Oliver Balch
@oliverbalch.bsky.social
Journalist / Writer / Speaker
✅ Sustainability. Books. Running.
📝 Current book project: OUT OF AMAZONIA (Head of Zeus).
🗞️ bylines: Reuters, FT, Guardian, Positive News, etc
🎤 Speaking/moderator inquiries: steve@greatbritishtalent.com
✅ Sustainability. Books. Running.
📝 Current book project: OUT OF AMAZONIA (Head of Zeus).
🗞️ bylines: Reuters, FT, Guardian, Positive News, etc
🎤 Speaking/moderator inquiries: steve@greatbritishtalent.com
From Bordallo II (...well said!): "Our cities are being converted into huge game boards. The right to housing, enshrined in the Constitution, is now at the mercy of luck or chance." #housing #portugal #bordalloII #Lisbon #masstourism
August 18, 2025 at 9:07 AM
From Bordallo II (...well said!): "Our cities are being converted into huge game boards. The right to housing, enshrined in the Constitution, is now at the mercy of luck or chance." #housing #portugal #bordalloII #Lisbon #masstourism
Up the 1% 😊
"If there’s 100 journalists, the job of 99 of them is to point to the problem. But 1% of us have to go, ‘Well, what are we going to do about it?’"
Tips from @oliverbalch.bsky.social @lolagarciaajofrin.bsky.social @soljourno.bsky.social
By me for @icfjorg.bsky.social:
ijnet.org/en/story/gui...
Tips from @oliverbalch.bsky.social @lolagarciaajofrin.bsky.social @soljourno.bsky.social
By me for @icfjorg.bsky.social:
ijnet.org/en/story/gui...
A guide for pitching solutions journalism stories
Geopolitical tension and war are dominating front pages globally. That ongoing coverage is vital — but other angles deserve attention too, said Lola García-Ajofrín, a Spanish multimedia journalist.
ijnet.org
July 1, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Up the 1% 😊
My fav Galician hideaway … anyone guess where it is?? @galicia
June 23, 2025 at 9:10 PM
My fav Galician hideaway … anyone guess where it is?? @galicia
Chuffed to bag the FIRST EVER media interview with world 42nd richest man, Walmart heir Lukas Walton ... and even more chuffed that he had something positive to say about how (potentially) to fix the planet's problems.
In the upcoming FT Wealth report. Sneak preview here: www.ft.com/content/f1a7...
In the upcoming FT Wealth report. Sneak preview here: www.ft.com/content/f1a7...
Walmart heir Lukas Walton’s $15bn bet on the environment
With an estimated worth of $39bn, he wants to use market mechanisms to save the oceans
www.ft.com
June 19, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Chuffed to bag the FIRST EVER media interview with world 42nd richest man, Walmart heir Lukas Walton ... and even more chuffed that he had something positive to say about how (potentially) to fix the planet's problems.
In the upcoming FT Wealth report. Sneak preview here: www.ft.com/content/f1a7...
In the upcoming FT Wealth report. Sneak preview here: www.ft.com/content/f1a7...
Joe Biden's national climate advisor has every reason to be spitting mad ... in fact, she's surprisingly chipper. Why? US states are still pushing ahead with clean energy regardless of Trump. More on my interview with @americaisallin.com Gina McCarthy: www.reuters.com/sustainabili... @reuters.com
Gina McCarthy: ‘U.S. companies may not be putting their hands up, but they are still investing in clean energy’
As a former head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and ex-White House national climate change adviser, Gina McCarthy thought she had seen it all. But little had prepared even this veteran of Washington D.C. for the abrupt reversal of environmental policy under the new Trump administration.
