Sam Toscano

My thoughts on the financialcialisation of football in audio form w/ @sperishefuni.bsky.social. Many of the aspects discussed are also part of a forthcoming book on football and climate change w/ @markdoidge.bsky.social @berglundoscar.bsky.social @samtoscano.bsky.social @jennyamann.bsky.social

Another Cop wrecked by fossil fuel interests and our leaders’ cowardice – but there is another way | Genevieve Guenther The fingerprints of Russia and Saudi Arabia are all over the decision text in Brazil. But a group of nations led by Colombia and the Netherlands offer hope, says End Climate Silence founding director ...

"But let us be clear. The conference was a failure. Its outcome, the decision text known as the Global Mutirão or Global Collective Effort, is, in essence, a form of climate denial."

A must-read by @doctorvive.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What the hell are they doing? So scared to spook the bond market that the bond market got spooked.

Starmer could be out there this afternoon explaining directly to the media and the public why he is going to COP, why clean tech is the future, how it will cut energy bills, why Farage is spouting BS when he says net zero is damaging the economy.

I just cannot take this shit seriously. If you're a senior Labour figure and think that the party's stance is cowardly but are too afraid to put your name on the record saying it YOU ARE A COWARD.

Throughout the piece, we draw on themes raised collectively during the workshop. The broad aim is to critique the role of optimism and trust in market solutions.
We delve into:

🪴Optimistic business communications

🔋Trust in the fairness of energy transitions

🧦'Anti-governance' in fast fashion

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? Reflections on the role of Optimism and Pessimism in  taking action on Sustainability SCI researchers explore sustainability in a time of polycrisis examining how optimism, trust, and market logic can both drive and hinder sustainable transformations.

🔔New Blog!🔔

I recently contributed to this article which emerged from @manchestersci.bsky.social's “Governing Polycrisis and Sustainabilities” workshop held in Feb. It is a collab between SCI colleagues Sandra Barragan, Tetyana Solovey, Usman Aziz and myself.

blogs.manchester.ac.uk/sci/2025/10/...

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? Reflections on the role of Optimism and Pessimism in  taking action on Sustainability SCI researchers explore sustainability in a time of polycrisis examining how optimism, trust, and market logic can both drive and hinder sustainable transformations.

🌍 Sustainability isn’t just about tech or policy. It’s about mindset.

This blog from @manchestersci.bsky.social explores how optimism and pessimism influence climate actions. Both hope and doubt are important, but are we brave enough to accept this tension?

blogs.manchester.ac.uk/sci/2025/10/...

Greta Thunberg: “They kicked me every time the flag touched my face” – Greta Thunberg on her days in Israeli captivity Beating, kicking, and threats of being gassed in cages. Greta Thunberg and several others from the flotilla ar

www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/25...

Israel-Premier Tech say pulling out of Vuelta would ‘set a dangerous precedent’ The Israel-Premier Tech team have said pulling out of this year’s Vuelta a España would ‘set a dangerous precedent in the sport of cycling’

My favourite genre of guilty press statement:

Group being protested against telling protesters that their tactics are 'counterproductive to their cause'. Thankfully, Israel-Premier Tech does support "everyone's right to protest", so long as they don't succeed.

www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/s...

@markdoidge.bsky.social , @berglundoscar.bsky.social, @jennyamann.bsky.social , @samtoscano.bsky.social I have submitted the first draft of our book ‘football and climate change: the unsustainability of the beautiful game’ to Manchester University Press. If all goes well it should be out in 2026.

This article is published in the British Journal of Politics and International Relations and will be part of their 25th anniversary Special Issue.

@bjpir.bsky.social @oupolitics.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1177/1369...

BP expected to scrap renewables target in shift back to fossil fuels Goal of increasing renewable energy generation 20-fold to be ditched, shareholders to be told this week

3 lessons here:
1/ fossil asset owners will keep these assets as long as gov'ts will let them.
2/ oil and gas net zero pledges are an elaborate distraction -- both for ESG optimists and consumers
3/ liberals take note: the market won't supply decarbonization.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...

New paper on the most disproportionate UK election: how Labour doubled its seat share with a 1.6 point increase in vote share in 2024!

With @profjanegreen.bsky.social
Out now in @politicalquarterly.bsky.social

Link: doi.org/10.1111/1467...
Short thread below🧵

Am I the only person who constantly mistakes Kamala Harris' husband for Leo Varadkar?

A @uompol.bsky.social list of PGR/ECR researchers to follow

@samtoscano.bsky.social @sarahledoux.bsky.social @martamiori.bsky.social @yonghaohuang.bsky.social
@niamhcashell.bsky.social @qiaochuzhang.bsky.social
@preciouskennedy.bsky.social
@vittoriogerosa.bsky.social
(Add any I've missed),

"Tapestry", always tapestry

screenshot of first page, abstract reads: Despite an ever-growing critical literature, vulnerability retains its place as a dominant concept in climate politics. What is less heavily researched is the concept of “invulnerability,” an idea that feminist and decolonial theory has many tools to critique. After unpacking the material and discursive elements of vulnerability politics, this article focuses on invulnerability as a concept that is an influential yet unexplored set of masculine and colonial fantasies. These fantasies – of modernity, mastery, and continentalism – are critiqued through different critical traditions, which are brought into conversation with climate politics literature. I then discuss the counternarratives of Oceanic thought, following Teresia Teaiwa’s prompt to “island the world.” I argue that this can be done through a focus on care, relationality, and a decolonial politics of resistance. I conclude that resisting the politics of vulnerability requires an engagement with critical feminist and decolonial thought to enable an imaginative piercing of the fantasies of invulnerability.

New article! I'll do a thread / blog soon, but it's out, and it's Open Access!

'Colonial fantasies of invulnerability to climate change'

doi.org/10.1080/1461...