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Rowan Alcock

@row-a.bsky.social
74 followers 353 following 55 posts

DPhil - University of Oxford. Post-Doc - Tsinghua University. Currently Research Fellow - The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Research -- Karl Polanyi, China, Environment.

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Reposted by Rowan Alcock
Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Homes being built today in UK that could become uninsurable due to the risk of #flooding, boss of insurance giant Aviva says #climatecrisis HT @carbonbrief.org www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Aviva boss warns more homes will be uninsurable due to flood risk
Aviva boss Amanda Blanc said England was "for sure" building homes that might be uninsurable at some point in the future.
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Good to see Foreign Secretary presenting the findings of the suppressed Joint Intelligence Report on ecosystem collapse to other governments. But when is it going to be shared with the rest of us? We can’t prepare for what we don’t know - it should be published in full
theguardian.com
UK shares findings of damning climate crisis national security report suppressed under Starmer
El Niño poses critical threat to nations’ defences, says Ed Miliband in presentation to global foreign ministers
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PIK_climate @pik-potsdam.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
“It means that the risk of large-scale, persistent and potentially irreversible change is increasing, while our margin for error in tackling these problems is shrinking.” - Boris Sakschewski, lead author of this year's Planetary Health Check. In @theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘Planetary boundaries’ necessary for flourishing of life have been massively breached, scientists warn
New report shows key indicators of Earth’s health are ‘outside the safe operating space’ as climate disaster looms
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Reposted by Rowan Alcock
Isabella M. Weber @isabellamweber.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"The sense of economic decline that drives support for the far-right is real. But it is not caused by migrants. It is caused by the greed of capital." @graceblakeley.substack.com is right. As I argue in ANTI FASCIST ECONOMICS, that's why only an economics of essentials can turn the tide.
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
'It would seem that Bezos believes the prospect of humanity living sustainably and peaceably on our precious, singular home is a nightmarish possibility unworthy of his consideration'
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Reposted by Rowan Alcock
Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 02/09/2026
boosters want us to believe opponents of data centers are a bunch of nimbys that just indiscriminately oppose development. they don’t want people to see (or hear!) what it’s actually like to live next to one of their monstrosities.
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
'If clean and dirty energy facilities were to adopt AI at similar rates, they found, the productivity gains for renewables would have to outpace those for fossil fuels by at least four times for emissions to break even' www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
AI’s potential climate benefits outweighed by role in boosting fossil fuels, study finds
Modelling finds AI-driven productivity gains in coal, oil and gas enable more emissions than applications in renewables avoid
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
@kevinclimate.bsky.social is always a great listen, this is no exception. Aaron Bastani @novaramedia.com has an interesting interview technique... at least he didn't talk about the anti-carrot extractivism extremists this time🥕🥕
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Reposted by Rowan Alcock
Not (A.) I. @aerialeverything.cryptoanarchy.network · 11/08/2026
"Researchers modelled the technical potential for AI to boost clean power generation [...] Across 64 scenarios, they found net yearly carbon pollution rose by 0.47-1.8 gigatonnes, or about 1-5% of the energy sector’s annual emissions." www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
AI’s potential climate benefits outweighed by role in boosting fossil fuels, study finds
Modelling finds AI-driven productivity gains in coal, oil and gas enable more emissions than applications in renewables avoid
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
This is an important article but there there are a number of missed opportunities... 🧵
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Reposted by Rowan Alcock
Erik Nordman @eriknordman.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
🎂Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom was born on this day in 1933! Ostrom was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics for her research on "collaborative governance, especially the commons." She showed how communities of users could work together to sustain their shared resources. 1/9
Elinor Ostrom receiving the Nobel Prize in Economics. She is a older white woman with gray hair and glasses, wearing a long batik dyed dress, and holding the certificate and medal (in a box).