www.reuters.com
May 12, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Joe Biden's national climate advisor has every reason to be spitting mad ... in fact, she's surprisingly chipper. Why? US states are still pushing ahead with clean energy regardless of Trump. More on my interview with @americaisallin.com Gina McCarthy: www.reuters.com/sustainabili... @reuters.com
Renewables across the Americas are growing fast: not because consumers are "woke", but because solar & wind are common sense (i.e. cheap, home grown, clean ...). My piece for today's FT report on Fastest Growing Companies in the Americas: www.ft.com/content/5b19... @financialtimes.com #renewables
Renewables sector stays upbeat but clouds gather over global energy
Natural resources and pricing keep demand buoyant even as the Trump administration embraces fossil fuels
www.ft.com
April 25, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Renewables across the Americas are growing fast: not because consumers are "woke", but because solar & wind are common sense (i.e. cheap, home grown, clean ...). My piece for today's FT report on Fastest Growing Companies in the Americas: www.ft.com/content/5b19... @financialtimes.com #renewables
Reminiscent of New College offering European Jewish intellectuals like Levi Strauss a home in the 1930s … “where was that?”, you ask. In the United States …
“Nearly 300 apply as French university offers US academics ‘scientific asylum’”
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
“Nearly 300 apply as French university offers US academics ‘scientific asylum’”
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Nearly 300 apply as French university offers US academics ‘scientific asylum’
Aix-Marseille University generates interest amid a US crackdown and calls for a ‘scientific refugee’ status
www.theguardian.com
April 17, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Reminiscent of New College offering European Jewish intellectuals like Levi Strauss a home in the 1930s … “where was that?”, you ask. In the United States …
“Nearly 300 apply as French university offers US academics ‘scientific asylum’”
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
“Nearly 300 apply as French university offers US academics ‘scientific asylum’”
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Good news: the latest issue of Positive News magazine has just landed!!!! 😊 Lots of uplifting stories ✍️, including a couple from me (on a centre for child victims of modernday slavery in Ghana 🇬🇭, and writer Matt Gaw on his love of gnarly weather ⛈️). More here: www.positive.news. Keep believing 💪
April 11, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Good news: the latest issue of Positive News magazine has just landed!!!! 😊 Lots of uplifting stories ✍️, including a couple from me (on a centre for child victims of modernday slavery in Ghana 🇬🇭, and writer Matt Gaw on his love of gnarly weather ⛈️). More here: www.positive.news. Keep believing 💪
Meet the urban miners of Leuven, Belgium ... some of the silent heroes build the more sustainable systems of tomorrow. My latest piece for @theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle... #circulareconomy #waste #recycling #reuse #construction #urbanmining @iclei.org
‘It’s beautiful, don’t you think?’ The urban miners unearthing treasure in Belgium’s homes and garages
As the historic town of Leuven strives to become carbon neutral, it is transforming how its building are made – and demolished. Are there lessons for the rest of the world?
www.theguardian.com
March 19, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Meet the urban miners of Leuven, Belgium ... some of the silent heroes build the more sustainable systems of tomorrow. My latest piece for @theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle... #circulareconomy #waste #recycling #reuse #construction #urbanmining @iclei.org
“Soft skills”: vital idea, unhelpful term. My latest piece for @reuters.com www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Brand Watch: Why investing in ‘soft’ skills makes hard-headed business sense
How might disadvantaged young people increase their likelihood of career success in today’s ever more technology-driven economy? The answer is not, as you might think, to learn to write code or master search-engine optimisation (valuable as these may be): instead, it’s to find yourself a mentor.
www.reuters.com
February 25, 2025 at 7:50 PM
“Soft skills”: vital idea, unhelpful term. My latest piece for @reuters.com www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Move over specialty coffee: it's chocolate's turn to go "terroir". My review of Rowan Jacobsen's entertaining investigation in to the rise of "bean-lobar" chocolate: this week's TLS: www.the-tls.co.uk/regular-feat... @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social
Wild Chocolate by Rowan Jacobsen | Book review | The TLS
Everything about the Dancing Lion Chocolate café in Manchester, New Hampshire, sounds a tad pretentious. The edible art. The cutesy tile tables. The fact
www.the-tls.co.uk
February 19, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Move over specialty coffee: it's chocolate's turn to go "terroir". My review of Rowan Jacobsen's entertaining investigation in to the rise of "bean-lobar" chocolate: this week's TLS: www.the-tls.co.uk/regular-feat... @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social
Amazonian artists object to 'Western gaze' in #photography show by iconic photographer Sebastião Salgado: my piece in @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Thnx:
@elianebrum.sumauma.com, @jonathan-watts.bsky.social @infoamazonia.org, @geviana.bsky.social, @firstamart.bsky.social
Thnx:
@elianebrum.sumauma.com, @jonathan-watts.bsky.social @infoamazonia.org, @geviana.bsky.social, @firstamart.bsky.social
‘Let Amazonians speak for themselves’: trouble in paradise for Sebastião Salgado’s Amazônia
Salgado is one of the world’s best-known documentary photographers but a growing wave of Indigenous critics are angry about the exoticised way in which they believe non-native photographers portray th...
