As leaders gather in Santa Marta for the Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, our expert @dlevialvares.bsky.social explains why a fossil-free future must include tackling petrochemicals. 🧵 - 1/5 ⬇️
💘 Love is in the air… or is it influence?
This Valentine’s Day, we’re taking a closer look at the relationships shaping EU policy. 👇 [1/7]
“how’s work been lately?”
me:
petrochemicals are the lifeline of the fossil fuel industry
their impact on the climate, ecosystems, workers and people’s health is huge, but often hidden
if you care about the environment and feel frustrated by the lack of progress, it’s not you, it’s corporate capture
fantastic! I love Brussels
managing to get furniture and kitchenware in one go is so lucky!!
two orange cast iron roasting dishes, on the bottom it says Made in France
and last, found in the December on a night out, a set of cast iron roasting plates made in France
(there were 3, one was a bit chipped so it’ll be used as dish for a flower pot)
a music book for kids called Images Qui Chantent
music and illustrations for the song Sur le Pont d’Avignon in the drawing kids are happily hopping on the bridge
drawings for a song about a fox who stole a goose, I fear for the fox as hunters seem to be looking for it
a music book for kids titled Images Qui Chantent
look, it was threatening rain, it had lovely drawings and I have a soft heart
a perfectly good frame left on the street for people to take, the beauty of the Brussels’ circular economy
as the year is ending, here are some of the last bits the Brussels’ circular economy gave us in the past months:
a perfectly good frame (found on the day of my move, I was already carrying things so why not?)
2025 wasn’t a great reading year for me (didn’t read as much as I wanted to, some disappointments), so I’m taking this as a great omen for 2026
an assortment of books received for Christmas, titles in random order: L’ora dei Predatori; La fine del Diritto; Stitching the Intifada; Katabasis; To the Lighthouse, To Star the Dark; Ninety-Nine Words for Rain (and One for Sun); The Penelopiad (signed by Margaret Atwood); Troubled Waters and Nel Nido dei Serpenti
what a delicious Christmas haul
I want to talk about generative AI because of the defeatist impulses chronicled in this article. While simply expresssing a defiant attitude cannot always change lived-in reality, in certain cases it definitely can. This is in part because, early on, a conflict can exist at a perceptions level. 1/?
you should get me one!
today 👇
agree
depressing to think that one of the few effective ways to leave the land alone is the literal threat of being blown up though
“As my professional life keeps me knee-deep in democratic collapse, climate breakdown and other crises, the joy of reading aloud feels less like a luxury and more like a necessity.”
I knew I wasn’t the only one crazy about reading aloud and now as a parent of small child that joy has multiplied
“Syntax buckles beneath the pressure of empty stomachs. Grammar is no match for despair. I sit before my keyboard and try to summon what once came so naturally, but words scatter midway, like startled birds forgetting how to fly”
from a powerful essay about hunger from Gazan writer Alaa Alqaisi
LIVE: #INC52 #PlasticsTreaty plenary is happening now in Geneva. The new text from INC Chair @LuisVayasEc (released only 1 hour ago) does not mention "life cycle" or "chemicals" at all. It is a betrayal of the original mandate. #BreakFreeFromPlastic unep.org/inc-plastic-... (1/🧵
🚨 This text gives in to petrostates and industry demands — Member States must reject it.
The chair's draft text has just dropped at #PlasticsTreaty talks. CIEL's @Davzoul responds.
as many are heading to Geneva for the Plastics Treaty negotiations and the EU obsesses over competitiveness, I wrote a briefing about how a pause on plastics production would be a win, not just for the environment (duh) but also economically
their advertisement also shows the reality that there's really no separation between the fossil fuel industry and the chemical industry
fossil fuel companies happily support the "industry of industries" narrative as petrochemicals represent a huge lifeline for them, usually hidden from public view
a nice wooden chopping board, found on the street, looks homemade
a nice wooden chopping board, found on the street, looks homemade, in this photo from the side
this week, in Brussels’s circular economy: a chopping board was left in my street in a box with other things
sure, it might require a little love, I’ll sand it and oil and then it’ll be ready for the next cheese platter!
☠️The fact that everyday chemical products may contain ingredients that cause cancer is already problematic. The bare minimum would be to have labelling & packaging that clearly states any hazardous substance – so that we can protect ourselves.
But the Chemicals #Omnibus would do the exact opposite.
🧪“This Chemicals Action Plan exposes a troubling truth: EU policymaking is increasingly shaped by industry interests, not public welfare.” - Silvia Pastorelli, CIEL.
“EU Bends to Chemical Lobby”, CIEL full statement here: www.ciel.org/news/eu-bend...
sure the far-right has grown significantly, but more than a win of the far-right, to me this shows how little the main groups cared about the climate target: simply not enough
European governments seem to be hyperfocused on business, on making the industry happy, but..who for?
power cuts, deaths, droughts..even if you don't care about people, there's no business case for any of that
if you can't see that, maybe your brain has already melted in the heat
local authorities do what they can:
disseminating advice on how to cope with the heat and setting up climate shelters (had first seen them in Spain in 2019, now they're becoming more common)
but these are patches on a gap that is too big without an action plan that matches the scale
those more at risk are once again the most vulnerable
I'm not just talking about kids and elderly people, as TV and newspapers remind us each summer
it's the people we don't see or don't want to see: those who fix our roads, who work in the fields, who clean our streets
this is not new, no fun in the sun stuff
in 2023, 47.000 people died across Europe alone because of the heat
imagine people dying, every year, with regular warnings about how bad things will get, and still governments move at snail pace, or suggest to maybe discuss the issue a little bit longer