iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Ben Cooke

Bertie Harrison-Broninski @bertiehb.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Great to collaborate with @ben-cooke.bsky.social and The Times again on my latest Drax scoop. The wood-burning energy giant has ambitions to power the UK's largest data centre, but has yet to announce any tech-sector investment, and has now lost a government bid to speed up development.

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Zia Weise @ziaweise.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

A climate nightmare lurks in the Atlantic. Europe is starting to pay attention. Just out — my long read on European governments waking up to the threat of a possible collapse of the AMOC, the ocean currents that keep our continent's climate mild: www.politico.eu/article/clim...

politico.eu

A climate nightmare lurks in the Atlantic. Europe is starting to pay attention.

A slowdown of ocean currents that would disrupt life on the continent on an unthinkable scale.

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

I've been working on a piece about how London's parks are preparing for this future - with grapefruit trees and oaks from Azerbaijan, among other things. The Times' graphics team have even put together a map that lets you see how the trees on your street are faring. www.thetimes.com/uk/london/ar...

thetimes.com

Will heatwaves kill the trees on your London street? Use our map to check

With warnings of 48C temperatures by the end of the century, specialists are sourcing species from Iraq and Azerbaijan to keep the lungs of the capital breathing

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Like a lot of people, I've been fairly weirded out by the sight of trees losing their leaves this summer. To me it's one of the eeriest impacts of climate change. And it could be about to get a lot worse - research by Kew Gardens suggests two thirds of London's trees will struggle to survive to 2090

thetimes.com

Will heatwaves kill the trees on your London street? Use our map to check

With warnings of 48C temperatures by the end of the century, specialists are sourcing species from Iraq and Azerbaijan to keep the lungs of the capital breathing

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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Revealed: just 20 out of of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation, as UK burns in fifth heatwave of this summer - FOI request by me @andyburnham.bsky.social needs to level with the country about the climate crisis & set out radical plan to tackle it 🧵 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.com

Just 20 of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation amid drought and wildfires

Exclusive: England ‘desperately unprepared’ for effects of crisis including water shortages and heatwaves

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Emma Yeomans @yeomans.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Been on the apocalypse beat this week. Surveying English and Welsh fire services, we count 250+ significant wildfires in the first two weeks of July, destroying thousands of acres: www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

thetimes.com

How a ‘firewave’ gripped Britain with 250 blazes burning

An exceptionally hot, dry summer has turned the country into a ‘tinderbox’ as fire crews tackle dozens of incidents a day

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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Excited to share short version of Episode 1 of my podcast series - Government refusal to release the full version of the Joint Intelligence Committee Report on ecosystem collapse is unforgivable - how do we prepare for threats when their full extent is hidden from us? www.google.com/search?q=you...

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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

So excited to see this! Over 4 episodes I cover the hugely alarming conclusions of the Joint Intelligence Ctte Report, shamefully suppressed by Government, & explore its implications for our food and water security. @nebriefing.bsky.social @climatemajority.bsky.social @chrisgpackham.bsky.social

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Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

100+ travel companies are advertising a Thai resort where an abused elephant killed a British tourist. Tripadvisor, Expedia, Marriott Bonvoy and Booking.com all took down ads for Nong Nooch Pattaya Garden after @ben-cooke.bsky.social contacted them 👇 www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a...

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Simon Lee @simonleewx.com · 27/06/2026

Today’s GFS 18Z for 11 July showing max temperatures in England reaching 41°C Not to be taken as a deterministic forecast. However, this suggests that yet more extreme heat is possible in the next few weeks, which is made more likely and intense by climate change driven by burning fossil fuels.

