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Tom Lancaster

@tommlancaster.bsky.social
1.1K followers 423 following 60 posts

Land, food & farming lead @eciu.bsky.social working across climate, farming and land use issues. Previously did agriculture and land use policy at RSPB. Views all mine.

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Reposted by Tom Lancaster
Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 30/07/2026
++BREAKING++ The UK and Spanish governments have issued a joint statement overnight: "[We] agreed that this summer’s wildfires demonstrated that climate change was now a national security emergency facing Europe and threatening our way of life." www.gov.uk/government/n...
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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 27/07/2026
Welcome to the frontpage of the Daily Telegraph* website... * The newspaper that has relentlessly spent the past three decades seeking to belittle climate science and undermine climate action at every turn
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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 27/07/2026
++BREAKING++ The Daily Telegraph has... *rubs eyes* ...published something sensible about climate change: "I’m coming to the view that the Online Right is going wrong, eschewing compassion or charm, talking itself into corners of angry irrelevance. Take climate change."
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Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The British public's support for climate action remains unbending, seemingly regardless of what the planet and political leaders throw at it. There have been near constant attacks on the UK's net zero policies. www.businessgreen.com/analysis/453...
businessgreen.com
How public support for climate action remains as robust as ever
Series of recent surveys reveal how the UK public remains strongly supportive of climate action, with opposition to decarbonisation still a niche position
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 06/07/2026
FACTCHECK: A guide to manufacturing headlines, by the Times 1) highlight upfront costs of an “eco” home (EV, heat pump, solar) 2) pretend that petrol cars and gas boilers are free (yes really) 3) count upfront “eco” costs twice, for good measure 4) that’s it!
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Stop Funding Heat @stopfundingheat.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
GB News gives its take on climate change. This is what a propaganda campaign looks like. Who'd have guessed that the GB News co-owner runs a hedge fund with massive investments in oil and gas? www.theguardian.com/media/2026/m...
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 24/06/2026
UK's outgoing PM Keir Starmer tells parliament that climate change is "one of the most significant challenges of our time" and says it is a "shame" that the Conservatives have broken the cross-party consensus "in order to chase Reform votes"
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Labour Climate and Environment Forum @lcefuk.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
NEW BLOG: Food Prices Won’t Come Back Down. Here’s How to Make Food More Affordable 📉 New @ECIU.net analysis shows that when food prices spike from climate or energy shocks, they drop just 1% six months later. Prices rocket up, but drift down like feathers. 🧵👇
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ECIU @eciu.net · 18/03/2026
Commenting on the publication of the first Land Use Framework for England, @tommlancaster.bsky.social, @eciu.net said: “Climate change is already reshaping food and farming in England, as well as much of our landscape." eciu.net/media/press...
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Dustin Benton @dbenton.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Great to be on Radio 4's Farming Today early this morning to talk about the Land Use Framework: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... (from 10:30m in). It's only a first step, but signficant land use change for nature and climate can have big upsides, including for upland communities.
bbc.co.uk
Farming Today - 19/03/26 Land Use Framework, oat drink production - BBC Sounds
What difference will England's Land Use Framework make?
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 09/07/2025
There are some TRULY idiotic "I hate net-zero" takes on yday's OBR report, which set out long-term risks to govt finances It's right there in the report, but to repeat, OBR makes it crystal clear that climate action will be far less costly than inaction www.carbonbrief.org/...
carbonbrief.org
OBR: Net-zero is much cheaper than thought for UK – and unchecked global warming far more costly - Carbon Brief
Reaching net-zero will be much cheaper for the UK government than previously expected – and the economic damages of climate change far more severe.
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Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment @granthamicl.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
☀️It’s been an exceptionally sunny & dry spring – what role is climate change playing? Dr Clair Barnes, an Imperial College climate scientist, explains the shifts in spring weather. And Colin Chappell, a farmer, lays out how these changes are impacting UK agriculture.
