Category Archives: Writing

Another example of how the consequences of climate change impact our ability to tackle its causes No one should be surprised that climate change played a role in the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. What remains to be seen is whether this tragedy will spur action to stem the spiraling climate crisis. The prospects for that do notContinue reading “Derailment doom loops and Trump as the first post-1.5°C president | New Climate Reality”

The latest report from the UK Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) – ‘Planetary Solvency: finding our balance with nature’ – covers our work on derailment risk. This report considers the risks to the global economic outputs from climate breakdown and ecological collapse—concluding we could be at risk of a a 50% loss in GDPContinue reading “Coverage: Planetary Solvency – finding our balance with nature”

I wrote an article on what derailment risk means for financial institutions for the UK Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFOA), co-authored with Ben Shread-Hewitt, the researcher at the Strategic Climate Risks Initiative. The original article is here. — For over a year, Zambia has been suffering its worst drought in a century. In a climate-changedContinue reading “Could the consequences of climate change frustrate our ability to tackle its causes?”

Our Strategic Climate Risks Initiative research on derailment risk was mentioned in James Murray’s (excellent) end-of-2024 essay. You can read it here: https://www.businessgreen.com/blog-post/4390525/climate-change-isnt-woke

I wrote an article on derailment risk for the Conversation, co-authored with Dr James Dyke at the University of Exeter. The original article is here. — It is a common refrain to say that geopolitics gets in the way of climate action. From the war in Ukraine to trade tensions, each year seems to bringContinue reading “A ‘doom loop’ of climate change and geopolitical instability is beginning”

As part of the Strategic Climate Risks Initiative, we launched a new Substack blog: the New Climate Reality. Here is the first post. — The climate crisis is entering a new chapter.  It has two central features, two accelerating but conflicting trends. On the one hand, climate action is speeding up. Decades of clean energy investmentsContinue reading “Welcome to the New Climate Reality”

I wrote an article for the UK National Preparedness Commission about the blind spots in security assessment and management, with a particular focus on the potential collapse of Atlantic Ocean circulations. You can read the original article here. — Recently, something extraordinary happened in the House of Lords. In September, Baroness Jenny Jones, a GreenContinue reading “Blind spots on climate tipping points reveal complacency on climate change security threats”

My research with Michael Jacobs on ‘moving beyond neoliberalism’ was mentioned in this article in Byline Times: https://bylinetimes.com/2024/10/18/keir-starmer-investment-summit-growth-environment/

I was quoted in Farming UK’s coverage of our report on the blind spot in national security assessment and management of climate risks. “[Climate change] already poses severe threats to our security – this is not widely appreciated. But like Covid, severe climate impacts can come out of nowhere, with effects that cascade across society,”Continue reading “Coverage: Farming UK”

I wrote an article for the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) on priorities for climate change and national security facing the incoming UK government, co-authored with Matt Ince, associate fellow at RUSI. The original article is here. — The new UK government faces a world being made more volatile by climate change. In response, theContinue reading “Keeping the UK Secure in a Climate-Changed World”