Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
Climate scientist, writer, speaker, dragger of sand into the house. Works at UBC, co-chair of Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body.
It is also giving me deja vu. I'm working on a more detailed analysis of the MOU, and was reminded of writing this for a similar analysis nine years ago:
November 28, 2025 at 8:10 PM
It is also giving me deja vu. I'm working on a more detailed analysis of the MOU, and was reminded of writing this for a similar analysis nine years ago:
Nice surprise to be quoted in the Clean BC review.
November 27, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Nice surprise to be quoted in the Clean BC review.
Recommendations from a mandated review of British Columbia's energy and climate plan. engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/...
November 27, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Recommendations from a mandated review of British Columbia's energy and climate plan. engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/...
The Pacific Islands pavillion at COP30 just had to close due to flooding. Seriously...
November 17, 2025 at 8:00 PM
The Pacific Islands pavillion at COP30 just had to close due to flooding. Seriously...
As we near the end of the first week of #COP30, this passage from the current version of the global stocktake text (on progress towards the Paris Agreement goals) captures state of the negotiations:
November 15, 2025 at 5:17 PM
As we near the end of the first week of #COP30, this passage from the current version of the global stocktake text (on progress towards the Paris Agreement goals) captures state of the negotiations:
Protest kicks the COP30 facility on Friday morning. It is being treated very respectfully, as far as I can tell.
November 14, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Protest kicks the COP30 facility on Friday morning. It is being treated very respectfully, as far as I can tell.
There's no official American delegation to COP30. There are still Americans in attendance, as observers from non-govt organizations, universities, etc, but no delegates participating in the actual negotiations. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-whi...
November 11, 2025 at 3:26 PM
There's no official American delegation to COP30. There are still Americans in attendance, as observers from non-govt organizations, universities, etc, but no delegates participating in the actual negotiations. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-whi...
Gold open access publishing fee for Nature is US$12,690.
Or, depending on where you live, you can buy a Yuan Up Pilot Electric Vehicle for US$11,500.
electrek.co/2025/07/31/b...
Or, depending on where you live, you can buy a Yuan Up Pilot Electric Vehicle for US$11,500.
electrek.co/2025/07/31/b...
November 3, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Gold open access publishing fee for Nature is US$12,690.
Or, depending on where you live, you can buy a Yuan Up Pilot Electric Vehicle for US$11,500.
electrek.co/2025/07/31/b...
Or, depending on where you live, you can buy a Yuan Up Pilot Electric Vehicle for US$11,500.
electrek.co/2025/07/31/b...
This article from @bryancurtis.bsky.social is bang on. Institutions bowing to Trump doesn't work. It only stokes a positive feedback loop based largely on a false perception of strength and inevitability.
www.theringer.com/2025/09/19/p...
www.theringer.com/2025/09/19/p...
September 19, 2025 at 3:39 PM
This article from @bryancurtis.bsky.social is bang on. Institutions bowing to Trump doesn't work. It only stokes a positive feedback loop based largely on a false perception of strength and inevitability.
www.theringer.com/2025/09/19/p...
www.theringer.com/2025/09/19/p...
What do the international court advisory judgements mean for climate action in Canada, and for youth lawsuits against governments?
Join us tomorrow to hear insight from climate law expert David Boyd!
Register here to attend in-person or virtually: climatesolutions.ubc.ca/news-and-eve...
Join us tomorrow to hear insight from climate law expert David Boyd!
Register here to attend in-person or virtually: climatesolutions.ubc.ca/news-and-eve...
September 10, 2025 at 5:47 PM
What do the international court advisory judgements mean for climate action in Canada, and for youth lawsuits against governments?
Join us tomorrow to hear insight from climate law expert David Boyd!
Register here to attend in-person or virtually: climatesolutions.ubc.ca/news-and-eve...
Join us tomorrow to hear insight from climate law expert David Boyd!
Register here to attend in-person or virtually: climatesolutions.ubc.ca/news-and-eve...
Flow of the Guadalupe River outside Kerrville, Texas. What gets me is thinking about what all those people experienced, the shock and panic as the river quickly rose. We can be mad about the lack of warning systems, about a million other decisions that weren't made. We can also just be sad.
July 8, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Flow of the Guadalupe River outside Kerrville, Texas. What gets me is thinking about what all those people experienced, the shock and panic as the river quickly rose. We can be mad about the lack of warning systems, about a million other decisions that weren't made. We can also just be sad.
July 2, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Climate action is not just about future generations. The choices we make today will help determine the climate impacts that people alive today, people in our lives, will experience over the rest of the century (and beyond).
June 25, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Climate action is not just about future generations. The choices we make today will help determine the climate impacts that people alive today, people in our lives, will experience over the rest of the century (and beyond).
