On the substack this week... I looked at how states are being increasingly overwhelmed with AI written slop. It's gumming up every process. Britain is particularly vulnerable. How bad has it got and what can we do about it? samf.substack.com/p/drowning-i...

Drowning in slop

Can the state survive the rise of AI?

samf.substack.com

WEBINAR: Climate Tort Prohibition. The NZ Government is seeking to shield major emitters from liability for climate change-related damage through the Tort Prohibition Bill. Join Lawyers for Climate Action NZ on Thursday 9 July to hear from Mike Smith, Laura MacKay, Bjørn-Oliver Magsig, and me.

Webinar: Climate Tort Prohibition

Join us at 1:30pm on Thursday 9 July to hear from the experts who will explain the Tort Prohibition Bill and its implications. The Government is seeking to shield major emitters from liability for ...

lawyersforclimateaction.nz

A new post for The Transition(s) Lab – this time with a focus on policy mixes and industrial strategy. A few choice cuts in the thread below... the-transitions-lab.ghost.io/pointillist/...

The Pointillist #11

In this week's edition of The Pointillist, a focus on the carrots and sticks of climate mitigation policy – with a special focus on emerging science of policy mixes and policy interactions. Insights i...

the-transitions-lab.ghost.io

Join me with esteemed writer Amitav Ghosh (Nutmeg's Curse, Great Derangement) and novelist Charlotte McConaghy at the Auckland Writers Festival – to talk about confronting the #climate #crisis. Free event as part of the Auckland Writers Festival. www.writersfestival.co.nz/programmes/e...

Writing the Climate Reckoning • Auckland Writers Festival

Explore the 2026 Auckland Writers Festival programme — discover author sessions, panel talks, workshops, free events, and special activities for all audiences.

writersfestival.co.nz

Join me with esteemed writer Amitav Ghosh (Nutmeg's Curse, Great Derangement) and novelist Charlotte McConaghy at the Auckland Writers Festival – to talk about confronting the #climate #crisis. Free event as part of the Auckland Writers Festival. www.writersfestival.co.nz/programmes/e...

Writing the Climate Reckoning • Auckland Writers Festival

Explore the 2026 Auckland Writers Festival programme — discover author sessions, panel talks, workshops, free events, and special activities for all audiences.

writersfestival.co.nz

Science-folks: If we run 100 experiments, we might find 1 or 2 of them may have results that can make many dollars. NZ Govt: Excellent. We will fund those 1 or 2 experiments.

Time for 2025 updates to my annual “opinions about solar” thread. If you like these, you might like the second edition of my book, Solar Power Finance Without The Jargon. A 30% discount code WSQ0437 is valid on publisher website until end of November 2025. www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...

New essay for the Transition(s) Lab on #narrative #strategy in the midst of a global commodities #crisis and a #backlash against #climateaction. the-transitions-lab.ghost.io/the-shift-3-...

The Shift #3: A matter of strategy

This is an essay I had planned to start the year with: a few words of encouragement for anyone feeling demoralized by the backlash against climate action. However, climate action got in the way of cli...

the-transitions-lab.ghost.io

If you missed my thread/blog post on the growing left-right climate divide in climate opinion in Aotearoa, it's now available to read for free on Newsroom. #nzpol #climatechange

Newsroom NZ@newsroom.co.nz · 7mo ago

Comment from Victoria University: The left-right divide over whether climate change is driven by human causes widened to 46 points in 2023 from 31 in 2020.

Australia and New Zealand can chart their own AI path, learning from India’s experience while avoiding centralization and exclusion risks, writes Archana Atmakuri.

India’s AI Middle Path Offers Lessons for Australia and New Zealand

India’s AI middle path offers Australia and New Zealand lessons in sovereignty, governance, and building national AI advantage, writes Archana Atmakuri.

buff.ly

Quite a week for us! 1/ our podcast is launched: “Electric World Order” is a short series about the geopolitics of energy transition; ep 1 is about how China’s industrial strategy kinda accidentally created Pakistan’s solar boom:

People like to say that oh, NZ has 90% renewable energy but that's only electricity. Our total energy consumption is something like 60% fossil fuels ie we use a LOT of oil.

Tessa Vincent and I joined the inimitable Kathryn Ryan to discuss climate action today. Listen in here. 👇

Thirty Kiwis share their take on climate solutions

There's scientists like Jim Salinger, farmers who say there's an alternative to traditional agriculture as well as politicians who talk about localising climate action in communities

rnz.co.nz

Coming up next on Radio NZ, Kathryn Ryan previews the new "Kiwis in Climate" book. I'm honoured to be a co-author of this effort to invigorate climate response in Aotearoa. Listen in at www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro... #nzpol #greensky

Nine To Noon

Smart, in-depth and relentlessly curious, host Kathryn Ryan dives into the stories shaping New Zealand and its people. Interviews and expert analysis from around the world and at home. It’s where big ...

rnz.co.nz

Hot off the press: New tips for establishing forest giants Your forest restoration project could benefit from: - planting nurse and big canopy species at the same time - using 2m spacing - paying attention to local site conditions eg soil, exposure & ground cover regen.aut.ac.nz/news/new-tip...