www.theguardian.com
January 20, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Amazonian artists object to 'Western gaze' in #photography show by iconic photographer Sebastião Salgado: my piece in @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Thnx:
@elianebrum.sumauma.com, @jonathan-watts.bsky.social @infoamazonia.org, @geviana.bsky.social, @firstamart.bsky.social
Thnx:
@elianebrum.sumauma.com, @jonathan-watts.bsky.social @infoamazonia.org, @geviana.bsky.social, @firstamart.bsky.social
Need some positivity in your life? Good news: Positive News is out with a new issue. Chuffed to bag the cover story, about the rise of the hands-on dad. Just one of the many uplifting themes bursting from its pages. To subscribe & treat yourself to some optimism: www.positive.news/magazine/
January 16, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Need some positivity in your life? Good news: Positive News is out with a new issue. Chuffed to bag the cover story, about the rise of the hands-on dad. Just one of the many uplifting themes bursting from its pages. To subscribe & treat yourself to some optimism: www.positive.news/magazine/
Reposted by Oliver Balch
“How did mate (pronounced “ma-tay”) come to be a cultural institution? And what do its production, trade and modes of consumption tell us about our political economy, past and present?” Read on to discover more in @thetls.bsky.social:
www.the-tls.co.uk/culture/food...
www.the-tls.co.uk/culture/food...
January 8, 2025 at 5:20 PM
“How did mate (pronounced “ma-tay”) come to be a cultural institution? And what do its production, trade and modes of consumption tell us about our political economy, past and present?” Read on to discover more in @thetls.bsky.social:
www.the-tls.co.uk/culture/food...
www.the-tls.co.uk/culture/food...
Here’s to 2025 … flying high 🎈
December 27, 2024 at 11:01 AM
Here’s to 2025 … flying high 🎈
Happy Christmas from the land of Saint Nicholas
December 25, 2024 at 8:43 AM
Happy Christmas from the land of Saint Nicholas
One aspect of my work that I LOVE is public speaking. So I'm really chuffed to now be represented by Great British Speakers, alongside the likes of @benedictallen.bsky.social, @bethrigby.bsky.social, @garethwynwilliams.bsky.social, etc.
More here: greatbritishspeakers.co.uk/talents/oliv...
More here: greatbritishspeakers.co.uk/talents/oliv...
Business Sustainability Oliver Balch at Great British Speakers
Oliver Balch is a widely recognised expert on sustainability and the changing role of business in society. Book at +$4 1753 439 289
greatbritishspeakers.co.uk
November 21, 2024 at 4:22 PM
One aspect of my work that I LOVE is public speaking. So I'm really chuffed to now be represented by Great British Speakers, alongside the likes of @benedictallen.bsky.social, @bethrigby.bsky.social, @garethwynwilliams.bsky.social, etc.
More here: greatbritishspeakers.co.uk/talents/oliv...
More here: greatbritishspeakers.co.uk/talents/oliv...
Powerful photo essay by Berlin-based photographer, Julia Ochs, on the harsh realities (and poor returns) of ocean bottom trawling 🌊🐬🦑
eu.patagonia.com/nl/en/storie...
#saveouroceans
#sustainable
#fishing
eu.patagonia.com/nl/en/storie...
#saveouroceans
#sustainable
#fishing
November 20, 2024 at 2:50 PM
Powerful photo essay by Berlin-based photographer, Julia Ochs, on the harsh realities (and poor returns) of ocean bottom trawling 🌊🐬🦑
eu.patagonia.com/nl/en/storie...
#saveouroceans
#sustainable
#fishing
eu.patagonia.com/nl/en/storie...
#saveouroceans
#sustainable
#fishing
Come on @bsky.app peeps, we can do this!!! Hope, help, hilarity ... bring it on #solutions #ideas #betterpresent #brighterfuture
November 20, 2024 at 10:19 AM
Come on @bsky.app peeps, we can do this!!! Hope, help, hilarity ... bring it on #solutions #ideas #betterpresent #brighterfuture