Anthony Burke
@anthonyburke.bsky.social
Australian political theorist & international relations professor. Climate, justice, biodiversity, ecodemocracy. He/him. New book: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262552554/the-ecology-politic About: https://www.anthonydburke.net
Pinned
Amazon Tipping Point Postponed • Planetary Compendium
This speculative future shows how transnational Indigenous leadership could forge eco-democratic infrastructure to delay the Amazon tipping point.
governtheplanet.org
Meanwhile, some good #climate news from 2050.
It was fun doing this with @darkmatterlabs.org and @berggruen.org - a little chastened hope. #COP30
It was fun doing this with @darkmatterlabs.org and @berggruen.org - a little chastened hope. #COP30
Reposted by Anthony Burke
Great ACCR study: Shell actively lobbies to increase demand for the stuff it sells, even though using more of it causes more destruction and damage to our lives.
ie: Suppliers create demand. And so putting a leash on supply is vital for climate.
www.accr.org.au/research/com...
ie: Suppliers create demand. And so putting a leash on supply is vital for climate.
www.accr.org.au/research/com...
November 26, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Great ACCR study: Shell actively lobbies to increase demand for the stuff it sells, even though using more of it causes more destruction and damage to our lives.
ie: Suppliers create demand. And so putting a leash on supply is vital for climate.
www.accr.org.au/research/com...
ie: Suppliers create demand. And so putting a leash on supply is vital for climate.
www.accr.org.au/research/com...
Reposted by Anthony Burke
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that one of the main impacts of LLMs is to disrupt thinking: to make it so that far too many people never properly learn how to do it, and then to control the output so there are thoughts that people never learn how to think.
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that one of the main impacts of LLMs is to disrupt thinking: to make it so that far too many people never properly learn how to do it, and then to control the output so there are thoughts that people never learn how to think.
Reposted by Anthony Burke
Great stuff by @versobooks.bsky.social: Harvey at 90, a series if posts honouring David Harvey's oeuvre in celebration of his 90th birthday.
www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/h...
www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/h...
Harvey at 90: A Verso Series
Last year, we celebrated Fredric Jameson's ninetieth birthday with a month long series commemorating his impact on literary criticism, critical theory and philosophy. This month, in honour of David H...
www.versobooks.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Great stuff by @versobooks.bsky.social: Harvey at 90, a series if posts honouring David Harvey's oeuvre in celebration of his 90th birthday.
www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/h...
www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/h...
Shocked I tell you shocked
Cop30 live: ‘Clownshow’ talks run into overtime with no clarity on climate deal
Cop30 live: ‘Clownshow’ talks run into overtime with no clarity on climate deal
Negotiations ran late last night, and as delegates begin to leave the outcome of the summit remains unclear
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Shocked I tell you shocked
It’s called a failed state.
‘The new narcotics’: how waste crime is causing environmental disaster across the UK
‘The new narcotics’: how waste crime is causing environmental disaster across the UK
Organised criminals face few repercussions for dumping toxic rubbish as Environment Agency struggles to keep up
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:32 PM
It’s called a failed state.
That was just the planet
Just got a "client satisfaction" survey request from #COP30 and, hoo-boy.
Let's see: transportation nightmare, sweltering venue, leaking roof, toilets out of service, very little food--oh, and the place caught fire.
Let's see: transportation nightmare, sweltering venue, leaking roof, toilets out of service, very little food--oh, and the place caught fire.
November 24, 2025 at 4:01 PM
That was just the planet
Read for the subtext - the inability of human civilisations to share the earth with its beings.
Colorado has wolves again for the first time in 80 years. Why are they dying? www.vox.com/climate/4700...
Colorado has wolves again for the first time in 80 years. Why are they dying?
A controversial reintroduction program is off to a messy start.
www.vox.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Read for the subtext - the inability of human civilisations to share the earth with its beings.
Reposted by Anthony Burke
I tracked references to minerals (that are needed for the energy transition) at #COP30.
As Melissa Marengo of @nrginstitute.bsky.social put it: "Minerals may not have made it into the text, but they are now firmly on the COP agenda – and the debate will only grow louder."
This is what happened 🧵
As Melissa Marengo of @nrginstitute.bsky.social put it: "Minerals may not have made it into the text, but they are now firmly on the COP agenda – and the debate will only grow louder."