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Dr Charlie Gardner @charliejgardner.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
I wonder how often they met with climate scientists
theguardian.com
Labour ministers met fossil fuel lobbyists 500 times in first year of power, analysis shows
Lobbyists attended 48% more meetings than Tories, as Labour accused of giving them ‘backstage pass’
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Andy Scollick @andyscollick.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Undated firecrew video (probably 23, 24, 35 July) from the Gironde showing the devastation. #wildfires #France
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
I predicted that even if their AI found ways to improve efficiency, Google's energy use would go up, not down. Seven years later and this is where we're at:
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
"Every single reasonable metric on climate change we have fundamentally failed"
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Reposted by Rowan Alcock
Brendon Slotterback @bslotterback.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
What is the actual climate impact of data centers? Climate pollution from Microsoft increased 25% in a single year, per @heatmap.news (and this data is fiscal year, so over a year old)
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Great to have a new article published in Globalizations continuing my theoretical work on Karl Polanyi's countermovement and double movement concepts. Have a read, its Open Access 🥳🥳 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Polanyi’s non-ideological countermovement: one step forward, two steps back
This article engages with Goodwin (2024. Radical (re) readings of Polanyi: Splitting hairs and building bridges. Globalizations) to clarify the non-ideological reading of Polanyi’s countermovement ...
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Despite all the noise today I'd really like you to read this, as I think it's crucial. The government's in the process of p*ssing up to £264 billion into the ground, at the behest of the fossil fuel industry. Yes, £264 *billion*. It's utterly mad, and has to stop. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The great carbon capture con: behold the wasted billions Burnham could claw back | George Monbiot
There are far better ways to tackle climate breakdown, but successive governments have chosen to listen to the fossil fuel companies instead, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The famous "Wedges" paper was used repeatedly to shut us up when we argued against the continued use of fossil fuels, and, esp, against carbon capture and storage and the mass use of bioenergy. "But these eminent scientists say ..." Now we learn BP co-authored it. www.propublica.org/article/wedg...
propublica.org
How BP Execs Influenced a Climate Study That Shaped a Generation of Global Policy
BP sponsored an elite Princeton research center to address the climate problem without getting off fossil fuels. Its key work, a paper known as “Wedges,” guided climate discourse for a generation.
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Joe Hodson @joehodson.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
"Greenpeace has calculated the “climate debt” of these... individuals, by attributing to them their share of the damage done to the climate by the assets they own. By this reckoning, the world’s richest cause nearly $1tn a year of damage to the climate" www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Super-rich’s assets cause outsized amount of climate harm, study says
Greenpeace calculates that wealthiest contribute nearly $1tn of damage a year with ownership-based emissions
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Joseph E. Stiglitz @josephestiglitz.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Growth has failed to eradicate poverty or to promote wellbeing. Poverty is not inevitable. It is manufactured. Our op-ed with @deschuttero.bsky.social @jayatighosh.bsky.social @thomaspiketty.bsky.social @kateraworth.bsky.social @jasonhickel.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way | Olivier De Schutter and others
Our roadmap has been shaped by experts across the world. We call on political leaders at all levels to use it, says Olivier De Schutter and others
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Kevin Anderson @kevinclimate.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Quelle surprise: my comment on the Govt's latest climate commitment (www.gov.uk/government/n... is out of step, at least publicly, with many colleagues: www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-react... With expert whitewash on one side & charlatans on the other, an honest climate debate stands no chance.
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Kevin Anderson @kevinclimate.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Attached is my "two penn'orth" on how to relate the 2°C carbon budget to our climate commitments. I take the UNFCCC, Paris, ICJ, etc. commitments at face value, and express my views without fear or favour and regardless of political sensibilities. Always happy to hear what I've got wrong.
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Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Hatred of data centers is the only bipartisan political issue in America. Incredible work by tech CEOs in uniting the country.
