Research Fellow @TyndallCentre, Univ. of East Anglia. Climate policy/governance (mitigation & adaptation), UK/EU. Cargo bike enthusiast. RTs ≠ endorsement.
Norwich, England
Joined November 2014
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'It’s just that if climate change leaves Europe’s ports underwater, Brexit may seem a bit less important'. A great line (in this very welcome BBC blog) neatly encapsulating the competing calls on my attention, as both citizen and academic policy/governance researcher.
Big news at the BBC... "So to make sure climate change doesn’t get crowded out, we’re committing ourselves and our programmes to covering it at least once week"
bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/…
Tim Rayner retweeted
When Ukraine destroys Russian data centers, hoards of aggressive right-wing bots disappear, and Twitter becomes much friendlier. Isn’t that interesting? So much of our politics is driven by the internet, and so much of the internet is driven by Russians who want to hurt us. Shouldn’t we do something about that, given that we know it?
Tim Rayner retweeted
Tous les facteurs d'une crise agricole majeure sont en train de se conjuger.
La situation hydrique en France se détériore rapidement, au point de compromettre les semis d’automne et d’hiver. C'est indiscutable : sur 95 % du territoire, l’indice hydrique des sols atteint 0 % dans les neuf premiers centimètres (carte de droite). Les horizons superficiels sont totalement desséchés, rendant les conditions de germination et de levée particulièrement défavorables.
Et les perspectives météorologiques n'offrent guère de répit : aucune pluie véritablement efficace n'est attendue à l'échelle nationale avant le 27 septembre au plus tôt (carte de gauche).
Je ne sais pas si vous mesurez pleinement ce qui est en train de se jouer. Nous assistons à une convergence de facteurs susceptibles de provoquer une grave crise agricole et alimentaire :
➡️ L'énergie : des coûts énergétiques élevés qui fragilisent les exploitations agricoles et renchérissent les coûts de production, de transformation et de transport.
➡️ La géopolitique : des tensions internationales croissantes qui accentuent l'incertitude sur les marchés agricoles, énergétiques et alimentaires.
➡️ Le climat : cinq mois de conditions climatiques particulièrement éprouvantes, qui ont déjà lourdement affecté les récoltes de 2026. Désormais, la sécheresse se prolonge jusqu'aux semis des cultures qui seront récoltées en 2027. Nous ne parlons donc plus seulement des conséquences sur une campagne agricole, mais d'un risque de transmission des difficultés d'une année à l'autre.
➡️ El Niño : le réchauffement des eaux du Pacifique équatorial constitue un facteur de risque supplémentaire pour les productions agricoles mondiales. Selon son intensité et son évolution, il pourrait perturber les régimes de précipitations de plusieurs grandes régions productrices, avec des répercussions possibles sur les récoltes et les prix alimentaires internationaux.
J’observe les crises climatiques, je les analyse et je les documente depuis des années. Mais aujourd’hui, nous entrons dans une multicrise.
Une situation où les crises climatiques, agricoles, énergétiques et géopolitiques ne se succèdent plus, mais se superposent, interagissent et amplifient mutuellement leurs conséquences.
Le danger ne réside plus seulement dans la gravité de chaque crise prise isolément, mais dans leur accumulation et leurs effets en cascade. Et c’est précisément ce qui rend la situation actuelle particulièrement préoccupant...
Tim Rayner retweeted
This government is still sitting on parts of a buried report that lays bare catastrophic risks facing us from ecosystems collapse.
My message to @andyburnham today: tell the truth.
Release the report in full. And prepare the country for what's coming.
theguardian.com/politics/202…
Tim Rayner retweeted
We are rightly aiming to spend 3% of our GDP as insurance policy against a war with Russia. But we are unwilling to spend more than a pittance researching or monitoring a potential collapse of the ocean currents that would do more to devastate us longterm than anything short of a nuclear war by turning us climatically into Newfoundland. Funny that.
The cooling of the North Atlantic is creating waviness in the jet stream and high-pressure ridging over Europe, a study finds newscientist.com/article/258…
Tim Rayner retweeted
Well done - bit of leadership.