This is what happened 🧵
⛏️ COP30 could be the first to discuss the impacts and opportunities of mining the minerals needed for the energy transition.
tinyurl.com/392badee
The UN climate talks have never addressed the material dimension of the energy transition before.
I'm going to be tracking those discussions here👇
tinyurl.com/392badee
The UN climate talks have never addressed the material dimension of the energy transition before.
I'm going to be tracking those discussions here👇
COP30 could confront "glaring gap" in clean energy agenda: mining
Resource-rich developing countries want the impacts and benefits of mineral extraction to be part of climate talks
www.climatechangenews.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:56 PM
I tracked references to minerals (that are needed for the energy transition) at #COP30.
As Melissa Marengo of @nrginstitute.bsky.social put it: "Minerals may not have made it into the text, but they are now firmly on the COP agenda – and the debate will only grow louder."
This is what happened 🧵
As Melissa Marengo of @nrginstitute.bsky.social put it: "Minerals may not have made it into the text, but they are now firmly on the COP agenda – and the debate will only grow louder."
This is what happened 🧵
When the climate crisis becomes diplomacy porn and mainlined hopium.
We will rue the day the climate movement was taken over by people in suits.
We will rue the day the climate movement was taken over by people in suits.
Australia’s unconventional Cop31 deal puts Chris Bowen at the helm of the world’s most complex negotiations. It’s a huge opportunity | Thom Woodroofe and Dean Bialek
Australia may not be hosting Cop31, but the unprecedented Turkey partnership is a real chance to secure global influence and turbocharge a new green zeitgeist
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:02 AM
When the climate crisis becomes diplomacy porn and mainlined hopium.
We will rue the day the climate movement was taken over by people in suits.
We will rue the day the climate movement was taken over by people in suits.
A kind of hilarious analysis. If one could laugh.
I feel for the Australian NGOs who have been robbed of this year’s source of futile hopium.
Maybe we could try for coal and deforestation treaties through the General Assembly, where there is no consensus rule to empower the spoilers.
I feel for the Australian NGOs who have been robbed of this year’s source of futile hopium.
Maybe we could try for coal and deforestation treaties through the General Assembly, where there is no consensus rule to empower the spoilers.
Australia’s failed bid to host Cop31 looks like a mess – but it may actually be the best result possible | Adam Morton
While the outcome is a let down for those who want Australia to do better on climate, Chris Bowen looks set to play a pivotal role in the UN talks
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:43 PM
A kind of hilarious analysis. If one could laugh.
I feel for the Australian NGOs who have been robbed of this year’s source of futile hopium.
Maybe we could try for coal and deforestation treaties through the General Assembly, where there is no consensus rule to empower the spoilers.
I feel for the Australian NGOs who have been robbed of this year’s source of futile hopium.
Maybe we could try for coal and deforestation treaties through the General Assembly, where there is no consensus rule to empower the spoilers.
Meanwhile, some good #climate news from 2050.
It was fun doing this with @darkmatterlabs.org and @berggruen.org - a little chastened hope. #COP30
It was fun doing this with @darkmatterlabs.org and @berggruen.org - a little chastened hope. #COP30
Amazon Tipping Point Postponed • Planetary Compendium
This speculative future shows how transnational Indigenous leadership could forge eco-democratic infrastructure to delay the Amazon tipping point.
governtheplanet.org
November 20, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Meanwhile, some good #climate news from 2050.
It was fun doing this with @darkmatterlabs.org and @berggruen.org - a little chastened hope. #COP30
It was fun doing this with @darkmatterlabs.org and @berggruen.org - a little chastened hope. #COP30
Yet our leaders are deaf dumb and blind.
If we don't rapidly phase out fossil fuels, we can say goodbye to coral reefs, the Greenland and Antarctic icesheets, and permafrost. The results will not be pretty.
3 massive changes you'll see as the climate careens toward tipping points
Scientists are increasingly concerned that the planet is headed for massive, irreversible changes due to global warming. In some cases, those changes have already begun.
www.npr.org
November 20, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Yet our leaders are deaf dumb and blind.
Reposted by Anthony Burke
Old growth in BC is being turned into wood pellets for power plants in Japan & the UK.
