Dr Maria Bastos
@minesbastos.bsky.social
Feminist and Queer politics; foreign policy. Environmental security. Occasionally South Asia. Ageing woke person. 🌈🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🇵🇸
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
Climate action is now mostly national implementation rather than international negotiations. The upcoming climate negotiations at least got China to put forward a new pledge (NDC); now let's see them implement. Can Brazil crowd in $ for forest conservation? We shall see.
Here is my piece for what to expect from COP30 climate negotiations in Brazil for @global-affairs.bsky.social. We should have modest expectations given the headwinds and where we are in the process of decarbonization. The real action is in national implementation.
globalaffairs.org/commentary/a...
globalaffairs.org/commentary/a...
Can COP30 Deliver amid US Retreat from Climate Action?
With global emissions still rising and political will waning, what can come out of this year’s international climate negotiations?
globalaffairs.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Climate action is now mostly national implementation rather than international negotiations. The upcoming climate negotiations at least got China to put forward a new pledge (NDC); now let's see them implement. Can Brazil crowd in $ for forest conservation? We shall see.
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
The Vietnamese Bach Ma Mountain Peak station recorded one-day rainfall of 1,739 mm - close to the global one-day record and perhaps a new record for the northern hemisphere. It is part of a deluge Viet Nam has seen in October, shattering 35 precip records. e.vnexpress.net/news/news/en...
Vietnam sees 35 rainfall records broken in October - VnExpress International
Vietnam's northern and central regions saw a total of 35 rain records broken in October alone as two storms, Matmo and Fengshen, caused unprecedented downpours.
e.vnexpress.net
November 7, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The Vietnamese Bach Ma Mountain Peak station recorded one-day rainfall of 1,739 mm - close to the global one-day record and perhaps a new record for the northern hemisphere. It is part of a deluge Viet Nam has seen in October, shattering 35 precip records. e.vnexpress.net/news/news/en...
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
🌊 The Arctic is melting fast. A cargo ship just sailed from China to the UK via the Arctic for the first time, taking half the usual time.
Of course, what looks like a shortcut is really a warning: climate change is redrawing our planet’s map.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Of course, what looks like a shortcut is really a warning: climate change is redrawing our planet’s map.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Climate change clears northern route for first container ...
The melting ice sheet has opened up a north-east passage – which brings fresh political and environmental dangers along with it
observer.co.uk
October 26, 2025 at 8:18 AM
🌊 The Arctic is melting fast. A cargo ship just sailed from China to the UK via the Arctic for the first time, taking half the usual time.
Of course, what looks like a shortcut is really a warning: climate change is redrawing our planet’s map.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Of course, what looks like a shortcut is really a warning: climate change is redrawing our planet’s map.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
I’d say this is a must read by @rahmstorf.bsky.social - and ends with a warning that this is not purely “an academic discussion without major consequences.” Completely agree.
High resolution images from satellite and from eddy-resolving ocean circulation models point to an ongoing decline of the Atlantic overturning circulation, a key ocean current for our climate. Read more about it in my new blog article. 🌊
www.realclimate.org/index.php/ar...
www.realclimate.org/index.php/ar...
RealClimate: High-resolution ‘fingerprint’ images reveal a weakening Atlantic Ocean circulation (AMOC)
The #AMOC is the reason for Europe’s mild climate. Evidence that it is slowing has been piling up over the years – it now is likely at its weakest in at least a millennium, and it may even be approach...
www.realclimate.org
October 12, 2025 at 11:29 PM
I’d say this is a must read by @rahmstorf.bsky.social - and ends with a warning that this is not purely “an academic discussion without major consequences.” Completely agree.
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
It's weird - but now in Oslo, there's so many EVs that you notice the noise and the smell from individual ICE cars, and you realise how much we've been normalising it for ever. You can smell them half a street away.
And inside parking lots are just *quiet*.
And inside parking lots are just *quiet*.
It's absolutely astonishing: In just about 13 years, Norway has skyrocketed from virtually no sales of zero-emission battery electric vehicles to nearly 100% of all new passenger car purchases.
September 24, 2025 at 6:45 AM
It's weird - but now in Oslo, there's so many EVs that you notice the noise and the smell from individual ICE cars, and you realise how much we've been normalising it for ever. You can smell them half a street away.
And inside parking lots are just *quiet*.
And inside parking lots are just *quiet*.
Sickening how the #BBC is giving live coverage to that Kirk guy death! Don’t be surprised if in a couple of years UK will become a fully fledged fascist government.
September 13, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Sickening how the #BBC is giving live coverage to that Kirk guy death! Don’t be surprised if in a couple of years UK will become a fully fledged fascist government.
#Pakistan could then start to formally acknowledge the 1971 genocide during the war of independence. Likely not to happen, of course.
Pakistan intensifies outreach to Bangladesh, seeking new partnerships as regional power dynamics shift.
Why Pakistan is rushing to mend fences with Bangladesh
Pakistan intensifies outreach to Bangladesh, seeking new partnerships as regional power dynamics shift.
bit.ly
September 2, 2025 at 6:06 AM
#Pakistan could then start to formally acknowledge the 1971 genocide during the war of independence. Likely not to happen, of course.
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
Following the double attack on a hospital killing the sick, medics, rescuers and journalists amongst others and as people starve in Gaza, when will governments move beyond hollow condemnation?
