dec 16
Why our imaginations are the key to solving climate change | Dr. Simon Donner | TEDxSurrey
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
youtu.be
If you're looking for some positivity... my TED talk was about the overcoming doubts and embracing solutions to climate change. The final piece of advice comes from a friend in Kiribati.
youtu.be/CZ_MPbjA78I?...
youtu.be/CZ_MPbjA78I?...
I'm skeptical about that warning, but I also won't claim to have the expertise to answer the question. Let me know what you find in your research.
Have I ever mentioned that COPs are crowded? People queueing up after an impressive protest blocked the entrance to #COP30.
Protest kicks the COP30 facility on Friday morning. It is being treated very respectfully, as far as I can tell.
Exactly. Even though that was a talking point, not a real argument, it is quite striking to now watch Chinese companies and officials lay out the stunning renewable numbers and the long-term transition plans.
There are some other Canadian faculty here, or coming next week, via their universities.
I'm here via Canada, as co-chair of the Net-Zero Advisory Body, largely to meet with other national climate councils.
For years, people argued that there's no point in taking climate action unless China is onboard. I'm at a COP30 event where Chinese government officials and renewable industry reps are outlining the fast-paced renewable energy transition and long-term carbon neutrality plan. The story has flipped.
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off
For years, people argued that there's no point in taking climate action unless China is onboard. I'm at a COP30 event where Chinese government officials and renewable industry reps are outlining the fast-paced renewable energy transition and long-term carbon neutrality plan. The story has flipped.
For all of the justified critiques of the expanding and often frustrating UN climate summits, there is something beautiful about watching melange of people in the hallways, with folks in all manner of traditional clothing walking next to western technocrats in business suits. #COP30
One of the great ironies of COPs is that they often seem to be held in uncomfortably warm conference centres. It's like the temperature inside is a signal of the state of the climate negotiations.
There's no official American delegation to COP30. There are still Americans in attendance, as observers from non-govt organizations, universities, etc, but no delegates participating in the actual negotiations. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-whi...
A large country sending zero official delegates is rare... and a deeply weird choice. Governments opposing the UN climate negotiations usually still send delegates, if only to disrupt the process and limit the outcome. Sending nobody allows other countries to control the outcome.
There's no official American delegation to COP30. There are still Americans in attendance, as observers from non-govt organizations, universities, etc, but no delegates participating in the actual negotiations. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-whi...
UN climate summits are part diplomatic negotiation, part climate and energy bazaar. With a clean energy revolution underway in much - but not all - of the world, the talks and sessions outside the official negotiating rooms at COP30 may be as important as what happens inside.
A decade after the Paris Agreement, the clean economy is winning
As the world’s climate negotiators gather in Brazil, they must understand that the energy transition is now inevitable
www.theglobeandmail.com
A decade after Paris, the clean economy is winning - terrific summary from @theturner.bsky.social
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/9858ffb...
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/9858ffb...
Gold open access publishing fee for Nature is US$12,690.
Or, depending on where you live, you can buy a Yuan Up Pilot Electric Vehicle for US$11,500.
electrek.co/2025/07/31/b...
Or, depending on where you live, you can buy a Yuan Up Pilot Electric Vehicle for US$11,500.
electrek.co/2025/07/31/b...
No Kings protest coverage | News From The States
www.newsfromthestates.com
Live blog from across the US of the No Kings protest www.newsfromthestates.com/live-feed/no...
Thanks, that's kind of you to say.
Three key points in my recent gov't testimony about Canada's climate efforts:
1) The 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, though bolder than past plans, was not sufficient
2) That plan is not being sufficiently implemented
3) Good climate policy is in the long-term economic interests of Canada
1) The 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, though bolder than past plans, was not sufficient
2) That plan is not being sufficiently implemented
3) Good climate policy is in the long-term economic interests of Canada
Reposted by Simon D. Donner
David Olive: Is Mark Carney retreating from Canada’s climate change fight?
In an astonishing reversal, Canada is poised to make big, long-term investments in projects that contribute to climate change rather than fight it, David Olive writes.
www.thestar.com
“All we know that is happening is that we've been removing existing climate policies,” @simondonner.bsky.social said. @ubcgeography.bsky.social @ires.ubc.ca @science.ubc.ca www.thestar.com/business/is-...