We talk a lot about the level of climate warming, have we passed a given threshold, and less about the rate. The rate is the core problem: we are changing climate faster than society or the environment can adapt. If it took 10,000 years to warm by 2 C, this would be a different conversation.
June 23, 2025 at 11:25 PM
We talk a lot about the level of climate warming, have we passed a given threshold, and less about the rate. The rate is the core problem: we are changing climate faster than society or the environment can adapt. If it took 10,000 years to warm by 2 C, this would be a different conversation.
There may be nothing more thrilling than finding a data logger buried in the ocean for two years. We rely on hand-drawn underwater maps b/c we can't leave obvious markings. This is i-Kiribati colleague Aranteiti Tekiau revealing our hidden treasure, recovered on a dive in Abaiang Atoll last month.
June 18, 2025 at 6:38 PM
There may be nothing more thrilling than finding a data logger buried in the ocean for two years. We rely on hand-drawn underwater maps b/c we can't leave obvious markings. This is i-Kiribati colleague Aranteiti Tekiau revealing our hidden treasure, recovered on a dive in Abaiang Atoll last month.
Little reminder during a tough news week that the planet is still awesome... here are some dolphins jumping along side our boat during field surveys in Kiribati last month.
June 17, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Little reminder during a tough news week that the planet is still awesome... here are some dolphins jumping along side our boat during field surveys in Kiribati last month.
The initial objective was to use available experimental data to test for hormesis (low doses of heat stress are beneficial, but high dose are harmful). It proved hard to evaluate, because lab "heatwaves" were too hot and too short, more akin to heat shock than real heatwaves. (2/2)
June 17, 2025 at 5:45 PM
The initial objective was to use available experimental data to test for hormesis (low doses of heat stress are beneficial, but high dose are harmful). It proved hard to evaluate, because lab "heatwaves" were too hot and too short, more akin to heat shock than real heatwaves. (2/2)
Environment and Climate Change Canada released its summer forecast today, predicting warmer than normal conditions across most of the country. Notably, "normal" is considered 1991-2020, which for Canada is ~1-2 C warmer than the pre-industrial climate.
June 11, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Environment and Climate Change Canada released its summer forecast today, predicting warmer than normal conditions across most of the country. Notably, "normal" is considered 1991-2020, which for Canada is ~1-2 C warmer than the pre-industrial climate.
We need to plan for the future, not the past. I talked to @theenergymix.com about the risks of a "grand bargain" of pipelines for carbon capture, and the problem with some of the energy conversation in Canada.
www.theenergymix.com/grand-bargai...
www.theenergymix.com/grand-bargai...
June 9, 2025 at 11:01 PM
We need to plan for the future, not the past. I talked to @theenergymix.com about the risks of a "grand bargain" of pipelines for carbon capture, and the problem with some of the energy conversation in Canada.
www.theenergymix.com/grand-bargai...
www.theenergymix.com/grand-bargai...
At UBC on Wednesday? Join us from 1-3 pm for the 2nd annual Solutions Summit. It's a chance to learn - and chat -about new, ongoing climate solutions projects in the areas of AI, carbon offsets, reducing emissions from agriculture, and improving heatwave forecasts.
Register here: lnkd.in/gAmYzrbc
Register here: lnkd.in/gAmYzrbc
April 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM
At UBC on Wednesday? Join us from 1-3 pm for the 2nd annual Solutions Summit. It's a chance to learn - and chat -about new, ongoing climate solutions projects in the areas of AI, carbon offsets, reducing emissions from agriculture, and improving heatwave forecasts.
Register here: lnkd.in/gAmYzrbc
Register here: lnkd.in/gAmYzrbc
The Trump admin is cancelling a series of important climate research programs wasn't shortsighted enough... and the rationale is essentially that it's safer to put your hands over your ears and yell "I can't hear you". www.commerce.gov/news/press-r...
April 9, 2025 at 6:15 PM
The Trump admin is cancelling a series of important climate research programs wasn't shortsighted enough... and the rationale is essentially that it's safer to put your hands over your ears and yell "I can't hear you". www.commerce.gov/news/press-r...
Calling for the west to secede from Canada if your party loses an election, at the same time that US President Trump announces worldwide tariffs that experts are calling batshit crazy... is a choice.
April 2, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Calling for the west to secede from Canada if your party loses an election, at the same time that US President Trump announces worldwide tariffs that experts are calling batshit crazy... is a choice.
This is the energy issue facing Canada. We may need to double electricity generation in the next few decades, which means investment, process reform, better consultations with Indigenous communities, and getting the provinces to work together. We need to talk about this, not just pipelines and LNG.
March 31, 2025 at 8:04 PM
This is the energy issue facing Canada. We may need to double electricity generation in the next few decades, which means investment, process reform, better consultations with Indigenous communities, and getting the provinces to work together. We need to talk about this, not just pipelines and LNG.