Israel’s attack on hospital in Gaza may constitute a war crime on many fronts
Double-tap strike suggests killing of civilians, rescue workers and journalists deliberate and not a mistake
www.theguardian.com
August 26, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Following the double attack on a hospital killing the sick, medics, rescuers and journalists amongst others and as people starve in Gaza, when will governments move beyond hollow condemnation?
All correct.
There's a word for the EU's inaction over Gaza: racism | Shada Islam
Europe frames the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza as a humanitarian crisis rather than a deliberate political choice. There will be a moral reckoning, says Shada Islam, a commentator on EU affairs
www.theguardian.com
August 19, 2025 at 6:13 AM
All correct.
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
"What if the real doomer scenario is that we pollute the internet and the planet, reorient our economy and leverage ourselves, outsource big chunks of our minds, realign our geopolitics and culture, and fight endlessly over a technology that never comes close to delivering on its grandest promises?"
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it
AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event
Three years in, one of AI’s enduring impacts is to make people feel like they’re losing it.
www.theatlantic.com
August 19, 2025 at 3:22 AM
"What if the real doomer scenario is that we pollute the internet and the planet, reorient our economy and leverage ourselves, outsource big chunks of our minds, realign our geopolitics and culture, and fight endlessly over a technology that never comes close to delivering on its grandest promises?"
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
Serbia signs $1.63bn arms deal with Israeli company Elbit Systems - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/serbia-signs-163bn-arms-deal-israeli-company-elbit-systems
Serbia signs $1.63bn arms deal with Israeli company Elbit Systems
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<span class="field field-title">Serbia signs $1.63bn arms deal with Israeli company Elbit Systems</span>
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<div class="field field-field-text"><p data-end="337" data-start="210">Serbia has reportedly signed a $1.63bn arms deal with Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems, according to Israeli media reports.</p>
<p data-end="555" data-start="339">Elbit, which has supplied Israel with drones and other weaponry for its operations in Gaza, confirmed last week that it had secured a five-year contract to deliver military equipment to an unnamed European country.</p>
<p data-end="748" data-start="557">Under the agreement, Elbit will supply Serbia with long-range precision rockets, alongside a range of other military technologies, including communications and signals intelligence systems.</p>
<p data-end="923" data-start="750">The deal comes amid growing scrutiny of Israeli arms exports as the country continues its military operations in Gaza, which have drawn widespread international criticism.</p>
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www.middleeasteye.net
August 17, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Serbia signs $1.63bn arms deal with Israeli company Elbit Systems - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/serbia-signs-163bn-arms-deal-israeli-company-elbit-systems
This must be such a good book. On the list!
Militarisation and Biodiversity: Ecological Politics in the Korean DMZ — Roland Bleiker
By Roland Bleiker
www.rolandbleiker.com
August 12, 2025 at 11:51 AM
This must be such a good book. On the list!
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
After the anti-liberal Hungarian government published the Pink Education Report questioning women‘s right to enter higher education, I wrote that the next step will be not to allow women to vote. Voilà!
August 11, 2025 at 6:03 AM
After the anti-liberal Hungarian government published the Pink Education Report questioning women‘s right to enter higher education, I wrote that the next step will be not to allow women to vote. Voilà!
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
Barely an hour ago, Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif warned us all:
“If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.”
Israel just killed him.
“If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.”
Israel just killed him.
August 10, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Barely an hour ago, Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif warned us all:
“If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.”
Israel just killed him.
“If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.”
Israel just killed him.
Countries now suspending selling arms for an invasion of #Gaza. Now that the #genocide is established. How far can hypocrisy go? How far more? #FreePalestine. From the river to the ocean.
August 8, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Countries now suspending selling arms for an invasion of #Gaza. Now that the #genocide is established. How far can hypocrisy go? How far more? #FreePalestine. From the river to the ocean.
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
South African study finds 4 low-income communities can’t cope with global warming: what needs to change theconversation.com/south-africa...
South African study finds 4 low-income communities can’t cope with global warming: what needs to change
Low-income communities in Africa have done nothing to cause climate change but are worst affected by climate-related disasters, which are expensive to recover from.
theconversation.com
August 6, 2025 at 6:23 PM
South African study finds 4 low-income communities can’t cope with global warming: what needs to change theconversation.com/south-africa...
Reposted by Dr Maria Bastos
“This is about defiance. It’s about doing the right thing... And even if we fail, at the very least, we didn’t contribute to the problem.”
These words aren't defeatist, but a realist expression of our choices: give up, or go down fighting with a chance. ✊️
*Must-read* article.
These words aren't defeatist, but a realist expression of our choices: give up, or go down fighting with a chance. ✊️
*Must-read* article.
‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse
- An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation by Luke Kemp argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished
Story by me
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
- An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation by Luke Kemp argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished
Story by me
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse
An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished
www.theguardian.com
August 4, 2025 at 6:39 AM
“This is about defiance. It’s about doing the right thing... And even if we fail, at the very least, we didn’t contribute to the problem.”
These words aren't defeatist, but a realist expression of our choices: give up, or go down fighting with a chance. ✊️
*Must-read* article.
These words aren't defeatist, but a realist expression of our choices: give up, or go down fighting with a chance. ✊️
*Must-read* article.
This may change how hitherto humans have related with the geologic features of the planet. Scary.
Xi Ties His Legacy and China’s Economy to $167 Billion Dam
Beijing's mammoth project is a bid for stimulus, energy security and control over a river vital to millions.
www.bloomberg.com
July 31, 2025 at 9:43 PM
This may change how hitherto humans have related with the geologic features of the planet. Scary.