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
'Fast decarbonisation of energy systems is necessary. But we also need a major shift away from overconsumption towards "sufficiency”. This would involve a sharp reduction in labour hours and the use of raw materials...big changes in consumption patterns, food habits, land use and forest cover'
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Reposted by Rowan Alcock
George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
This is exactly what we have been warning about. But oh no, anyone who objects to the changes is a selfish, privileged nimby, a zealot, a blocker, an elitist. Let's trash the lives of England's poorest communities, and smear anyone who complains. Thanks Keir. 🧵 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
England’s poorest areas face deepest cuts to green space under planning law changes, report finds
Exclusive: New loopholes for developers will exacerbate extreme disparities across country, charity coalition warns
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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
"atheism leaving my body with every new Pope tweet" x.com/malikules/st...
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Journal of Current Chinese Affairs @jcca-gigahamburg.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
🎉 New #OpenAccess Research Article in #JCCA Journal of Current Chinese Affairs @row-a.bsky.social Alcock interrogates #Polanyi's #double_movement & #countermovement concepts through a case study of a #Chinese #wet_market doi.org/10.1177/1868... @giga-hamburg.de @journals.sagepub.com
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Really happy to have this article published in @jcca-gigahamburg.bsky.social 🥳. Bringing together all the important things, food, Polanyi and China 😁 Open access ✌️ 'The Double Movement in Action: Karl Polanyi, Food Safety and China's Rural Transformation' journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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Met Office - weather and climate @metoffice.gov.uk · 25/05/2026
Today has been the hottest day in May on record with Kew Gardens provisionally reaching 34.8°C - exceeding the previous highest May temperature in the UK by a full 2 degrees Celsius🌡️ This heat would be exceptional in the UK even in mid summer, let alone in May📈
A map of the UK showing a temperature of 34.8 degrees Celsius, recorded in Kew Gardens, London on Monday 25 May 2026
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Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
On the one-year anniversary of EMPIRE OF AI, I am so, so excited to announce The AI Resist List, a new project that documents examples of resistance to the AI empires around the world 😍 airesistlist.org
The gorgeous AI Resist List homepage
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
'Heatwaves are expected to exceed 40C in all parts of the UK by 2050. Periods of hot weather will be longer, which could lead to an additional 10,000 heat-related deaths a year' www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
UK ‘built for climate that no longer exists’ and needs urgent changes to survive global heating, report warns
Landmark report calls for widespread air conditioning and says UK temperatures forecast to exceed 40C by 2050
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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Getting kind of tired of self-styled serious people confidently asserting that data centre water use is a made up issue.
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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
not just anecdote! "graduates in the least-exposed quintile—studying subjects such as education, philosophy...—saw their avg full-time employment rate fall by just 1.5%. Those in the most exposed quintile—including computer science, computer engineering and information science—suffered a 6.6% drop.”
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Sam Wakeling @samwake.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
The increasing orange wedge is the amount of added CO2 staying in the atmosphere because of the land and ocean struggling to keep up. As they get warmer and more degraded they capture less of the extra CO2. The rise in CO2 is already curving up as emissions accumulate, but this adds to that.
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
My reading is that the Times article is misrepresenting what the paper is saying. Here's an interview with one of the paper's authors explaining that we haven't ruled out high levels of warming.
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
When will we first reach 2°C of warming? A simple heuristic: We passed 0.5°C in 1980. 1°C in 2010 -30 years later. 1.5°C in 2024 - 14 years later. Add another 0.5°C in 14 years, we hit 2°C by 2038. Assuming the rate stays constant.
Line chart titled 'Warming milestones are arriving faster' showing annual mean temperature anomaly (°C) versus the 1850–1900 baseline from 1940 to 2040. A jagged orange line shows yearly values while a smooth white line shows the trend. Three red milestone dots are labeled: 0.5°C reached in 1980, 1.0°C in 2010 (30 years later), and 1.5°C in 2024 (14 years later). A dashed white line projects the trend forward, reaching 2.0°C around 2038 — an estimated 14 years after the 1.5°C milestone.
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
'The whole Chinese model of solving the problems of development with more development, the chase for high speed — at the macroeconomic level it’s the same state of suspension' chinabooksreview.com/2026/04/14/w...
chinabooksreview.com
Xiang Biao on a Society at the Edge | China Books Review
An anthropologist with a wide youth following and a knack for popularizing academic terms explains how China’s stratified society led to social malaise amid economic prosperity.