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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

The more we experience fossil fuel volatility, the clearer the case becomes: "The war has certainly accelerated clean tech adoption." This is what I told The Times for their piece on how the energy crisis drives adoption of solar, EVs and heat pumps. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

thetimes.com

Britons embrace green technology to dodge rising fuel costs

Households are increasingly turning to heat pumps, EVs and solar panels to avoid big rises in the price of fossil fuels triggered by the Iran war

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David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

WOW: The UAE’s decision to quit OPEC looks like one of the biggest crude producers joining the “peak oil demand” camp. Here’s why: 🧵

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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Hard to know which is more shocking - the dire warnings of the potential collapse of our food system in the UK or the fact that governments have tried to cover it up. Their complacency is off the scale. We urgently need to switch to growing more food domestically & to restore nature now

thetimes.com

Britain’s food supply ‘at risk of catastrophic failure by 2030’

A report written before the 2024 election says climate change, habitat loss and geopolitical instability are a danger to food security — and it has been ignored

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Drawing on dozens of scientific papers, the authors warned that environmental policies were insufficient to reverse the decline of the soils, pollinators, water courses and habitats on which farmers depended and said that “transformational change” was required to restore them.

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Breaking: ministers ignored a report warning that Britain’s food supply is on course to collapse. Climate change, habitat loss and geopolitical instability are undermining food security so much that it could be “at strategic risk of catastrophic failure” by 2030. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

thetimes.com

Britain’s food supply ‘at risk of catastrophic failure by 2030’

A report written before the 2024 election says climate change, habitat loss and geopolitical instability are a danger to food security — and it has been ignored

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Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Joint second in the notoriously difficult @carbonbrief.org quiz! Major bragging rights for our @newscientist.com team with Sam Wong, @alecluhn.com, me, Michael Holder of @businessgreen.bsky.social and @ben-cooke.bsky.social

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Land and Climate Review @landclimate.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

The story was broken by @bertiehb.bsky.social and @ben-cooke.bsky.social in @thetimes.com, and uncovered UK Foreign Office grants from 2016-2018 to support Xinjiang's regional government in developing carbon capture technologies. 2/7

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Can you not? The paywall pays my salary...

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

As Norway closes in on its goal of 100% EV sales, I wrote about the lesson it offers for the UK's own shift to electric cars. Spoiler: it's not just "have an enormous oil-based sovereign wealth fund to spend on buying everyone a Tesla." www.thetimes.com/uk/transport...

thetimes.com

What we can learn from Norway’s electric car revolution

Easy charging, driver perks and clear politics transformed driving habits in a decade. Following that path may be easier for the UK than many expect

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Hi @richardkbroughton.bsky.social , hope you're well. I'm working on a piece about whether feeding birds does more harm than good. Might we have a chat? All the best.

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

If anyone has further tips about how the government is (or is not) thinking about climate risk, do get in touch at benjamin.cooke(at)thetimes.co.uk

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

It's a perfect example of what Laurie Laybourn calls the "disclosure trap". What climate change has in store for us is so ominous that politicians don't want to talk about it. But not talking about it makes it all the harder to mitigate.

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

It also warned of a rising threat of eco-terrorism, nuclear water wars between India, China and Pakistan, and the risk of Nato being drawn into wars over remaining breadbaskets in Russia and Ukraine.

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

While the published version warned that the degradation of rivers, forests and corals could kickstart a "global competition for food" in the 2030s, the internal version went further, warning that it could lead to mass migration to the UK, stoking populism and straining public services.

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Back in the Autumn, No.10 blocked the publication of a report into the risks the UK could face if climate change causes ecosystems around the world to collapse. On Tuesday, after an FOI request, it published the report. But it turns out, that wasn't the full version. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

thetimes.com

Suppressed climate report warned of mass migration and nuclear war

Unabridged document said disappearing forests and rivers drying up could drive people to Europe and lead to conflict in Asia

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Thanks Richard! Hope you're well. Yup, it's scary stuff.

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Reposted by Ben Cooke

Sam Burgess @oceanterra.org · 14/01/2026

2025 global climate highlights are out: 🌡️ 2025 was 3rd warmest year on record, 1.47ºC above the preindustrial level 📈 2023-2025 is the first three year period above 1.5ºC (according to ERA5) 🌍 The last 11 years have been the warmest 11 years on record See: climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima... ⚒️🧪🌊

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Hello environment / climate peeps of Bluesky! I'm just doing some planning for what to write about in 2026. Do drop me a DM if you'd like to chat about anything you'd like to see the Times environment section cover this year.

