As the 1st Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels kicks off today in Santa Marta, the conversation is shifting from “if” to “how”— and CIEL experts are sounding the alarm on the systems keeping the industry on life support as we prepare to pull the plug. 🧵1/7

As leaders gather in Santa Marta for the Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, our expert @dlevialvares.bsky.social explains why a fossil-free future must include tackling petrochemicals. 🧵 - 1/5 ⬇️

💘 Love is in the air… or is it influence? This Valentine’s Day, we’re taking a closer look at the relationships shaping EU policy. 👇 [1/7]

“how’s work been lately?” me:

Michael Fry@bigdirtyfry.bsky.social · 6mo ago

We Didn’t Start the Fire (But it’s all the ways the EU has ruined environmental protection in the last three years) with @greenpeace.eu #ad

petrochemicals are the lifeline of the fossil fuel industry their impact on the climate, ecosystems, workers and people’s health is huge, but often hidden

Center for International Environmental Law@ciel.org · 6mo ago

Almost two years after the Antwerp Declaration—the petrochemical industry‘s wishlist for deregulation, subsidies, & simplification steers EU policy. Alarm bells are ringing. Privileged @ec.europa.eu & petrochemical ties block EU climate goals—especially on plastics & toxic chemicals: bit.ly/4acaZiW

if you care about the environment and feel frustrated by the lack of progress, it’s not you, it’s corporate capture

Center for International Environmental Law@ciel.org · 6mo ago

Almost 2 years ago, @ec.europa.eu backed the Antwerp Declaration to revive EU industry. The result? Environmental deregulation, called “simplification.” Winners: Fossil fuel & petrochemical industries. Losers: People & the planet. Two years on, calls for a different path still stand: bit.ly/4kk0XB7

what a delicious Christmas haul

I want to talk about generative AI because of the defeatist impulses chronicled in this article. While simply expresssing a defiant attitude cannot always change lived-in reality, in certain cases it definitely can. This is in part because, early on, a conflict can exist at a perceptions level. 1/?

Jeff VanderMeer@jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 10mo ago

All the reasons not to give in to generative AI. www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...

today 👇

European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)@europeanjournalists.org · 12mo ago

Join us tomorrow 26/08 at 11.30 at Mont des Arts #Brussels to honour the 200+ journalists killed in #Gaza and demand: Israel, stop killing journalists! A public reading of the names of the journalists killed in Gaza will pay tribute to their courage, condemn their murder and call for justice.

“As my professional life keeps me knee-deep in democratic collapse, climate breakdown and other crises, the joy of reading aloud feels less like a luxury and more like a necessity.” I knew I wasn’t the only one crazy about reading aloud and now as a parent of small child that joy has multiplied

Prospect Magazine@prospectmagazine.co.uk · 12mo ago

"Reading to my kids is life-saving and intoxicating", writes Sasha Mudd.

“Syntax buckles beneath the pressure of empty stomachs. Grammar is no match for despair. I sit before my keyboard and try to summon what once came so naturally, but words scatter midway, like startled birds forgetting how to fly” from a powerful essay about hunger from Gazan writer Alaa Alqaisi

Beneath the Howl of Hunger

“And though the world may have looked away, let this much be remembered: we named the hunger. We bore it. We endured. Let that remain.” – Alaa Alqaisi

arablit.org

LIVE: #INC52 #PlasticsTreaty plenary is happening now in Geneva. The new text from INC Chair @LuisVayasEc (released only 1 hour ago) does not mention "life cycle" or "chemicals" at all. It is a betrayal of the original mandate. #BreakFreeFromPlastic unep.org/inc-plastic-... (1/🧵

🚨 This text gives in to petrostates and industry demands — Member States must reject it. The chair's draft text has just dropped at #PlasticsTreaty talks. CIEL's @Davzoul responds.

as many are heading to Geneva for the Plastics Treaty negotiations and the EU obsesses over competitiveness, I wrote a briefing about how a pause on plastics production would be a win, not just for the environment (duh) but also economically

From Overproduction to Opportunity: EU Leadership in the Plastics Treaty - Center for International Environmental Law

The brief examines steps the EU can take during the Plastics Treaty negotiations and in regional policy to remain competitive in the years to come.

ciel.org

their advertisement also shows the reality that there's really no separation between the fossil fuel industry and the chemical industry fossil fuel companies happily support the "industry of industries" narrative as petrochemicals represent a huge lifeline for them, usually hidden from public view

Greenpeace EU@greenpeace.eu · last yr.

