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Prof Phoebe Barnard

@phoebebarnard.bsky.social
7.8K followers 7.4K following 2.9K posts

The world doesn't have to be this way. Climate & biodiversity science, risk, resilience, Earth-repairing societal/planetary futures. Prof U Washington; RA African Climate & Development Initiative/ Fitztitute, UCapeTown, SEI Oxford, OU Nature Recovery.

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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It's time to draw a line to end a decade of government pulling against its people, its environment, climate and own leadership. @andyburnham.bsky.social as PM raises inspiring hope of not only good leadership, but more collaborative leadership with the public. That matters. youtu.be/Um0c8QkWP0o?...
youtu.be
5 key moments from Burnham’s first conference speech as PM
YouTube video by The London Standard
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Excellent news - needed now, more than ever.
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Reposted by Prof Phoebe Barnard
York Environmental Sustainability Institute (YESI) @yesiuoy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Explore how society can enact systemic change with Prof Phoebe Barnard on Tues 6 October 2026. This co-hosted session examines the role of science, academia + civil society in guiding governance towards long-term resilience. Join in person or online🔗 buff.ly/dBWmZSn #SystemicChange
Seminar announcement featuring Professor Phoebe Barnard against a forest backdrop for "Science, policy & preparedness: Government and society in unstable times" — Tues 6 Oct 2026, 12–1 pm, in-person + online at ARC/014 Alan Maynard Auditorium, University of York, hosted by YESI.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
@proflinds.bsky.social we should certainly have a chat about this next week!
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
#Nature is still really the only game in town able to stabilise our climate. In York next week as guests of the wonderful @yesiuoy.bsky.social team, we'll also screen our documentary 'Ecosystem Restoration' in the 2025 series 'The Climate Restorers' Tues 6 Oct, 5:30 pm. www.theclimaterestorers.com
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Yes. And universities can and should lead this transition and these dialogues - both themselves, and in support of civil society leadership (and wherever possible government leadership!).
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Excellent - thank you @mazzucatom.bsky.social and colleagues. Precisely the kind of conversations and policy pathways we need to navigate these urgent crossroads of humanity.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I hope specific jaguar corridors can be proposed to governments. My colleagues Lucila Castro in Argentina and her team at Natura Argentina have been working with Gerardo Ceballos and others on protected area expansion strategies. ❤️
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
So sorry to have been at NY Climate Week - would have loved to hear this. x
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
In case you happen to be in York next week: www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
york.ac.uk
Science, policy and preparedness: Government and society in unstable times
Join YESI and the Department for Environment and Geography for a seminar with Prof Phoebe Barnard. Drawing on 30 years in science and policy, she addresses how we can guide a peaceful shift toward a w...
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
På engelska : "What a piece of writing. "How have we ended up in a world that is so fundamentally designed for some and not for others?" Yes, how? And how do we create a better world? A world that is for everyone?" Thank you @jeannetteeggers.bsky.social 🇸🇪 💪
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Great summary. I'd have been curious to chat with you about that Monday climate investors' summit, where we also spoke (about preparing wealthy folks to navigate the planet- and climate-repair-focused economies of the future). It was great to see you there and in the Ukrainian one. Breathe out! 🌬️
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
🎯 A wonderful comparison, Bill. ⬆️ Erudite, succinct, damning for the civilization that is excruciatingly falling apart, and glowing for the one for which we are all straining to give birth.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Please do make sure you know what's headed our way, and prepare for it. At the very least. And at the very best, throw your weight into the efforts to reverse environmental and societal unraveling. @climateeforum.bsky.social is well worth following and sharing.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
🫤 - right. And now chasing its tail without using its head.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Right. And almost equally, i'd say that China has also embraced both of these, at least for a time. In our film 'Ecosystem Restoration' in The Climate Restorers series, we note that while both China & USA had catastrophic ecosystem collapse, China learned from theirs. www.theclimaterestorers.com
theclimaterestorers.com
HOME | Climate Restorers
A positive, empowering global documentary series of four films exploring the fast-changing field of nature-based and technological carbon dioxide and methane removal - and the social, economic and pol...
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
🎯. And for those involved in strategy at different scales, this may be of some help in framing, and in local adaptation, mitigation, and restoration brainstorming. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Yes. Thank you for this as I had never heard of her. But here are two sublime books on awe and wonder which I hope everyone under 40 or 50 will read. ✨
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
There was a time when one or two of my graduate students might have challenged me on this. But not today. 😵‍💫 One day soon I trust I can read this! Thank you @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social 🎯
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Yes, but there will be such cleverness. Because they can. Like, wow.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
@billmckibben.bsky.social on usual good form at #NYCW2026 session on #Climate and #ImpactInvesting @erinsikorsky.bsky.social @mariannehage.bsky.social @energytransition.bsky.social @watersecurity.bsky.social @wriclimate.bsky.social @climatemajority.bsky.social @rupertread.bsky.social 🌊
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Adetokunbo Abiola (as Adetokunbo Sees) as usual with a thoughtful and heart rending post, with the dread that comes with the foresight many of us have been blessed and cursed to have. Please do follow him on LinkedIn or Substack, or both - well worthwhile. adetokunbo.substack.com/p/when-glaci...