Despite promises, Premier David Eby is enabling this destruction.
Call on David Eby & Ravi Parmar to stop subsidizing Drax and protect old growth.
Take action: bit.ly/takeactionforbiomass
Despite promises, Premier David Eby is enabling this destruction.
Call on David Eby & Ravi Parmar to stop subsidizing Drax and protect old growth.
Take action: bit.ly/takeactionforbiomass
November 12, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Old growth in BC is being turned into wood pellets for power plants in Japan & the UK.
Despite promises, Premier David Eby is enabling this destruction.
Call on David Eby & Ravi Parmar to stop subsidizing Drax and protect old growth.
Take action: bit.ly/takeactionforbiomass
Despite promises, Premier David Eby is enabling this destruction.
Call on David Eby & Ravi Parmar to stop subsidizing Drax and protect old growth.
Take action: bit.ly/takeactionforbiomass
This is what happens when you try to run the world on bullshit.
Two signs the crash must be nigh on recent months:
1. Tech companies have been actively working to spread around the exposure to AI debt
2. People have increasingly been talking about that (which of course ‘strengthens’ the case for bailouts when it comes)
1. Tech companies have been actively working to spread around the exposure to AI debt
2. People have increasingly been talking about that (which of course ‘strengthens’ the case for bailouts when it comes)
WSJ: “.. If the AI market blows up, the blast radius would be wide, hitting not only Wall Street firms, but also pensions, mutual and exchange-traded funds and individual investors, because of how debt is often sliced and resold across the financial landscape.”
@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
November 18, 2025 at 1:58 PM
This is what happens when you try to run the world on bullshit.
Reposted by Anthony Burke
Reducing methane emissions is one of the most immediate and effective steps to slow the climate crisis.
The latest Global Methane Status Report, launched today at #COP30 by @unep.org @ccacoalition.bsky.social, shows progress, but more is needed to deliver global goals.
www.unep.org/news-and-sto...
The latest Global Methane Status Report, launched today at #COP30 by @unep.org @ccacoalition.bsky.social, shows progress, but more is needed to deliver global goals.
www.unep.org/news-and-sto...
November 18, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Reducing methane emissions is one of the most immediate and effective steps to slow the climate crisis.
The latest Global Methane Status Report, launched today at #COP30 by @unep.org @ccacoalition.bsky.social, shows progress, but more is needed to deliver global goals.
www.unep.org/news-and-sto...
The latest Global Methane Status Report, launched today at #COP30 by @unep.org @ccacoalition.bsky.social, shows progress, but more is needed to deliver global goals.
www.unep.org/news-and-sto...
The vandalism is well under way at the Belém climate #COP30 - opposition from the fossil fuel states on any sectoral initiative. They want the treaty to fail.
It’s working.
It’s working.
Daily report for 17 November 2025
enb.iisd.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:36 AM
The vandalism is well under way at the Belém climate #COP30 - opposition from the fossil fuel states on any sectoral initiative. They want the treaty to fail.
It’s working.
It’s working.
Reposted by Anthony Burke
Joan Didion on the fatal touch of Dick Cheney: “Dick Cheney pioneered the tactic of not only declaring…apparently illegal activities legal but recasting them as points of pride, commands to enter attack mode, unflinching defenses of the American people
November 16, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Joan Didion on the fatal touch of Dick Cheney: “Dick Cheney pioneered the tactic of not only declaring…apparently illegal activities legal but recasting them as points of pride, commands to enter attack mode, unflinching defenses of the American people
Reposted by Anthony Burke
NEW
Indigenous people have defined the image and sound of the climate talks in Brazil - and today was no different
COP30: Climate protest in Brazil's city of Belem aims to hold governments' feet to the fire
news.sky.com/story/cop30-...
Indigenous people have defined the image and sound of the climate talks in Brazil - and today was no different
COP30: Climate protest in Brazil's city of Belem aims to hold governments' feet to the fire
news.sky.com/story/cop30-...