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Jess Ralston @jessralston.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Yesterday, Ross Clark claimed in the @thespectator1828.bsky.social "The likely fall in the energy price cap will be purely a reaction to lower wholesale prices on international markets... it is simply markets at work" Is this the same Ross Clark who blames "net zero" every time bills go up? 🧵😂
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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
These are foods mentioned in this article, but many more everyday food items from broccoli 🥦 to bananas 🍌 are becoming more costly. Extreme weather conditions in the UK and globally are threatening food production and causing price spikes. This is a crucial part of the story!
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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
3️⃣: 🥔 Potatoes can be grown in the UK, provided we have suitable growing conditions. Relentless wet weather in 2023 (made worse by climate change) delayed harvesting, caused crops to rot and led to a shortage before Christmas. Prices have since shot up. www.theguardian.com/food/2023/de...
theguardian.com
Low UK potato harvests raise fears about Christmas supplies
Experts say supermarkets may have to rely on imports from as far afield as Egypt, pushing up environmental impact
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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
2️⃣: ☕ Coffee is also in the midst of a spike in price. This has been exacerbated by extreme temperatures and erratic rainfall in producer countries like Brazil 🇧🇷 and Vietnam 🇻🇳 www.thegrocer.co.uk/kvi-price-tr...
thegrocer.co.uk
Coffee prices hit new highs over fears of global shortages
Unseasonable weather in Vietnam and Brazil is causing coffee prices to hike
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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
1️⃣: 🍫 Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 is the UK's top supplier of cocoa, totalling 84% of our imports. It's been pummelled by climate impacts recently - extreme rainfall in 2023, drought in early 2024 & a humid heatwave shortly after, all made worse by climate change. eciu.net/analysis/rep...
eciu.net
Climate impacts on cocoa
Average price per kilo of cocoa beans imported into the UK has risen 32% over the last three years.
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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Interesting @theipaper.com story highlighting claims by the Food & Drink Federation that higher NI contributions and new food packaging levies are increasing prices. But here's something they don't mention... what about climate change? 🧵 inews.co.uk/news/politic...
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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 08/05/2025
The deal apparently includes 13,000 tonnes in tariff free beef access to the US for UK farmers, and 13,000 tonnes in tariff free beef access to the UK for US farmers. No one's standards change. By way of context the tariff free quota Australian beef gets into the US is 448,214 tonnes per annum.
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
A sound long gone from British villages & gardens - a singing Wryneck. There’s Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts, Hawfinches, Tree Sparrows and Swallows around this garden too. It’s like going back in time, challenging the shifting baseline and reminding how much birds have declined in Britain.
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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Maps from here www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/cli... And the Sep one from here (it was off the standard scale…) www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/new...
metoffice.gov.uk
UK actual and anomaly maps
Maps of climate variables for previous months, seasons and years
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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
This is what farming with climate change looks like After the second worst harvest on record in 2024, farmers in England have had record breaking rain in September, followed very little rain and record breaking sun & heat in March & April Good for berries I guess, less good for lots of others!