Actually people are still talking and caring about #ClimateChange... 💚🗣️ Come to a book launch for Kiwis in Climate, an essay collection on #climate solutions in #Aotearoa #NewZealand. I'll talk about my chapter on impossible economics & economic possibilities on 19 March in AKL. Details in link. 📆

Kiwis in Climate Book Launch (University of Auckland) · Luma

Kiwis in Climate – Voices for climate solutions in Aotearoa New Zealand brings together bold and practical visions for Aotearoa to lead on climate…

luma.com

These living labs are already starting to store carbon and reduce the risk of landslides, erosion and flooding . . . all while teaching us how to restore native forests quickly, effectively and cheaply. Video below for more info 👇 youtu.be/O2jnHuNzZvk @dvdhll.bsky.social @autnews.bsky.social

AUT Living Labs and Whakatupu Aotearoa Foundation

YouTube video by Whakatupu Aotearoa Foundation

youtu.be

NZ has fallen into a 'crisis and response' pattern on climate disaster, experts say. Billions have been spent on storm recovery since 2023, while key climate adaptation funding and planning tools have been cut. My story looking at last week’s storms www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

My comments for Carbon News on the withdrawal of BlackRock from its proposed $2bn #CleanTech fund in #Aotearoa #NZ, plus the wider political economy of #ClimateFinance. Also h/t to @brettchristophers.bsky.social for his due diligence at the time. www.carbonnews.co.nz/news/36390/f...

This week in The Transition(s) Lab, I've tried to get my head around the issue of the non-equivalence of biological removals and fossil emissions, specifically in the context of #Aotearoa #NewZealand. I welcome feedback to improve future versions!

The Brief #1: Non-equivalence in carbon markets

Welcome to the first edition of The Brief, which summarizes the state of knowledge on various transition-related topics. Today's subject is the non-equivalence of biological removals and fossil emissi...

the-transitions-lab.ghost.io

This thread responds to Prof. Christian Dunn’s Telegraph piece on #climate communication. I argue it misdiagnoses public disengagement, underplays escalating scientific risk, & reproduces a media narrative that has actively shaped, not merely reflected, public resistance to climate action 🧵

Want a quick brain-dump on some of the reports published over the last few weeks around #COP30? The Transition(s) Lab has you covered with a special COP30 edition of The Pointillist, a quick-fire collage of reports, charts and links that caught my eye. the-transitions-lab.ghost.io/the-pointill...

The Pointillist #4: COP30 Special Edition

In this week's edition, a selection of new reports and charts that coincided with COP30. This includes charts on emissions and climate ambition, the economics of adaptation, just transitions, insuranc...

the-transitions-lab.ghost.io

I’ve written about #COP30 for The Transition(s) Lab. When the gavel came down in Belém, there was no major diplomatic breakthrough, but that’s not all that COPs are about these days. In a multipolar world, that’s likely a good thing. Read more here: the-transitions-lab.ghost.io/the-shift-2-...

The Shift #2: COP30 in a multipolar world

These are my reflections on COP30, the first climate COP that I have attended. I would like to thank the Toha Network for supporting my travel, Brazil's Ministry of Finance for the invitation to pre-C...

the-transitions-lab.ghost.io

Today is the day!!! Existential Politics is out in the world! Read about why we’re doing climate policy wrong (too focused on measuring emissions) & what we should do instead (focus on $$ to constrain fossil asset owners & expand green asset owners). Just in time for #COP30.

Existential Politics

A new way to tackle the real politics of climate change through asset revaluation

press.princeton.edu

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violet allen@blipstress.bsky.social · last yr.

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

One of our main goals is to support inter- and transdisciplinary work to achieve real-world impact. If you're interested in regenerative mahi and thinking outside the box, check out our website: regen.aut.ac.nz @autnews.bsky.social @dvdhll.bsky.social @mribo.bsky.social @lanipai.bsky.social

What does #regeneration mean to you? We asked some of our steering committee and they had some great answers. Check it out and let us know if we missed anything! @autnews.bsky.social @dvdhll.bsky.social @mribo.bsky.social @lanipai.bsky.social #regenerate #regenerative #ecology #planning

When your government mandates an LNG import facility and allocates $200m in subsidies for new gas field developments...

Five eyes: three half open, two closed shut?