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Franklin Steves

@franklinsteves.bsky.social
3.1K followers 282 following 293 posts

Husband, father, Senior Policy Adviser, International Financial Architecture Reform at Climate Think Tank @E3G. In that order. All views my own.

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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Sputnik 1 was only launched in 1957 - 4 years before this alleged experience - there were fewer than 30 satellites in orbit by 1961, and she would have been 38 when Sputnik 1 was launched. Was she realistically taught how to identify satellites by her father?
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Just listened to this episode, and was struck by the line that "Betty's father had a keen interest in the night sky and he used to watch satellites and things like that, which he taught Betty." ...
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
I think the traditional dismissal stands: those two to three deranged geriatrics only have that power because they have/had mass popular support, and institutions that require societal defence were easily overcome. The questions for me are: how and why did that happen?
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Sony Kapoor @sonykapoor.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
New paper: Bending the Climate Change Curve by Blending Finance: What Is The Real Potential Value-Added of Guarantees? by Stijn Claessens and @sonykapoor.bsky.social for @cepr.org and @findevlab.bsky.social findevlab.org/wp-content/u...
findevlab.org
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 20/03/2026
A huge congratulations to everyone who decried planned, equitable and gradual emissions cuts as too radical. Now you get to experience unplanned, unjust and whiplash-inducing emissions cuts instead. Maybe lets not make the same mistake again? www.afr.com/companies/re...
Work from home and limit flights, urges IEA, as fuel crisis deepens
Ryan Cropp, Carrie LaFrenz and Ayesha de Kretser
Updated Mar 20, 2026 – 6.27pm,
first published at 2.00pm

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5 min
The International Energy Agency has recommended limiting air travel and the number of cars on the road and encouraging more work from home as the Iran conflict leaves companies scrambling to recast pricing and supply chains to withstand the worst oil disruption in history.“In the absence of a swift resolution, the impacts on energy markets and economies are set to become more and more severe,” said IEA chief executive Fatih Birol as the agency outlined its recommendations for cutting demand for gas and oil amid fears supply would inevitably slump.

“The war in the Middle East is creating a major energy crisis, including the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.”

The IEA, in a list of recommendations to member nations, of which Australia is one, said introducing a number plate rotation scheme for road access, encouraging carpooling, electric cooking and working from home could lead to a noticeable decline in demand for oil.