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 30/04/2025
FACTCHECK: Almost all the headlines on Tony Blair / net-zero are *wildly* inaccurate REALITY: 1️⃣Net-zero is *only way* to stop warming 2️⃣Blair calls for tech to "turbocharge our path to net-zero" 3️⃣He categorically *does not* say "net-zero is doomed to fail" 🧵 1/6
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Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Thousands more people could die from overheating each year if Britain does not adapt to a warming world to avert “tomorrow’s disasters”, the UK government’s climate advisers have warned. @thecccuk.bsky.social says no sign Labour are taking climate adaptation more seriously than Tories
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Steve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
NEW: Who are the voters Labour risks losing to Reform? How might Lab unite them with the rest of its election winning coalition? How might Reform win them over? Some big new research out today with @persuasionuk.bsky.social as featured by @greenmirandahere.bsky.social in today's FT 🧵👇
persuasionuk.org
Getting to know 'Reform curious Labour voters'
exploring the attitudes, demography and values of Reform curious Labour voters and the coalitional dilemmas they lose
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Ryan Katz-Rosene, PhD @ryankatzrosene.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
A considerable amount of the Northern hemisphere's landmass has already warmed more than 2C since the industrial era. The cold blob in the North Atlantic is a telltale sign of a weakening AMOC current. Visual by @edhawkins.org
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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Great thread this If I was Prime Minister for the day and wanted people to feel a material improvement to their day-to-day, I’d throw what money I had at local government And not just at pot holes, but at stuff like the services that get drinkers and addicts off the streets
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Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
ICYM Solar panel push still won’t cover as much land as golf courses, even if the UK government's 2030 solar power goals are met www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
thetimes.com
Solar panel push still won’t cover as much land as golf courses
A study shows that Ed Miliband’s 2030 green energy targets are set to require up to 0.4 per cent of the UK, compared with 0.06 per cent today
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Gareth Redmond-King @gredmondking.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
This is an, ahem, interesting piece from Jawad Iqbal in today's Times: "Miliband has in the past boasted about the previous Labour government’s decision to phase out coal power… Miliband claimed other countries would follow “our example”. Really? It seems highly unlikely." Here’s why he's wrong 🧵
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 14/04/2025
Very important point. It's not green energy that is making UK electricity expensive: it's mostly gas
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Shaun Spiers @shaunspiers1.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
I've just caught up with Nick Robinson's interview with James Murray MP on #r4today. 1) Green energy isn't driving energy prices up. As Murray said, our high energy costs are down to reliance on foreign gas. We need *more* home grown renewables! Robinson seems keen to reopen UK coalmines... 1/
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Jess Ralston @jessralston.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
🚨Some major errors & misleading claims from experienced presenter Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4 Today, when discussing British Steel with Treasury Minister James Murray I hope these are corrected on tomorrow's programme, and Robinson sticks to the facts in future. Here's what he got wrong... 🧵
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
This is really important for everyone to be aware when out & about in the British countryside. 15 years ago I rarely had ticks on me during fieldwork. Nowadays I have several every time I'm in the same woods. Ticks can & do cause life-changing health problems.
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Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Would be sad if these went. Only been to Romania once but these haystacks across the landscape were one of the things that made the place special & different As this story points out, they're also important habitats for fauna and flora www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Big, biodiverse and beautiful: can Romania’s centuries-old giant haystacks survive modern farming?
Traditional methods benefit hundreds of species but as new agricultural techniques take over, the distinctive haystacks mark a vanishing way of life
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
29 years of natural colonisation, woodland expansion. Oaks, hawthorns, blackthorns. This 2 ha of new woodland, all self-sown creates new habitat and future ancient woodland, but also buffers the existing woodland next door from drying winds and agri-spray drift. Win, win, win.
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ECIU @eciu.net · 26/03/2025
The foods in danger of disappearing from UK supermarket shelves within 10 years A weekly shop without coffee, chocolate or a joint of meat may seem unthinkable but consumer experts predict our changing climate could remove key products from supermarkets within a decade.
buff.ly
The foods in danger of disappearing from UK supermarket shelves within 10 years
EXCLUSIVE: A weekly shop without coffee, chocolate or a joint of meat may seem unthinkable but consumer experts predict our changing climate could remove key products from supermarkets within a…
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Shaun Spiers @shaunspiers1.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
What's remarkable about Nick Robinson's discussion with Rishi Sunak about net zero is not just Sunak's lack of knowledge but that Robinson doesn't ask at all about climate change: do you know anything about it? What would you do about it? www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
Political Thinking with Nick Robinson - Bonus: The Rishi Sunak Lessons from Downing Street One - Part 2 - BBC Sounds
Part 2 of an exclusive interview with the former PM, reflecting on life in Downing Street
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Jess Ralston @jessralston.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
But I thought nobody wants heat pumps? And they dOn'T wOrK iN tHe CoLd? Looks like misinfo isn't slowing growth in UK heat pumps Good, bc we can't have energy security with the status quo (gas boilers) & we can't have national security without energy security Heat pumps = national security
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Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
I briefly interrupt your feed of constant US-based doom and/or gloom to remind you that in other countries, there's some pretty cool stuff happening on the food / agriculture / nature / climate policy front at the national level, and that Denmark recently took a step that could inspire others.
