In 2021, Robert Watson, Wolfgang Knorr and I wrote the article “Concept of net zero is a dangerous trap“. Three years later we concluded that the jaws of this trap are starting to close with climate policy increasingly being framed in terms of what we call “The overshoot myth“. In …
I had the good fortune to work with audio producer Jo Barrett on a podcast about climate change. The commission was for a British Academy funded project that provides online climate and sustainability education to people working in creative industries. My brief was to talk about climate change, tipping points, …
You could say it’s 2016 again. But this time it’s worse. It’s worse because back then we could only really guess what a Trump presidency would do. Now we know. And beyond the presidency, the Republican Party now controls the Senate, Congress and has a conservative majority in the Supreme …
James Dyke, University of Exeter; Robert Watson, University of East Anglia, and Wolfgang Knorr, Lund University Record breaking fossil fuel production, all time high greenhouse gas emissions and extreme temperatures. Like the proverbial frog in the heating pan of water, we refuse to respond to the climate and ecological crisis …
inews 11th April 2024 For more than 30 years governments have been wrestling with the climate problem. While we may or may not get the politicians we deserve, what seems abundantly clear is that no mainstream political party has demonstrated the sufficient gumption to keep humanity safe from dangerous climate …
The i paper 10th March 2024 Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Today, we would need to add to this proverb: teach a man to farm fish and you feed billions. Fish …
James Dyke, University of Exeter and David Armstrong McKay, Stockholm University It’s now almost inevitable that 2023 will be the warmest year ever recorded by humans, probably the warmest for at least 125,000 years. Multiple temperature records were smashed with global average temperatures for some periods well above 1.5°C. Antarctic …
On Thursday 9th November 2023, the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter hosted George Monbiot for a public seminar. Over the course of one and a half hours George and I discussed how much danger humanity currently faces, the role of young people and protest in producing sustainability …
Over the years I have been asked to write witness statements for the trial of climate change protestors. Here is a recent statement I drafted. If you have any recommendations for updates/changes/edits then please get in touch with me at helloATjamesgdyke.info. If you would like to use this statement (for …
By some estimates over 100,000 people amassed at central London over the past four days. Key locations in including the heart of the UK Government were the centres of mass die in, biodiversity parades, drumming, chanting, speeches and much more. This was the Big One, a four day action from …
Carbon removal is in the news again today. This story has been prompted by new research that suggests Direct Air Capture could be carried out using new chemistries that could results in a three-fold increase in efficiencies. There are quite a few “coulds” in that this is very early days …
Published in World Politics Review 24th January 2023 There is something very wrong with global food production. From farm to fork, the food system as it currently exists is the most environmentally destructive of all human activities. More than half of the Earth’s habitable land is used for agriculture, and …
Earlier this year I discussed net zero, 1.5, the Paris Agreement and much more with Tom Rivet-Carnac. This was captured in a recording that has now been made available as a podcast via Outrage & Optimism, a project created by Tom, Cristina Figueres, and Paul Dickinson. The discussion was part …
This week, the University of Exeter announced a new net zero collaboration with Shell. This five-year deal represents a significant amount of income to the University. This money will pay for research in the UK and Brazil that “is part of a wider Shell-led research programme focussed on carbon sequestration, …
The term “net zero” features in every climate policy. Why? Kevin Anderson gives his explanation in this short clip from the climate documentary film The Race is On (carry on watching to hear Kate Raworth diagnose some of the central dysfunctions of mainstream policy). Today, I and 40 other scientists …
Does every cloud has a silver lining? It may be argued that Covid-19 has in a couple of months produced more action on the environment than international treaties have in many decades. Air pollution has precipitously dropped around the world. Skies are no longer lacerated with contrails as aircraft remain …
The i newspaper and inews online 26th September 2019. Is this it? Is this the long-awaited tipping point, the moment when a sufficient fraction of society not only wakes up to the dangers of global heating, but starts to demand action? An estimated four million people in more than 160 …
The i news online and i newspaper print edition 9th August 2019. A year ago, Greta Thurnberg was an anonymous school girl who every Friday sat outside the Swedish parliament with a home made sign protesting against inaction on climate change. Today politicians and celebrities hang on her words, the …
The Independent 27th August 2019 If the Amazon rainforest goes up in smoke, then we will all be cooked. Its two million square miles hold over a hundred billion tons of carbon. At a time when we urgently need to reduce carbon emissions, the current fires that are raging across …
The Independent 2nd August 2019. The phrase “I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life” has been uttered a great deal in the north of England this week. In some places an entire month’s rain fell in four hours. Small streams that are usually a few inches deep …
