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.
Environmental science
58%
Geography
17%
Pinned
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Dec 16
Why our imaginations are the key to solving climate change | Dr. Simon Donner | TEDxSurrey
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
youtu.be
If you're looking for some positivity... my TED talk was about the overcoming doubts and embracing solutions to climate change. The final piece of advice comes from a friend in Kiribati.
youtu.be/CZ_MPbjA78I?...
youtu.be/CZ_MPbjA78I?...
A decade after the Paris Agreement, the clean economy is winning
As the world’s climate negotiators gather in Brazil, they must understand that the energy transition is now inevitable
www.theglobeandmail.com
A decade after Paris, the clean economy is winning - terrific summary from @theturner.bsky.social
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/9858ffb...
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/9858ffb...
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...
No Kings protest coverage | News From The States
www.newsfromthestates.com
Live blog from across the US of the No Kings protest www.newsfromthestates.com/live-feed/no...
Thanks, that's kind of you to say.
Three key points in my recent gov't testimony about Canada's climate efforts:
1) The 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, though bolder than past plans, was not sufficient
2) That plan is not being sufficiently implemented
3) Good climate policy is in the long-term economic interests of Canada
1) The 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, though bolder than past plans, was not sufficient
2) That plan is not being sufficiently implemented
3) Good climate policy is in the long-term economic interests of Canada
Reposted by Simon D. Donner
David Olive: Is Mark Carney retreating from Canada’s climate change fight?
In an astonishing reversal, Canada is poised to make big, long-term investments in projects that contribute to climate change rather than fight it, David Olive writes.
www.thestar.com
“All we know that is happening is that we've been removing existing climate policies,” @simondonner.bsky.social said. @ubcgeography.bsky.social @ires.ubc.ca @science.ubc.ca www.thestar.com/business/is-...
Reposted by Simon D. Donner, Juan Rocha
Re-upping this paper by @sethwynes.bsky.social and @simondonner.bsky.social which finds a median climate vote in Canada associated w 34 tons, vs 2.4 tons for car free for a yr. Individual action charts look pretty different with collective action.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Simon D. Donner, Sylvain Genevois
WRI Climate
@wriclimate.bsky.social
· Oct 9
🌍 80% of people worldwide want stronger #ClimateAction.
But not all choices are equal. WRI Climate research ranks 19 ways to help the climate, showing which actions make the biggest impact.
Explore the list: bit.ly/4q0pWvC
But not all choices are equal. WRI Climate research ranks 19 ways to help the climate, showing which actions make the biggest impact.
Explore the list: bit.ly/4q0pWvC
Reposted by A. E. Dessler, Karen O’Leary
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Oct 6
Most of the world has recently set all-time heat records
Regional exceptions like the 1930s in the continental US notwithstanding
www.theclimatebrink.com
Most of the world has recently set all-time heat records - valuable analysis from @hausfath.bsky.social to show that climate change is real and global... even it was hotter in one town 80 years ago. www.theclimatebrink.com/p/most-of-th...
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Oct 3
ENVI - Canada's 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan
www.ourcommons.ca
The federal Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development is holding hearings about Canada's 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. You can watch the video of yesterday's hearing, in which I participated: www.ourcommons.ca/committees/en/ENVI/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=13130858
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Oct 1
Why the world is watching as China pledges emissions cuts
YouTube video by CBC News
youtu.be
Had a good chat with @johannawagstaffe.bsky.social about China pledging to reduce emissions, for the first time youtu.be/M3ps0P7uyic?...
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 25
“People need to come home feeling inspired to seek systematic, transformational change, not that the trip was their good deed for the year,” said @simondonner.bsky.social. He warns greenwashing can undermine #environmental gains. @ubcgeography.bsky.social @ires.ubc.ca atmos.earth/climate-solu...
Can Tourism Help Save the Places It Endangers? | Atmos
Travel is booming—and straining ecosystems. Activist tourism promises a fix, from reef cleanups to elephant care.
atmos.earth
On the rise of activist tourism, and whether it can help us respond to challenges like climate change.
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 25
We tend to assume others think like us. The US President and his speechwriters calling climate change a con job is a reflection on them. They're willing to deceive the public for personal gain, so they assume others are as well, and can't conceive of people taking actions for the greater good.
Reposted by Simon D. Donner
UBC Oceans
@ubcoceans.bsky.social
· Sep 24
Can Tourism Help Save the Places It Endangers? | Atmos
Travel is booming—and straining ecosystems. Activist tourism promises a fix, from reef cleanups to elephant care.
atmos.earth
“People need to come home feeling inspired to seek systematic, transformational change, not that the trip was their good deed for the year,” said @simondonner.bsky.social. He warns greenwashing can undermine #environmental gains. @ubcgeography.bsky.social @ires.ubc.ca atmos.earth/climate-solu...
