Nothing like the current upheavals around the world in the wake of the novel coronavirus, COVID19, have been experienced in peacetime. But societies have mobilised like this during conflict and mass conflagrations. Are there lessons to be learned, and could it lead to...
Initiatives
Time for a genuinely civil, civil contingencies response
Lindsay Mackie and Andrew Simms explore how crises reveal fundamental flaws in underlying political and economic models and call for a new approach It looks like it’s going to be a national emergency, or, in Whitehall terms, a very grave civil contingency. Novel...
Is Australia becoming uninhabitable?
Australia is a canary in the coal mine of global heating, Bill McGuire, Prof of Geophysical & Climate Hazards and New Weather co-director, unpacks the irony that one of the world's least welcoming nations to migrants, could shortly find many of its citizens...
Economic prospects for 2020: New Weather and the FT survey
Each year the Financial Times newspaper investigates the UK’s upcoming economic prospects with a survey of analysts. New Weather's Andrew Simms took part. The survey’s predictions often prove highly accurate. Like last year, the uncertainty of Brexit still clouds many...
New Weather co-director Prof Bill McGuire resigns from scientific body over fossil fuel funding – full letter
As reported in this BBC News article, New Weather Institute co-director, Prof Bill McGuire has resigned from the Geological Society over its relationships with fossil fuel companies, following 40 years of membership. In a short introduction and his open resignation...
Knock Three Times – see our new collection of modern folk tales
Buy it here: Knock Three Times - 28 modern folk tales for a troubled world edited by Andrew Simms and Bill McGuire for New Weather. Click here and listen at 35 mins 15 secs to BBC Radio 4's coverage of Knock Three Times "All you can talk about is money and fairytales...
Five fails in UK climate emergency action
As the UK is revealed to be the biggest net importer of carbon dioxide emissions per person in the G7 group of wealthy nations, heterodox economist Katie Kedward spells out five reasons to question the UK government’s progress on tackling the...
Rising seas and Extinction Rebellion: policing the wrong problem
Bill McGuire, Prof. of Geophysical & Climate Hazards, says that policing Extinction Rebellion looks like displacement by state authorities unwilling to act on rising seas In the battle against global heating and climate breakdown there are, at present, two front...
Climate Breakdown? We need to talk about the Treasury
Extinction Rebellion held a People's Assembly in Parliament to identify new priorities for each government department, this is an adapted from Andrew Simms' short speech on the challenge to the Treasury When he led the Treasury as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon...
The Green New Deal – now make it happen…
https://youtu.be/PvEvfhdSaJo We all know there is a climate emergency, but what we can do about it? Any action capable of working at the speed and scale needed looks like a Green New Deal. Now there's a proposal before Parliament to deliver one. Here's Caroline...