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Reposted by Rob Ralston

Jean-Charles Geslot @jcgeslot.bsky.social · 2d

Reposted by Rob Ralston

Citizen Participation @oliverescobar.bsky.social · Aug 25

📚 new open access book: "Climate Assemblies - New Civic Institutions for a Climate-Changed World" 🌍

✅ 25 co-authors examine the state of the field and the reasons behind the growing hope and hype about climate assemblies

✅Free PDF available here 👉🏼 www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Climate Assemblies - New Civic Institutions for a Climate-Changed World
Edited by Oliver Escobar and Stephen Elstub
Published by Fe Gruyter

Book cover depicts the globe, with people gathering around it
Colours: yellow, black an d blue

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 3d

as local bands like Young Fathers have pointed out in interviews, the issue in Edinburgh (and many other cities) is about the loss of club spaces to noise complaints

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 3d

I only skimmed the article, but I also didn’t see anything on clubs or how this policy would support the cultural economy beyond pubs

I’m based in Edinburgh and my sense is that it has had a similar trajectory to Berlin in some ways - lots of great clubs have shut as areas have gentrified

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Reposted by Rob Ralston

Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 4d

Is meat the new oil? Five lessons from fossil fuel governance for industrial meat governance

By @cleoverk.bsky.social
www.sei.org/perspectives...

Is meat the new oil? Five lessons from fossil fuel governance for industrial meat governance

In this perspective, SEI Senior Scientist Cleo Verkuijl outlines lessons from fossil fuel governance that can guide transformation of the global food system.

www.sei.org

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 4d

and important to note that China's Operation National Sword (which massively restricted imports of plastic waste) has not halted OECD countries from exporting waste, but diverted it to countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 4d

no coincidence that efforts by governments, development banks and the plastics industry to 'derisk' investment in risky, unproven recycling technologies has targeted countries like Indonesia, which have the highest imports of toxic plastic waste

Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social · 4d

Sharp rise in UK plastic exports shows how behind the country is

The EU has agreed to ban exports of waste to poorer nations. The ban comes into force in November 2026

The UK does not have a similar ban in place

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

UK plastic waste exports to developing countries rose 84% in a year, data shows

Campaigners say increase in exports mostly to Malaysia and Indonesia is ‘unethical and irresponsible waste imperialism’

www.theguardian.com

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 5d

I'm not sure how far these developments have leaked beyond the global plastics sphere, but UNEP do not come out this looking good

UN plastics treaty chair to step down with process in turmoil

Exclusive: Luis Vayas Valdivieso says he is quitting for personal and professional reasons after reports of pressure behind the scenes

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Rob Ralston

Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 18d

Meat vs EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet: The dynamics of an industry-orchestrated online backlash

Report by the Changing Markets Foundation

changingmarkets.org/report/meat-...

Meat vs EAT-Lancet: The dynamics of an industry-orchestrated online backlash • Changing Markets

The EAT-Lancet Commission publish EAT-Lancet 2.0: an update to the planetary health diet 2019. One of the most influential academic studies ever released, it also faced significant online backlash – o...

changingmarkets.org

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Reposted by Rob Ralston

L @banalplay.bsky.social · 6d

When your custom character appears in a cut scene

The Portland frog backing down an army of jackboots

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 10d

an advert so good that I joined the waitlist for a synthesiser I would have no idea how to use

"How to Orchid" by Telepathic Instruments

YouTube video by Telepathic Instruments

www.youtube.com

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 14d

biased as an arsenal fan, but newcastle play such a relentlessly cynical form of football. It’s fine to be conservative, but the constant time wasting is so frustrating to watch

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Reposted by Rob Ralston

Joseph Winters @jbwinters.bsky.social · 15d

Philadelphia filed an extremely thorough lawsuit on Wed against SC Johnson (Ziploc) and Bimbo Bakeries over claims that their plastic bags are recyclable, accusing the companies of engaging in a "coordinated campaign of deception." @grist.org grist.org/accountabili...

A ‘coordinated campaign of deception’: Philly sues 2 companies over misleading recycling labels

The lawsuit targets SC Johnson, owner of Ziploc bags, and Bimbo Bakeries, the country's biggest bread and snack food manufacturer.

grist.org

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 16d

new blog by @benjaminfaude.bsky.social and @jacktaggart.bsky.social on the UN SDGs, drawing on a recent special issue in @globalpolicy.bsky.social

lots of great contributions, including a paper by myself and Jack Taggart on institutional hybridity in global plastics governance

The Sustainable Development Goals at 10: how global governance is undermining progress

This month marks ten years since the adoption of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Yet there is little cause for celebration: progress has been dismal. Benjamin Faude and Jack Taggart argue that...

theloop.ecpr.eu

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 17d

Yes! love that paper

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 18d

Ignorance can be strategically used to promote 'non-knowledge' and deny liability

Rather than view this in terms of a lack of knowledge, we need to understand how strategic ignorance is being used as a source of power

LBC @lbc.co.uk · 18d

"We were told thalidomide was a safe drug and it wasn't..."

Nigel Farage says he has 'no idea' if Donald Trump is right about paracetamol being linked to autism.

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 18d

beyond healthcare, TBI's work on food systems / obesity is a another example of how AI is being promoted as a 'technological fix' to what is fundamentally a political problem

institute.global/insights/pub...

Fit for the Future: A Fair Deal on Food for a Healthier Britain

institute.global

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 18d

amateurish reporting that uncritically reproduces pseudoscientific and eugenic frames

@politico.com must retract this piece and issue an apology for using damaging and offensive phrases like the ‘autism problem’

Politico @politico.com · 18d

Trump’s Tylenol diatribe was rooted in frustration.

The president wants to stem rising autism rates even if it means pregnant patients don’t treat their pain and delay their kids’ vaccinations.

Trump’s Tylenol diatribe was rooted in frustration

The president wants to stem rising autism rates even if it means pregnant women don’t treat their pain and delay their kids’ vaccinations.

www.politico.com

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 19d

not worries - I think it could be phrased a little more softly, but the interview is really pretty bad!

Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 19d

maybe this post reads a little harshly, but I think the way Sunstein talks about Hayek in the New Yorker piece is, to some extent, illustrative of his approach to political theory more broadly

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 19d

link to his paper: doi.org/10.1177/0263...

doi.org

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 19d

in terms of nudge, I this this paper by Nicholas Gane puts forward a persuasive case that this form of behavioural economic is not really the 'libertarian paternalism' that Thaler and Sunstein would claim

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 19d

the Cass Sunstein new yorker interview is as bad as everyone is saying, but I would say is not entirely unrepresentative of his work

the behavioural economics of 'nudge' is characterised by the same tensions and inconsistencies evident in this piece

www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 22d

almost have to laugh at how cartoonish the corporate donors to this are: big tobacco, the arms industry and tech companies specialising in citizen surveillance

Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 23d

NEW

Companies donating money towards the construction of the White House ballroom may get their names etched inside the White House.

So far Google, R.J. Reynolds, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, Palantir and NextEra Energy have donated tens of millions of dollars to the ballroom fund.

Who's paying for the White House ballroom and what's in it for them?

President Trump has so far raised $200 million for a new White House ballroom from some of the nation's biggest companies.

bit.ly

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Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 23d

a month on, @magnuslovold.bsky.social comments on the final day of UN global plastic treaty negotiations in Geneva

there were rumours circulating in whatsapp groups about UNEP engaging in what might best be termed 'discretionary governance' - this blog details some of the chaos that unfolded

Palace intrigues

The plastics treaty talks in Geneva ended without a deal. As negotiators weigh their options about the way forward, troubling questions are…

medium.com

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