COP30: Climate protest in Brazil's city of Belem aims to hold governments' feet to the fire
After a week of dreary negotiations at the COP30 climate talks, the streets were alive with the drumming of maracatu music and dancing to local carimbo rhythms on Saturday.
news.sky.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:55 PM
NEW
Indigenous people have defined the image and sound of the climate talks in Brazil - and today was no different
COP30: Climate protest in Brazil's city of Belem aims to hold governments' feet to the fire
news.sky.com/story/cop30-...
Indigenous people have defined the image and sound of the climate talks in Brazil - and today was no different
COP30: Climate protest in Brazil's city of Belem aims to hold governments' feet to the fire
news.sky.com/story/cop30-...
Reposted by Anthony Burke
What, exactly, does this string of words mean? Why does everyone who stands to profit from selling "AI" love to repeat it? And what's the value of slogans that masquerade as history?
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
"The Printing Press Democratized Knowledge": When Slogans Masquerade as History — Sonja Drimmer
The phrase is said so frequently it seems, like the mechanism it celebrates, to mechanically replicate itself. It's become a favorite catchphrase among tech boosters of any sort (see my post on...
sonjadrimmer.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:51 PM
What, exactly, does this string of words mean? Why does everyone who stands to profit from selling "AI" love to repeat it? And what's the value of slogans that masquerade as history?
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
Uh uh. Australian democracy ceased to function when it became clear our governing parties take their marching orders from corporations. When they refused to reform donations law or create a working NACC, we knew.
Some of our richest business owners are fascist. I can think of at least three.
Some of our richest business owners are fascist. I can think of at least three.
November 14, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Uh uh. Australian democracy ceased to function when it became clear our governing parties take their marching orders from corporations. When they refused to reform donations law or create a working NACC, we knew.
Some of our richest business owners are fascist. I can think of at least three.
Some of our richest business owners are fascist. I can think of at least three.
It’s too much to hope modern civilisation comes to its senses. The first sign will be that everyone on the AI grift will learn to distinguish between artificial intelligence (which does not exist) and machine agency (which is scary as hell bc it’s an abstraction of human or institutional thinking.)
November 14, 2025 at 8:33 PM
It’s too much to hope modern civilisation comes to its senses. The first sign will be that everyone on the AI grift will learn to distinguish between artificial intelligence (which does not exist) and machine agency (which is scary as hell bc it’s an abstraction of human or institutional thinking.)
This phenomenon keeps me awake at night and will one day empty my pen.
Climate breakdown is driven by a storm of lies. This lying is systemic, funded and coordinated, and operates across almost all media, old and new.
This week's column argues that we cannot fight the climate crisis without also fighting the epistemic crisis.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
This week's column argues that we cannot fight the climate crisis without also fighting the epistemic crisis.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Dark forces are preventing us fighting the climate crisis – by taking knowledge hostage | George Monbiot
The fundamental problem is this: that most of the means of communication are owned or influenced by the very rich, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:52 AM
This phenomenon keeps me awake at night and will one day empty my pen.
If you’re a social scientist who doesn’t believe in nonhuman agency you have some awkward bed friends.
Finally, national coverage on the loss of 9 seismic stations in #AK going dark this month due to #NOAA funding cuts. This leaves #tsunami forecasters without vital data used to determine if an #earthquake will send tsunami waves toward the #US West Coast.
www.nbcnews.com/science/tsun... #EM #greysky
www.nbcnews.com/science/tsun... #EM #greysky
U.S. tsunami warning system, reeling from funding and staffing cuts, is dealt another blow
Seismic monitoring stations in Alaska are closing after a denied federal grant, risking delayed tsunami warnings for people living on the West Coast.
www.nbcnews.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:22 PM
If you’re a social scientist who doesn’t believe in nonhuman agency you have some awkward bed friends.
Stunning denunciation of the #COP30 talks’ anodyne corporate culture. But it’s not just some “countries” being marginalised but the living earth itself. Why we continue to see the climate issue through an anthropocentric lens defeats me.
Built to Fail: Rules at UN Climate Talks Favor the Status Quo, Not Progress - Inside Climate News
Experts say stifling bureaucratic procedures that are disconnected from the climate crisis have consistently stalled COP negotiations.
insideclimatenews.org
November 13, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Stunning denunciation of the #COP30 talks’ anodyne corporate culture. But it’s not just some “countries” being marginalised but the living earth itself. Why we continue to see the climate issue through an anthropocentric lens defeats me.