Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · 22h

Excellent series on overshooting 1.5°C warming.

First 2 episodes VERY gloomy (1.5°C much worse than we thought and we're going well past that; collapse of Atlantic AMOC current looking more likely; and the follies of carbon capture tech).

Dare I hope for some optimism in the final 2 episodes?

Overshoot Podcast @overshootpod.bsky.social · 2d

Overshoot Episode 1: Uncharted Territory

If the world didn’t win, has it lost?

We meet the underdog diplomats who helped the world set the 1.5°C goal, and the champion sailors who can help us set a course for navigating what comes next

Listen to episode one now: open.spotify.com/episode/1bJl...

PART 1: Uncharted Territory

open.spotify.com

Reposted by Steve Metcalfe

Ember @ember-energy.org · 1d

NEW | Solar and wind OUTPACED global electricity demand growth in the first half of 2025, leading to a fall in fossil fuels compared to this time last year ☀️🌪️

Record solar and steady wind growth is reshaping global power as renewables OVERTAKE coal for the first time.

https://loom.ly/c-MNZSk

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · 7d

Critical thinking on development is under threat!

Please sign this petition and show your support for the Institute of Development Policy (IOB), which has been hit by a sudden EU2.6m funding cut from the Flemish government.

IOB - Institute of Development Policy @iobua.bsky.social · 7d

🌍 1,555 voices for IOB — but we need more! Every day counts: sign the petition and share it widely so our message to policymakers grows stronger. 💙
👉 https://chng.it/8DhtrFSBpm

#SaveIOB #StandWithIOB #IOBCommunity #GlobalEducation #GlobalSolidarity

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · 13d

10 years since the Sustainable Dev Goals were agreed: impossible to imagine that kind of consensus in today's world.

The SDGs are damaged but still important, and new international alliances can bring new approaches

Valuable insights from @petertaylor-uk.bsky.social, Director of @ids.ac.uk

An SDGs billboard in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2023

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · 14d

Reparations are about justice, not just money. "If you don’t change the actual power dynamics, it’s little more than charity."

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

‘It goes beyond getting a cash refund for slavery’: Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder on the case for reparations

With their new book, Henry and Ryder are determined to start a discussion about compensation for the descendants of slaves. But how would any scheme work? And why is it yet to happen?

www.theguardian.com

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · 20d

Great video. No mean feat to make jokes out of the arcane world of climate finance, and the myth that the private sector alone can fill the adaptation finance gap

Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance @zcralliance.bsky.social · 21d

As climate adaptation needs increase, is this the solution to closing the finance gap?

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Reposted by Steve Metcalfe

Himal Southasian @himalmag.bsky.social · 28d

After anti-corruption #GenZprotests and a deadly uprising forced the prime minister and government to resign, #Nepal searches for a new politics that can jettison its failed establishment. Commentary by Himal EIC @romangtm.bsky.social

Nepal’s horrific reckoning with its failed political class

Nepalis don’t often pay attention to the politics of their Southasian neighbours beyond India. But when Sri Lankans rose up in 2022 to boot out the Rajapaksa re

buff.ly

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · Sep 8

Great thread.

I think the majority of public understand risks of climate change and are crying out for a vision that is not 'pragmatic' (i.e. stuck in the past) but is ambitious, forward-looking and shows how we can create jobs and prosperity through the shift to a low-carbon economy.

Dr Steve Westlake @steveclimate.bsky.social · Sep 5

Happy to share our new research on UK climate politics 🚨

We found Members of Parliament (MPs) use the language of climate "pragmatism" to avoid rapid change. It risks becoming a new discourse of delay.

More detail below and in 🧵

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theconversation.com/politicians-...

Politicians now talk of climate ‘pragmatism’ to delay action – new study

Politicians talk about being pragmatic on climate change to avoid hard decisions.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Steve Metcalfe

Sathnam Sanghera @sathnam.bsky.social · Sep 8

It's almost like young people are interested in institutions facing up to their history in a frank and nuanced way

www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

National Trust heartened by surge in young members

Some 40,000 people aged 18-25 signed up in the past year as research suggests young adults are showing more interest in culture, heritage and history

www.thetimes.com

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · Sep 3

Why does the US - and presumably the UK? - support Israel's crimes? Because "economic sovereignty in the periphery threatens capital accumulation in the core".

Jason Hickel on how Israel acts as a military proxy for the US:

jasonhickel.substack.com/p/why-does-t...

Why does the US support Israel's crimes?

Why does the US support Israel’s genocidal crimes against the Palestinian people, even in the face of overwhelming international condemnation, at massive expense, and to the point of totally debasing ...

jasonhickel.substack.com

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · Aug 28

UK public debate on migration is divorced from reality.

Any right minded person would think - from barrage of news - that its spiraling out of control.

Yet data shows its falling dramatically.

How did we allow far-right to manipulate facts like this?