Reposted by Simon D. Donner, Juan Rocha
Alex Barron
@alexrbarron.bsky.social
· Oct 14
Re-upping this paper by @sethwynes.bsky.social and @simondonner.bsky.social which finds a median climate vote in Canada associated w 34 tons, vs 2.4 tons for car free for a yr. Individual action charts look pretty different with collective action.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Simon D. Donner, Sylvain Genevois
WRI Climate
@wriclimate.bsky.social
· Oct 9
🌍 80% of people worldwide want stronger #ClimateAction.
But not all choices are equal. WRI Climate research ranks 19 ways to help the climate, showing which actions make the biggest impact.
Explore the list: bit.ly/4q0pWvC
But not all choices are equal. WRI Climate research ranks 19 ways to help the climate, showing which actions make the biggest impact.
Explore the list: bit.ly/4q0pWvC
Reposted by A. E. Dessler, Karen O’Leary
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Oct 6
Most of the world has recently set all-time heat records
Regional exceptions like the 1930s in the continental US notwithstanding
www.theclimatebrink.com
Most of the world has recently set all-time heat records - valuable analysis from @hausfath.bsky.social to show that climate change is real and global... even it was hotter in one town 80 years ago. www.theclimatebrink.com/p/most-of-th...
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Oct 3
ENVI - Canada's 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan
www.ourcommons.ca
The federal Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development is holding hearings about Canada's 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. You can watch the video of yesterday's hearing, in which I participated: www.ourcommons.ca/committees/en/ENVI/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=13130858
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Oct 1
Why the world is watching as China pledges emissions cuts
YouTube video by CBC News
youtu.be
Had a good chat with @johannawagstaffe.bsky.social about China pledging to reduce emissions, for the first time youtu.be/M3ps0P7uyic?...
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 25
“People need to come home feeling inspired to seek systematic, transformational change, not that the trip was their good deed for the year,” said @simondonner.bsky.social. He warns greenwashing can undermine #environmental gains. @ubcgeography.bsky.social @ires.ubc.ca atmos.earth/climate-solu...
Can Tourism Help Save the Places It Endangers? | Atmos
Travel is booming—and straining ecosystems. Activist tourism promises a fix, from reef cleanups to elephant care.
atmos.earth
On the rise of activist tourism, and whether it can help us respond to challenges like climate change.
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 25
We tend to assume others think like us. The US President and his speechwriters calling climate change a con job is a reflection on them. They're willing to deceive the public for personal gain, so they assume others are as well, and can't conceive of people taking actions for the greater good.
Reposted by Simon D. Donner
UBC Oceans
@ubcoceans.bsky.social
· Sep 24
Can Tourism Help Save the Places It Endangers? | Atmos
Travel is booming—and straining ecosystems. Activist tourism promises a fix, from reef cleanups to elephant care.
atmos.earth
“People need to come home feeling inspired to seek systematic, transformational change, not that the trip was their good deed for the year,” said @simondonner.bsky.social. He warns greenwashing can undermine #environmental gains. @ubcgeography.bsky.social @ires.ubc.ca atmos.earth/climate-solu...
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 19
This article from @bryancurtis.bsky.social is bang on. Institutions bowing to Trump doesn't work. It only stokes a positive feedback loop based largely on a false perception of strength and inevitability.
www.theringer.com/2025/09/19/p...
www.theringer.com/2025/09/19/p...
Reposted by Simon D. Donner
Liz Neeley
@lizneeley.bsky.social
· Sep 19
Meeting the Moment
Hi! I’m Liz Neeley and I’m glad you’re here. Each Friday evening, I write a summary of the week’s events in science and higher education. I pull together roughly three bulleted paragraphs about what ...
buttondown.email
Which climate scientists are doing good work similar to what you've seen me doing with Meeting the Moment (buttondown.email/liminalcreat...) and Unbreaking (unbreaking.org)?
(I have a few already in mind, but want to enlist your help and expand my circles.)
(I have a few already in mind, but want to enlist your help and expand my circles.)
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 12
"We'll never change. It's too hard"
I first heard that on my answering machine.
Then by fax. Really.
Next, emails, so many emails
Then blog comments
Facebook posts
The tweets, oh the tweets
Podcasts
Zoom webinar comments
AI-transcribed voicemails
Now, full-on AI videos
Sure, we can't change.
I first heard that on my answering machine.
Then by fax. Really.
Next, emails, so many emails
Then blog comments
Facebook posts
The tweets, oh the tweets
Podcasts
Zoom webinar comments
AI-transcribed voicemails
Now, full-on AI videos
Sure, we can't change.