Three remote workdays could cut oil consumption from cars by between 2 and 6 per cent, with average reductions of around 20 per cent for individual drivers, it said.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
This is *so* good. The only question is whether European regulators will respond to the current ensh*tification of... everything.
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Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Watching Trump teeter on the edge of blowing up the world economy because of a combination of hubris, strategic incoherence, mendacity and outright stupidity, might be the most extraordinarily depressing thing I have observed in my entire life, or read about in any other period.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Thought I would ask Anthropic's LLM about its use for target selection in Iran, as detailed in the attached WaPo article. This was its response. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Things look grim in the markets right now, but at least the U.S. economy wasn’t already being propped up by a massive speculative AI bubble that is highly sensitive to rising energy costs.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Important thread.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Errr, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan?
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
What is that great glowing orb in the sky, a portent of doom?
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
They only appear to have one funder - JRRT - and a v junior team. Given they filed their 'election observer' complaint well after the deadline, I'm not convinced this is a professional operation. Perhaps even disingenuous/astroturf (but as I said I've not heard of them before the byelection report).
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Can you provide any more info, please? I've never heard of them before.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
The front lawn of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
It tells you something about the disorientating rate of change underway that nobody is particularly shocked that a head of state has been assassinated by other states, something which has *never happened* in the modern era. Which is illegal under US law. Shed no tears for Khamanei, but still. 1/3
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
"Your" idea has been around for 50+ years...
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Same experience but flying to the US - hour upon hour walking up and down the aisle to try to get our sons to sleep. In ~half dozen flights, can only remember one kind woman offering to help.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
I'd be fascinated by a 'Who Do You Think You Are' where they track down all 16 Great Great Great Grandfathers - rather than the one famous one - and then everyone realises how normal and how mixed our heritage is...
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Couldn't agree more. Also applies to flights - parents aren't flying with babies/toddlers because they enjoy it or want to upset others. The Italians' embrace of children is the way forward.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Lineal descent is always such an odd discussion. You had 16 great great great grandfathers, where did the other 15 come from? I suspect they weren't all born on your street...
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
The (for me, surprising) finding was that young men in the UK are overwhemingly supportive of progressive parties, as opposed to most continental party systems where the right/far-right does well or very well with young men.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Indeed, the UK is a pretty significant outlier from the US and continental Europe in this regard.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Thank you. Odd that he's blocked me... no idea why.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Thanks! No idea why he would have blocked me...
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Arieh Kovler @ariehkovler.com · 05/02/2026
On 1 May 1517, xenophobic mobs, riled up by preachers who were in turn pressured by wealthy broker John Lincoln, rioted in London. They claimed that foreigners were stealing their jobs and welfare. Thomas More, then under-sheriff of London, tried to stop the mob with an empassioned speech.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Who are you QTing Chris? They seem to have me blocked?
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
But what is the mechanism by which he would/could be removed? Starmer's Lab doesn't have enough 'men in grey suits' to achieve that?
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
In 2016 I was campaigning against Brexit and one woman said she was voting Leave because the local council had closed the public toilets, and refused to believe the two issues were not connected.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
I was canvassing for the Lib Dems in 2019 and one couple were insisting that Jeremy Corbyn was going to *steal* their privately-owned house, and found myself *defending* Corbyn... so weird.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
We need a Section 86a before this spirals out of control...
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
It also made John Gotti - as London made the Krays - but I don't think we can judge either on that basis...
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
NYC is one of - if not the - least Trumpy cities in the US. Also - found this Google AI summary amusing if apropos this discussion:
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Fully agree Thomas. Obviously we (Londoners) have to deal with the wider national impacts of Brexit, but IMV London feels as vibrant, cosmopolitan and indeed European as it was pre-2020.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
The data is patchy, but it seems London is still the most popular European destination for Europeans/EU tourists? And we still have over 1 million EU citizens living in London - roughly 15% of the total population. Interesting to see how that compares to Paris, Berlin etc.
gov.uk
How many people come to the UK each year?
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Huh. I wasn't born in London but I've lived here all my adult life, and it never really felt like London was the capital of Europe - it's always been, for me, more a global city with a significant European identity, which it retains.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
I can understand that sentiment about England (and Wales), but why specifically London - which voted overwhelmingly to remain?
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
John Oxley points out the clear yet often overlooked point that young men 18-24 are the second most liberal, left-leaning group in society (after young women) - being more so than young-ish thirtysomething women, and older women, as well as than men in older cohorts
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Bruce Springsteen @brucespringsteen.net · 28/01/2026
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free
youtu.be
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Isn't it obvious that his message is 'I want to be like the billionaires with their NZ bunkers' for only millionaires who can't afford NZ bunkers?
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Unspecified eye problem that requires the sunglasses, apparently...
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Emmanuel would like a word...
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Oleksandr Shepotylo @shepotylo.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
1/ So, should the EU retaliate against Trump's Greenland tariff threats? There are roughly three schools of thought, each progressively more interesting than the last. A brief tour through the logic of escalation and deterrence: 🧵
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 13/01/2026
The utterly shameless & widely covered "report" out today, claiming net zero will "cost" £9tn is based on: * Assuming free fossil-fuel energy, free petrol cars, free gas boilers, free gas power plants etc AND * Including climate damages in the "cost" of net zero I kid you not, it is that stupid
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
But the Australian and proposed UK bans aren't on smartphones, they're bans on under-16s using social media?
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Climate News @climatenews.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
The Bluesky elders will remember that in the old days (2023) all Bluesky climate science lists were managed on various Google sheets. How lucky we all are to now have easy starter packs! ✅💚🌍 Follow all for a diverse set of climate updates in your feed 😊
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Fully agree with the sentiment, but as always the question is "how?"
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
I also think it's unlikely. However, I think it's a bit more nuanced: Yanukovych's violent crackdown on the pro-AA protests on the Maidan is what led to the Revolution of Dignity. The Revolution and flight of Yanukovych, in turn, paved the way to the seizure of Crimea.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
No one with the wherewithal to draw down their pension or emigrate would do so on the basis of pure speculation about the implications of a future budget.
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Franklin Steves @franklinsteves.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
He uses the phrase "the Russian sphere of influence" 5 times in just over 4 minutes. 🤔
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