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
'Prof Stefan Rahmstorf – perhaps the world’s leading authority on the subject – says the chances of a shutdown look like “more than 50%”. We could pass the tipping point, he says, “in the middle of this century”'
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Isabella M. Weber @isabellamweber.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Economics can either enable the slide toward fascism, or defend affordability, dignity, and democracy. I wrote ANTI-FASCIST ECONOMICS with my baby by my side—a constant reminder that the future should be livable for all. Out in October with Random House.
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
@journallawsociety.bsky.social Special Issue: Dysfunctional Governance: Crisis, Scandal, Tragedy, Emergency now out with lots of interesting articles including - 'Polanyi on crisis: The United States, fascism and ecological break-down' 😁 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14676478...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Special Supplement S1: Dysfunctional Governance: Crisis, Scandal, Tragedy, Emergency: Journal of Law and Society: Vol 53, No S1
Click on the title to browse this issue
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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought - Scientists say finding is ‘very concerning’ as collapse would be catastrophic for Europe, Africa and the Americas #AMOC #climatecrisis Story by me www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought
Scientists say finding is ‘very concerning’ as collapse would be catastrophic for Europe, Africa and the Americas
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Kevin Anderson @kevinclimate.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
A comment following my interview with Rob Cooper climateuncensored.com/the-climate-... was: "It would be good to occasionally hear a climate expert that doesn’t spout all the other left wing axioms ... more chance of convincing right wing policy makers." An important point with my reply attached.
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Josh Gabbatiss @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
UPDATE: The government has deleted the (implausible) analysis of AI emissions referenced in this article from its website 🤔 It has replaced it with a note: "We keep analysis under routine review, and are updating this modelling to ensure it reflects the most up to date assumptions and analysis”
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Josh Gabbatiss @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
NEW - I asked the UK government if they had assessed energy demand/emissions resulting from plans to make the UK an "AI superpower". The analysis they pointed me to seemed... pretty implausible. Just 0.1m tonnes of CO2 a year. My calculations suggest emissions could be 100s of times higher.
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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
"Just months before, I had said to a friend, ‘I think there is going to be an AI-psychosis-fuelled mass shooting soon.” That's what Karen Hao said when I asked her about the horrific school shooting at Tumble Ridge. One of the families is suing Open AI. Min 48 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1B_...
youtube.com
Naomi Klein & Karen Hao: The Empire of AI and the Fight for Our Future | Chan Centre Insights
YouTube video by Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
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ICTA-UAB @icta-uab.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
A pathway to achieve high well-being and a safe climate without relying on GDP growth Post-growth research by ICTA-UAB shows that wealthy economies can achieve positive social outcomes without perpetual growth, by orienting production toward well-being. phys.org/news/2026-03...
phys.org
A pathway to achieve high well-being and a safe climate without relying on GDP growth
Governments' attempts to achieve climate goals are falling short, in large part because wealthy economies are continuing to pursue economic growth. As these economies ramp up production and consumptio...
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Kevin Anderson @kevinclimate.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Recent talk recorded with slides. Available at: climateuncensored.com/a-velvet-or-... The presentation builds on and expands my short contribution to last November’s National Emergency Briefing. climateuncensored.com/national-eme... Duration: 50-minute talk followed by a 30-minute Q&A.
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Hell yeah! Who's next?! #ClimateAction
bbc.co.uk
University of Southampton students vote for plant-based menus
Plant-based meals will be the standard option for students at the University of Southampton.
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Rowan Alcock @row-a.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Great to have my first Open Access article thanks to The Hong Kong Polytechnic University! Have a read 😁 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Polanyi on crisis: The United States, fascism and ecological break‐down
This article uses Karl Polanyi's understanding of the crisis inherent in liberal economics to analyse a contemporary crisis—Trump's global tariff agenda. It argues that Trump's tariff agenda conforms...
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