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Reposted by Ben Cooke

Richard Delevan @richard.wickedproblems.earth · 09/11/2025

Happy COP-mas Eve! To celebrate, on 1st day of COP-mas morn, under the tree you may find a sparkly chat with our friend @ben-cooke.bsky.social to set the expectations for the season. Check out wickedproblems.earth and/or your favourite media platform and Inshallah we will be there.

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

And I've written a couple of features on why many people think Cop isn't working, what we can do about it, and why the clean energy transition is zooming ahead even so. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

thetimes.com

Climate change talks under fire as Cop30 gathers in Brazil

While Baroness Worthington, lead author of Britain’s 2008 act, describes the talks as ‘a bit of theatre’, other campaigners believe they have made a difference

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Adam Vaughan checks in on the promise the world made at Cop26 in Glasgow, to halt deforestation by 2030. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the pledge has made little difference to the rate of forest loss. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

thetimes.com

Four years on from landmark pledge, has deforestation slowed?

As countries prepare for the Cop30 climate conference in Brazil, we assess the world’s progress on an ambitious goal set at the 2021 talks in Glasgow

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

@annadowell.bsky.social has written a great piece about oil and gas workers in Aberdeen, who are fed up with promises of a just transition to renewables that has so far failed to deliver secure, high-paying jobs.

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Pick up a copy of today's Times for 12 pages of in-depth coverage of the Cop30 talks, and the wider state of play for climate change and clean energy. It's got some brilliant stuff in it.

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

The US and China both have ambitions for energy dominance. But they're betting on very different visions of the global energy future. With China pumping out solar panels and batteries, and the US doubling down on gas, only one can be right. www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a...

thetimes.com

Trump wants energy dominance — is he just drilling US into a hole?

The president is betting on fossil fuels while his superpower rival China is racing ahead on renewables

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Gaia Vince @wanderinggaia.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

We must be patriotically proud to be British but not to learn about or contribute to any of the culture that pride might be based on

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Kate Marvel @drkatemarvel.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

my takeaway from climate week nyc is that "climate storytelling" is a little too much "we must reimagine our deepest souls in relationship to mother nature and the moral abyss of the polycrisis into which we must now stare" and not enough "ok but get a heat pump"

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Geoffrey Lean @geofflean.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Excellent must-read by @ben-cooke.bsky.social clearest exposition I have yet seen of how problems with the #grid are holding up the Uk’s energy transition and imperiling Ed miliband’s #renewables ambitions. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

thetimes.com

The grid is struggling — and our green future hangs in the balance

Idle wind farms, a lack of batteries and protests by nimbys are hampering Britain’s clean energy drive. What are our options?

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Every day Britain loses 3 billion litres of water through leaky pipes - a big problem as Britain's summers become more arid. But water companies have some new tech with which to find them, including satellites that can spot leaks from space. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

thetimes.com

Can satellites help these leaky pipe hunters end hosepipe bans?

A start-up is helping water companies to pinpoint leaks, saving millions of litres a day as the country faces more severe droughts

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Clean Energy Wire Network @clewnetwork.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

We had the pleasure to welcome @ben-cooke.bsky.social in our CLEW team for 2 months for an IJP fellowship Ben’s stay was a truly enriching experience that showed just how powerful cross-border collaboration and exchange can be Read more about his experience: www.cleanenergywire.org/blog/why-wor...

cleanenergywire.org

Why the world needs CLEW now more than ever

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Ben Cooke @ben-cooke.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Will hydrogen be the next LNG? That's the hope of a group of companies who want to ship the fuel from Oman to Amsterdam to power European industry. Tata Steel is onboard, but many analysts believe it's a fool's errand to ship the fuel thousands of miles. www.cleanenergywire.org/news/green-h...

cleanenergywire.org

Green hydrogen from Oman could power European industry - but at what cost?

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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 27/06/2025

It is remarkable that the west is committing to spending 5% of GDP on defence, and almost no one has made the case that the most pressing threat to our security this century is climate change and we should be spending more on tackling that.

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