Exxon spending tens of thousands of euro per week to sponsor Politico's 'sustainability' and the widely read (free) 'playbook' newsletters, pushing for more focus on plastic *recycling* instead of reducing plastic production For oil & gas companies, plastic is a way to keep drilling and polluting

☠️The fact that everyday chemical products may contain ingredients that cause cancer is already problematic. The bare minimum would be to have labelling & packaging that clearly states any hazardous substance – so that we can protect ourselves. But the Chemicals #Omnibus would do the exact opposite.

🧪“This Chemicals Action Plan exposes a troubling truth: EU policymaking is increasingly shaped by industry interests, not public welfare.” - Silvia Pastorelli, CIEL. “EU Bends to Chemical Lobby”, CIEL full statement here: www.ciel.org/news/eu-bend...

EU Bends to Chemical Lobby: Consumers, Health, and Environment Left Hanging - Center for International Environmental Law

The ‘European Chemicals Industry Action Plan’ and proposed ‘Chemical Omnibus’ unveiled today by the European Commission reflect a flawed process unduly influenced by industry interests. The proposals ...

ciel.org

sure the far-right has grown significantly, but more than a win of the far-right, to me this shows how little the main groups cared about the climate target: simply not enough

Zia Weise@ziaweise.bsky.social · last yr.

NEW: For years, the extreme right was content pooh-poohing the EU's climate efforts from the back benches. No longer. Why the far right ended up in charge of parliamentary talks on the 2040 climate target, what it means and what's next w/ @maxgriera.bsky.social: www.politico.eu/article/the-...

my phone yesterday, 8:20 in the morning 15 degrees above average, Brussels, Northern Europe now, the fact that I'm Mediterranean and used to high(er) temperatures didn't make me blind to the fact that we were stepping into a furnace it'll keep happening if we don't start taking serious action NOW

absolutely love the venetian resistance to bezos's wedding ordinary people, on the absolute front lines of climate breakdown and having their city gutted by capitalism, pushing back against their home being turned into disneyland for rich jerks

Good morning ☀️ if you’re wondering what we’re doing with a giant prisoner’s ball in front of the EU Council this morning.. it’s because next Monday European ministers will discuss changes to EU legislation that could chain us even more to fossil gas under the excuse of energy security WHY?👇

their words were "Resist, Defend, Rebuild" my heart goes in particular to the partigiane, the women, who fought just as hard, even for their right to fight alongside men and carry guns, and are too often forgotten buona liberazione a tutti

Brussels’s circular economy strikes again, this time providing me with two coffee saucers made in former Yugoslavia: time to put the coffee pot on!

📢 Communities in the US are paying the price for Europe’s fossil gas addiction. 🚨The EU replaced Putin’s gas with U.S. LNG, mostly produced through fracking. This is the reality for communities on the frontlines 🧵👇 @foodwatereurope.bsky.social @uscannetwork.bsky.social @andygheorghiu.bsky.social

Listen to the impacted US community members @ec.europa.eu @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu @marossefcovic.bsky.social! Defend EU #methane regulations! @foodwatereurope.bsky.social @caneurope.org @betterbayou.bsky.social @chispalcv.bsky.social @tadziomueller.bsky.social @parentsforfuture.de

It is actually so fucking annoying when people tell me “it’s too late to solve climate change” as if a) all 8 billion people on this planet are about to drop dead and b) if we oriented the economy around need instead of profit we wouldn’t be able to get things under a reasonable level of control

🚩 Red flag: Today, the @esabcc.bsky.social released a report on scaling up carbon dioxide removal with recommendations that, while well-intentioned, risk legitimizing dangerous technologies and distracting European Union policymakers from much-needed real climate solutions. Our reaction👇🧵

while I keep writing briefings that start with last January was the hottest on record, EU Commission plans to buy more gas, this time with the excuse of making energy more affordable more gas won’t improve people’s lives or lower their bills, just prolong the stranglehold of a fossil based economy

EU eyes funding foreign LNG projects to lower prices, draft plan reveals

A document seen by POLITICO shows Brussels is exploring whether to back overseas fossil fuel infrastructure amid trade talks with the U.S.

politico.eu

really impressive legal analysis (for both the lawyers and the non-initiated) on a possible ban on all new fossil fuel projects in the EU it gives me hope to see real experts saying that stopping all new fossil projects it’s not only necessary but also possible

Greenpeace EU@greenpeace.eu · last yr.

Starting now: a discussion in the EU Parliament on an EU ban on new fossil fuel projects, hosted by @lenaats.bsky.social and @lnbdublin.bsky.social Livestream here: europarl.webex.com/europarl/j.p...