adetokunbo.substack.com
When Glaciers Fail: From Missoula Floods to Nepal: Climate is Rewriting the Rules of Catastrophe
There used to be the Eghosa Library in Benin City, Nigeria in the 80s and 90s.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
And on #systemsthinking, may I suggest that this graph also holds true of time. Interventions years before a crisis are usually more impactful and easier to shift the problem than those in the heat of a crisis. Alas, we see that most humans can’t or won’t respond proactively until it’s far too late.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I came to the conclusion that policymakers & planners need systems training as much as, or more than scientists. Want to share an easy primer? See www.regenerativeeconomics.earth/regenerative... & stephenhinton.org/2026/09/09/t.... Thanks #StephenHinton #NinaAllchurch @climatemajority.bsky.social
regenerativeeconomics.earth
Regenerative Economics - S.8 Leverage points for system change
Helpful prior learning and learning objectives
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
So many of us feel the weight and momentum of what i’ve long said: “Events are overtaking us.” How we deal with it determines how we face the future. Sandy of @envirocoffeehouse.bsky.social has longer skin in this game than most - her strategy: ♥️ sandyblueocean.substack.com/p/music-is-o...
sandyblueocean.substack.com
Music is one of the best things humanity ever created.
I went to a music festival
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Thank you Mark ✨ Thank Michael Raimondo and Justine du Toit of #reflectionsoflife - they are so talented and deserve a follow!
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
⬆️ Only a very small handful of men are trying their damnedest to hold the rest of us hostage to #whim, #war, #genocide, #ideology, #disinformation and #surveillancecontrol. They have names and addresses. Every second lost is precious right now. Thanks for sharing this grim news. #nocomplacency
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I’ve had one foot in governments and one in academia long enough to know how slow govt responses can be - but here’s finally a good #UKparliamentary start to #climatenaturecrisis #action www.instagram.com/p/Dc3FyqBHPQ... @climatemajority.bsky.social @nebriefing.bsky.social #UKclimatecoalition 👏🏽
instagram.com
The Climate Coalition on Instagram: "Yesterday's packed Westminster Hall debate saw MPs from across the political spectrum discuss the Joint Intelligence Committee's National Security Assessment on bi...
126 likes, 9 comments - theclimatecoalition on September 4, 2026: "Yesterday's packed Westminster Hall debate saw MPs from across the political spectrum discuss the Joint Intelligence Committee's Nati...
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Of course, this is one of many short backstory 'teasers' from the full documentary "Climate in a Time of Conflict" which should be available by the end of 2026. Watch this space. www.climaterepaircafe.com/climateconfl...
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
4. “I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.” #WendellBerry youtu.be/aZnySL8XB4w?...
youtu.be
The Secret to Emotional Freedom? Feel Everything
YouTube video by Reflections of Life
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
3. “When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds…./4 www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/peace-w...
scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me / and I wake in the night at the least sound / in fear of what...
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
2. … “from which everything of value—minerals, timber, farm animals, farm crops, ‘labor’— is taken at the lowest possible price.” #WendellBerry was also a lyrical poet; filmmaker Michael Raimondo opened a film about me reading of one of his most famous poems, The Peace of Wild Things: /3
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
“Rural America is a colony…its economy is a colonial economy. The business of America has been largely without apology the plundering of rural America,” …/2 A 4-part 🧵 honoring the late Kentucky writer, activist, and philosopher -poet #WendellBerry. kentuckylantern.com/2026/08/31/k...
kentuckylantern.com
Kentucky writer, farmer and advocate Wendell Berry dies at 92 • Kentucky Lantern
A lover of forests, the farmer, author and former English professor died on Thursday, according to his family and the New York Times. He was 92.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Such important statistics to make v plain, right now while the horror, violence of the glacial and dam burst are fresh in people's minds. If politicians still think stopping migration, climate and development aid makes political or financial sense, let them think again. @michaelemann.bsky.social
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
“If Labour wanted naked pragmatism, frankly it could have stuck with Starmer. It looks to #AndyBurnham for something more: courage to face up to difficult questions but also political skills to sell difficult answers, and emotional intelligence to manage fallout.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Burnham is choosing jobs over climate security. That’s a big risk | Gaby Hinsliff
The PM’s net zero pragmatism may please some voters, but as parts of the country go up in flames, it’s an increasingly hard sell, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
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Reposted by Prof Phoebe Barnard
🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 @militarynewsua.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
❗️Another 103 Ukrainian defenders are returning home today from Russian captivity, – Zelenskyy.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
⬆️ #RoadlessRule @johnagallo.bsky.social #BillRipple @billmckibben.bsky.social @daphnew.bsky.social @kevinclimate.bsky.social @charliejgardner.bsky.social @climateemergencyuk.bsky.social @climatemajority.bsky.social @katharinehayhoe.com @michaelemann.bsky.social @wedonthavetime.wsocial.eu
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
#AssetStripping and #uglyprofiteering on a massive, suicidal scale. This is what I said to my family would likely be the tipping point that triggers a civil war in #USA. #TiananmenSquareMoment USDA Moves to Bulldoze Last Unroaded Forests in America morethanjustparks.substack.com/p/breaking-u...