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 19
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...
Reposted by Simon D. Donner
Liz Neeley
@lizneeley.bsky.social
· Sep 19
Meeting the Moment
Hi! I’m Liz Neeley and I’m glad you’re here. Each Friday evening, I write a summary of the week’s events in science and higher education. I pull together roughly three bulleted paragraphs about what ...
buttondown.email
Which climate scientists are doing good work similar to what you've seen me doing with Meeting the Moment (buttondown.email/liminalcreat...) and Unbreaking (unbreaking.org)?
(I have a few already in mind, but want to enlist your help and expand my circles.)
(I have a few already in mind, but want to enlist your help and expand my circles.)
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 12
"We'll never change. It's too hard"
I first heard that on my answering machine.
Then by fax. Really.
Next, emails, so many emails
Then blog comments
Facebook posts
The tweets, oh the tweets
Podcasts
Zoom webinar comments
AI-transcribed voicemails
Now, full-on AI videos
Sure, we can't change.
I first heard that on my answering machine.
Then by fax. Really.
Next, emails, so many emails
Then blog comments
Facebook posts
The tweets, oh the tweets
Podcasts
Zoom webinar comments
AI-transcribed voicemails
Now, full-on AI videos
Sure, we can't change.
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 10
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...
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 9
None of this will happen if we continue to falsely present climate policy as an opponent of economic policy. That incorrect framing needs to end. This is is about making upfront investments in policy and infrastructure today to build low-carbon industries and deliver long-term prosperity. (6/6)
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 9
iv) To do all this, federal and provincial governments need better and more accountable deals on policy implementation. Known as equivalency agreements, these deals are currently not transparent enough nor sufficiently monitored to maximize their efficiency and effectiveness (5/6)
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 9
iii) Expediting the stalled methane regulations for landfills and the oil and gas industry, providing heat pump incentives to low-income households, and broader adoption of low-carbon building codes would further promote long-term clean growth and reduce emissions (4/6)
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 9
ii) Adjust, rather than remove, existing policies to save red tape. For example, our research shows that small changes to Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulations, along with reintroducing electric vehicle incentives, is one pathway to reducing unintended and unproductive regulatory overlap (3/6)
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 9
i) Strengthen the industrial carbon pricing system by tightening performance benchmarks and expanding the system to cover more industrial emitters. Linking the provincial markets isn't enough. The whole system needs to be tightening to create policy certainty and unlock low-carbon investment (2/6)
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 9
Strengthening climate policy to build long-term prosperity
As we move forward with major new ‘nation–building’ projects and infrastructure investments, the choices we make are about today versus tomorrow, not the environment versus the economy.
www.hilltimes.com
The choices we face are about today vs. tomorrow, not environment vs. economy. Here my Net-Zero Body Advisory presents four immediate steps the Canadian government can take to prepare for the future, drawn from new research with @climateinstitute.bsky.social. (1/6)
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 7
Being Canadian right now is like being chained to your best friend as they stick their feet in a block of wet cement and jump in the ocean. You don't want to abandon them. You're not even sure if it is possible to cut the chain. But you're also afraid of drowning.
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 4
The tree planting company paying Kawhi story is a rare collision of my climate and NBA feeds
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Sep 4
If the Kawhi Leonard-Clippers-no-show-job case looks this much like salary cap circumvention, that’s probably because it is. www.thestar.com/sports/rapto...
The Clippers appear to have circumvented the salary cap with a third-party payment to Kawhi Leonard. Now the ball is in the NBA’s court
We don’t know how many owners might be skirting the cap and we don't know whether this was a significant aberration in the NBA. We don't know how deep the
www.thestar.com
Just incredible that the payment was via a carbon offset company... an industry whose accounting processes might be even more questionable than that of NBA teams.
Reposted by Simon D. Donner
Bruce Arthur
@brucearthur.bsky.social
· Sep 4
The Clippers appear to have circumvented the salary cap with a third-party payment to Kawhi Leonard. Now the ball is in the NBA’s court
We don’t know how many owners might be skirting the cap and we don't know whether this was a significant aberration in the NBA. We don't know how deep the
www.thestar.com
If the Kawhi Leonard-Clippers-no-show-job case looks this much like salary cap circumvention, that’s probably because it is. www.thestar.com/sports/rapto...
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Aug 28
The Future of Climate Change Communication Within Social Media
Last month, I announced that doctorclimatechange.com would be closing soon.
doctorclimatechange.com
Thoughts on what is, and what is not working, on climate change communication in the final (!) blog post from @stewartjc.bsky.social. As with any good writing about climate communication, there's ample mention of the late Stephen Schneider:
doctorclimatechange.com/f/the-future...
doctorclimatechange.com/f/the-future...
Simon Donner
@simondonner.bsky.social
· Aug 28
This discussion went in a direction I didn't expect!