Chart showing 2012-2025 trends in migration. It shows a spike from 2020, then rapid decline from 2023. Graph sourced from anti-migration lobby group Migration Watch UK

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Reposted by Steve Metcalfe

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · Aug 28

This week's column. The details will make you gasp and rage. This massive desecration of nature is almost unbelievable, but it is happening in the UK right now.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Bluefin tuna are miraculously returning to UK shores – only to be tormented for ‘sport’ | George Monbiot

A tournament in Cornwall will pit anglers against these magnificent creatures, as part of a rising trend for so-called ‘sportfishing’, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Steve Metcalfe

Institute of Development Studies (IDS) @ids.ac.uk · Aug 22

Famine in Gaza City has been officially confirmed today by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

IDS researcher Philip Proudfoot calls for the international system to act, and for “immediate, full, and unfettered” humanitarian access.

https://ids.pulse.ly/p9qlfxex8g

Famine declared as the international system continues to fail Gaza - Institute of Development Studies

Famine has been declared in Gaza City but the international system still fails to act, according to IDS researcher Philip Proudfoot.

ids.pulse.ly

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · Aug 22

"It is a famine openly promoted by some Israeli leaders as a weapon of war."

Israel created this - but we have allowed it to happen.

News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · Aug 22

NEW: “It is a famine. Everyone owns this.”

UN emergency coordinator Tom Fletcher confirms a famine in Gaza.

The whole world should be made to watch these two and half minutes.

(🎥 BBC News)

Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · Aug 20

Language is vital to identity and culture.

Just back from the brilliant @greenmanfest.bsky.social, where Welsh was in abundance and artists also promoted Gaelic and Cornish.

So this from the late Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o seems more relevant than ever:

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

Take away our language and we will forget who we are: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and the language of conquest

The long read: The late Kenyan novelist and activist believed erasing language was the most lasting weapon of oppression. Here, Aminatta Forna recalls the man and introduces his essay on decolonisatio...

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Steve Metcalfe

Mariana Mazzucato @mazzucatom.bsky.social · Aug 13

Water connects us all through atmospheric moisture that travels across continents. Deforestation in the Amazon reduces rainfall as far as the Congo Basin. We need a new lens that treats the hydrological cycle as a global common good requiring collective action. 1/2

The World Needs a New Economics of Water

Mariana Mazzucato proposes a radical change in perspective toward humanity's most precious resource.

www.project-syndicate.org

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · Aug 12

Back from two idyllic weeks in the French Alps

Now sweltering in the office, and not yet feeling the work vibes

So here's a nice pic of some mountain cows instead

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Reposted by Steve Metcalfe

The National @scotnational.bsky.social · Jul 24

Tomorrow's front page 📰

Convicted US felon to arrive in Scotland

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Reposted by Steve Metcalfe

Food Equity Centre @foodequitycentre.bsky.social · Jul 23

Food systems work perfectly...

...for the handful of multinational corporations who control them, that is 😱

We need to focus less on profit, and more on people and planet.

To achieve this we need government action and strong social movements, says @stuartgillespie.bsky.social

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · Jul 21

Just brilliant

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · Jul 20

Good morning! I'm in Uganda to visit family and friends.

But depending on your perspective, don't worry or I'm sorry: I'll be back by the end of the month.

See you soon, NYC.

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · Jul 21

Imagine writing 464 pages to analyse a problem, but failing to say anything about the actual cause of the problem.

Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · Jul 21

"Sir John seems to feel this is an issue of public trust, whereas in reality, at the beating heart of this debacle is corporate greed, financial engineering.. the £84bn of our money water companies have made off with"

On #BBCBreakfast, Feargal Sharkey on the Cunliffe review

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · Jul 11

The UK can learn so much from other countries about reducing inequality and improving society.

Here, we outline how the Department for Health and Social Care can learn from Brazil, Canada and other countries which have led the way in community-based care.

Institute of Development Studies (IDS) @ids.ac.uk · Jul 10

How can the UK government's planned shift from hospitals to community be informed by international experiences?

We've been working with @policyatkings.bsky.social to show the government how lessons from Brazil, Canada and elsewhere offer valuable insights

www.ids.ac.uk/news/interna...

Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · Jul 8

"Life as we know it could grind to a halt without Bayan Obo."

The town producing rare earth metals needed for our phones, solar panels and EVs - and where one tonne of minerals processed produces a staggering 2,000 tonnes of toxic waste.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...

China rare earths: The BBC visits the world's mining capital for the metals - BBC News

The price of the rare earth metals the world buys from China

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Steve Metcalfe

Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · Jul 8

a couple of hours before my keynote, I went through an intense negotiation with the organisers (for over a hour) where we went through my slides and had to remove anything that mentions 'Palestine' 'Israel' and replace 'genocide' with 'war crimes'

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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · Jul 8

my keynote happening in a few mins. registration here to stream it

aiforgood.itu.int/summit25/reg...

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Steve Metcalfe @stevemetcalfe.bsky.social · Jul 2

Huge changes taking place in development right now - declines in civic space and freedoms, emergence of polycrises, failures of multilateralism and cuts in funding. What should a development-focused research and teaching institute prioritise?

Please share your thoughts - survey is very quick ⬇️

Institute of Development Studies (IDS) @ids.ac.uk · Jul 1

📣IDS Survey!

What should our strategic priorities be over the next decade? Please give us 5-10 minutes of your time to help us develop our new strategy.

➡️https://office.pulse.ly/rbgw63qfoj

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