wri.org
Denmark’s Groundbreaking Agriculture Climate Policy Sets Strong Example for the World
Denmark’s Green Tripartite Agreement imposes taxes on livestock, restores forests and peatlands, and pays farmers to reduce pollution.
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Climate Centre @climatecentreuk.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Denmark is  one of the world's largest meat producers, but they are also innovative leaders in decarbonizing food and farming. Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl of the Vegetarian Society of Denmark tells @alexisconran.bsky.social how their approach is ‘more carrot, less stick’.
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 26/02/2025
NEW: Official advisers CCC say UK shld cut emissions 87% by 2040 ⚖️Net cost of net-zero 73% less than thought 💷Total cost to 2050 = £108bn (~£4bn/yr, 0.2% GDP) 🏡🚗H’hold energy/fuel bills to fall £1,400 🔌Electrification is key THREAD + charts www.carbonbrief.org/... 1/10
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Dustin Benton @dbenton.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
The 7th carbon budget is a MASTERCLASS in avoiding a climate culture war, despite having to talk about flying and farming. Kudos to the team!
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Climate Change Committee @thecccuk.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
We have published our advice on the Seventh Carbon Budget. It is in line with previous Government commitments – the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Carbon Budgets, international commitments, and the Net Zero commitment in 2050.
The recommended Seventh Carbon Budget pathway
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Dr Rose O’Neill @roseoneill.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Some good news! Defra is extending Farming in Protected Landscapes & announced an extra £30 million for Higher Level Stewardship. Supporting land managers & farmers via these schemes is essential to achieve nature-rich National Parks. @campaign4parks.bsky.social www.gov.uk/government/s...
gov.uk
Environment Secretary Steve Reed - NFU Conference speech
Speech by Environment Secretary Steve Reed at the NFU Conference
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Dustin Benton @dbenton.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
I mean nobody thought a US/UK trade deal was on the cards because of chlorinated chicken. But the prospect must now have hit absolute zero.
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ECIU @eciu.net · 25/02/2025
Defra announces farmers in HLS scheme will see increased payments, and decision to re-open Capital Grants Offer, @tommlancaster.bsky.social, @eciu.net commented: “Farmers in the Higher Level Stewardship scheme are amongst those doing the most for climate and nature."eciu.net/media/press...
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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
As a Liverpool fan, I still think Clive Darwell here could be right
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
New in #BirdStudy, and in last week's Altmetric top 10! Well-managed solar farms have higher bird diversity & abundance than arable farmland. Solar farm management influences breeding bird responses in an arable-dominated landscape (Copping et al) doi.org/10.1080/0006... #ornithology #ukbirding
bbc.co.uk
Well-managed solar farms can boost wildlife - Cambridge study
Findings by the RSPB and Cambridge University find solar farms can contribute to and aid biodiversity.
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Sam Lowe @samuelmarclowe.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
This week's edition of Most Favoured Nation looks at the legal, semi-legal, and defintely not legal ways countries could abide by Donald Trump's demands to lower their tariffs on US exports. mostfavourednation.substack.com/p/most-favou...
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
If you want to know why Vance meant everything he said yesterday, and why that's even more dangerous than it might appear, have a read of my post this week on the ideology behind Musk and Vance. "Technology vs Democracy" (£/free trial) samf.substack.com/p/technology...
samf.substack.com
Technology vs Democracy
The origins and ideology of Muskworld
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