Governments have been far too timid about using emergency alerts in the past.
Cue bleating about nanny state etc. But just have a look around you.
Tim Rayner retweeted
The emergency alert was requested by fire and rescue services who are at breaking point. The military (rightly) have been called in to support.
And a timeline full of whining that it made them jump, spoiled their meal, is obvious etc
Embarrassing.
Tim Rayner retweeted
This year we’ve been “fortunate “ that extreme heat has only lasted a few days.
When 1976 setup happens again, and it will, the wildfire risk will be off the scale. A scale of magnitude more than now. Hundreds of locations, thousands of homes
That’s what we need to prepare for.
Tim Rayner retweeted
In the last 48 hours, we've seen major wildfires in Nottinghamshire, Hampshire, South Wales, and Suffolk.
This is not bad luck. This is climate change, and firefighters are on the frontline.
Tim Rayner retweeted
The richest man in the world has the logic of a child. A small child.
North Korea’s full name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Per Musk, North Korea is a democracy.
Tim Rayner retweeted
For years they told us climate change wasn’t real. Now they’re telling us it’s too late to do anything about it and we should build more swimming pools and learn to enjoy a “Mediterranean climate.” And apparently start drilling for more oil. Congratulations to the Telegraph for showing how the Right is all over the place when it comes to saving a liveable planet app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/s…
Tim Rayner retweeted
Strip away the theatre and Reform UK is a billionaire-backed project to dismantle the public realm, shred regulatory protections and hand what remains of state power to capital.
It’s plain to see – just follow the money.
Farage accepted a £5 million “gift” from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire, then went on to champion a light-touch approach to cryptocurrency regulation.
It’s clear we need a stronger firewall around our democracy.
That’s why I’ve backed @stellacreasy's amendment to the Representation of the People Bill to cap political donations at £100,000.
This would be a vital safeguard against billionaire capture of our politics and a important step towards rebuilding trust in our democracy.
Tim Rayner retweeted
Govt planning c. 100 new data centres by early 2030s, mostly in water stressed areas - with no legal duty to disclose how much water they use. Meanwhile Govt launches £75m publicity campaign to urge us to reduce water use & privatised water companies waste 19% thro leaks. Madness
Tim Rayner retweeted
Shocked to discover designating AI data centres as “National Critical Infrastructure” means water companies are prohibited from restricting water to them even in times of drought. Households will lose water first. Hear more on my @RestIsPolitics series👇
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcas…
Tim Rayner retweeted
The drought is exposing a weakness in nuclear power. Lack of water in the Danube has closed two reactors in Romania and one in Hungary. Similar problems have shut three in France. At least eight others in Europe are having to operate on reduced power.
reuters.com/business/energy/…
Tim Rayner retweeted
"Kemi Badenoch has chosen an abominable political moment to flirt with climate nihilism. The anti-green backlash has already peaked and electrotech is fast winning the global economic argument. The great European fires of 2026 are psychologically different from earlier heatwaves. Sensors have recorded temperatures of 1,100C in the convection firestorms of the French Gironde, hot enough to create pyrocumulonimbus conditions that generate their own wind systems.
There comes a point when you have to conclude that the Tories have gone Trumpian on the existential issue of our time, competing with Nigel Farage’s crypto party for fossil funding and the backlash vote. Badenoch’s purge of Tory candidates who dissent – either because they think it unconscionable, or because they think it is economically harmful, or both (my view) – is a fateful step for the leader of a political party that endured longer than any other on earth precisely because it is not narrow and factional."
telegraph.co.uk/business/202…
Tim Rayner retweeted
There are areas in national life which are so fundamental they demand cross-party support. Climate change is one. Another brave Telegraph writer calls out Badenoch’s dangerous stance. Badenoch must pull back from the brink before she destroys the Tories telegraph.co.uk/business/202…
Tim Rayner retweeted
Under a Binface government, anyone who doesn’t accept human-made climate change as fact will be sent back to school, from Year 1 right the way to A Levels, to see if anything goes in the second time round. #VoteBinface