morethanjustparks.substack.com
BREAKING: USDA Moves to Bulldoze Last Unroaded Forests in America
Ninety percent of wildfires start within a half mile of a road. The proposal is to build more of them.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
These are times when governments need to decide which side of the fence they’re on - criminal corruption by profiteers or responsible service to humanity and the biosphere, which is what they were hired to do. @charliejgardner.bsky.social @mynameisriver.bsky.social
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
So refreshing when a broadcaster talks plainly about the climate emergency and civil or government preparedness (or lack of it!). rupertsreads.substack.com/p/watch-thou... @rupertread.bsky.social Substack in discussions/ @trtworld-j26.bsky.social. rupertsreads.substack.com/p/watch-thou...
rupertsreads.substack.com
WATCH: Thousands Dead, and We're Talking about Air Conditioning
I was on TRT World talking about the heatwaves in Europe.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
So right - our species' sense of cultural arrogance and human supremacy is still well entrenched - the bigots and their media have undercut decades of cultural progress around the world by the UN, NGOs and many governments. Entitlement is one of humanity's deepest blindspots.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
All I can say is, this is such an incredibly sad journey and outcome in a world such as ours. #JasonArday Jason Arday, ex-Cambridge professor at centre of plagiarism row, found dead www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Jason Arday: Former Cambridge university professor found dead
Emergency services said a man was found "unresponsive" at an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon.
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Reposted by Prof Phoebe Barnard
#CarbonReckoning (Andrew Boswell) @drandrewboswell.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
1/ "Grown-ups heeded not the science they were told." PM chairs emergency COBR. Wildfires in the New Forest. Drought. 33°C today, 38°C tomorrow — our 5th heatwave this summer. 🧵Thread on Heeding the science Please donate to legal action now👉https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/carbon-reckoning/
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Good. @chrisgpackham.bsky.social speaks bluntly and with anger. If governments will not lead on #climatepreparedness, mitigation, restoration, their days will be short lived. British society is rising up against bad past leadership. No #USAmistakes here please. www.instagram.com/reel/DbqiImP...
instagram.com
implausibleblog on Instagram: "Powerful speech by Naturalist Chris Packham speaking alongside Zack Polanski on the subject of Climate Change,"To the disappointmen…"
Powerful speech by Naturalist Chris Packham speaking alongside Zack Polanski on the subject of Climate Change,"To the disappointment of many, football didn’t come home this summer, but to the pain and suffering of millions, climate breakdown has. And our government and media response has displayed a total dereliction of duty in a time of extreme crisis.""As we’ve heard, in May and June there were 3,000 deaths attributed to the heat domes that have hung over the UK. Heat exhaustion, heat stroke, stress on the heart and kidneys, and of course those mental health issues that you’ve just talked about.""In Europe, the figure is somewhere between 14,000 and 20,000 up until the end of July, and it’s expected to double by the end of this summer. So we’re looking at potentially 50,000 deaths across Europe.""If these deaths had been the result of terrorism or a pandemic, the government would have cancelled its summer holiday, it would have held COBRA meetings, and there would be public information campaigns the likes of which we saw during COVID, designed to protect us in this time of crisis.""And yet what do we get? We get rumours of possibly more drilling for oil and gas, and we get articles in the Telegraph which suggest that we ought to adapt to a Mediterranean climate. If that isn’t reckless and irresponsible, I don’t know what is.""What we do need at this point is to listen to the science, not to the ongoing malevolent raft of mis- and disinformation that’s perpetuated in politics, in public life and certainly across social media.""If we listen to the science, we see that the climate models that were devised in the 1990s have actually proved to be pretty accurate. But those who do try and transmit the information to us, people like the IPCC, which are often derided as alarmists by the right and the far right, have actually been too cautious.""What we see, for instance, when it comes to the heatwaves, is that they are occurring more quickly and more regularly than those models suggest. We’re updating the science as it happens. What we also see is that it’s not just a lack of water which is leading to the drought, although that might seem painfully obv
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Smelled yesterday in Warborough - I nearly went out on the bicycle to see if the nearby wheat and corn fields were burning.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
#Oxfordshire, among the most stable and peaceful climates during the Holocene, confronts climate impacts. We need #government #preparedness, not #ostrichness.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
You gotta love this. Thanks @davidrvetter.bsky.social
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Even more - these are times for women to lead, and at least three dozen of my male colleagues have said so to me in the last year - apologetically or matter-of-factly (and all completely unsolicited). ⬆️
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
You’re right, and it hurts.We need strategy & togetherness over perfect agreement at the most pivotal time in US democratic history. Moderate Democrats failed catastrophically by glossing over genocide and taking AIPAC $$. Conversations on strategy and values can’t be sequential, yet can’t derail. 🎯
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