WORLD VIEW 15 April 2026 Why more fossil fuels won’t fix the Iran energy crisis Climate-friendly technologies are the best way to stymie rising inflation — and will get better and cheaper over time. By Gernot Wagner Spend any time discussing solar and wind power as a solution to climate change, and you are sure to encounter someone who asks about reliability. The Sun does not shine at night and the wind does not always blow, so fossil fuels will be needed forever as a back-up, they argue. But how reliable are fossil fuels? In the past two months, conflict in Iran has created an energy crisis — the latest in a series. Oil prices spiked within days of the start of US, Israeli and Iranian bombing in the Gulf region on 28 February. Fuel prices remain high and volatile, and the ripple effects are set to increase inflation in the coming months. Isabel Schnabel, a member of the European Central Bank’s executive board, memorably named this effect fossilflation in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. There was, and is, one clear winner: renewables and other low-carbon technologies, from batteries to electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps. That is what distinguishes this Middle East oil and gas crisis from the Arab oil embargoes of the 1970s. Then, renewables were mostly unavailable, and industrial decarbonization was on few people’s radars. Solar power cost at least 500 times more than it does today, and EVs, heat pumps and induction stoves were a pipe dream. Ditching fossil fuels is not all smooth sailing. In 2022, European natural-gas prices spiked to ten times their levels before the Ukraine invasion, resulting in long waiting times for solar panels and heat pumps. Prices for these rose as demand outpaced supply, an effect Schnabel dubbed greenflation. She used a third term, climateflation, to describe the economic effects of climate-induced weather extremes, such as food-price rises from crop failures (M. Kotz et al. Commun. Earth Environ. 5; 2024).

The Iran War has once again led to a bout of what @isabelschnabel.bsky.social memorably dubbed 'fossilflation'.

It's en vouge to talk about the solution as some massively complex undertaking. It really isn't. Get off fossil fuels faster.

My latest just out @nature.com

rdcu.be/fdxig

Liebe Studierende, die hier mitlesen, vielleicht müsst Ihr das mal hören (sage ich auch im Seminar, aber nun denn): Ihr habt Abitur, also Hochschulreife. Ich kenne Eure Abi-Noten nicht, aber gehe davon aus, dass Ihr mindestens eine 3+ oder 2 im jeweiligen Fach habt, sonst hättet Ihr diesen 1/7

www.diejungeakademie.de/de/veranstal...

Luftaufnahme eines großen offenen Platzes mit rot und weiß gefliesten Flächen, die diagonal geteilt sind. Verstreute kleine Figuren von Menschen, die allein, zu zweit oder in kleinen Gruppen über beide Flächen gehen, einige schieben Kinderwagen oder stehen. Foto: Orbon Alija, istock

Schon angemeldet?
#KlimaLecture: Vom Wissen zum Handeln
📅 17.02.2026, 18:00 via Zoom

@linusmattauch.bsky.social, Katrin Schmelz u. Philipp Staab diskutieren, warum Zustimmung zum #Klimaschutz selten zu politischem Handeln führt. Moderation: Hermine Mitter
👉 www.diejungeakademie.de/de/veranstal...

@pik-potsdam.bsky.social @tuberlin.bsky.social

Luftaufnahme eines Platzes mit rot und weiß gefliesten Flächen, die diagonal geteilt sind. Verstreute kleine Figuren von Menschen, die allein, zu zweit oder in kleinen Gruppen über beide Flächen gehen. Text: KlimaLecture #12, Vom Wissen zum Handeln. Foto: Orbon Alija, istock

Einladung zur 12. #KlimaLecture!
📅 17.02.2026, 18:00 via Zoom

@linusmattauch.bsky.social, Katrin Schmelz u. Philipp Staab diskutieren, warum breite Zustimmung zum #Klimaschutz selten zu politischem Handeln führt.
Moderation: Hermine Mitter

👉 www.diejungeakademie.de/de/veranstal...

#Klimapolitik

Künstliche Intelligenz in der Begutachtung

DFG erlaubt Einsatz von KI in der Begutachtung.

Wenn wir jetzt noch die AI dazu kriegen, die komplette Forschung zu machen, haben wir den Menschen komplett von der Last des Forschungsprozzeses befreit und er kann sich komplett auf wichtige Dinge wie Reisekostenerstattungsanträge konzentrieren.

An empirically based dynamic approach to sustainable climate policy design - Nature Sustainability Climate policies based on conventional economic models that assume that citizens are entirely self-interested may trigger negative responses, even among those who support green lifestyles. A more dyna...

www.nature.com/articles/s41... ... how not to do succesful climate policy: overly focus on lifestyle choices.

The Guardian view on the inequality emergency: why a Nobel prize winner’s warning must be heeded | Editorial Editorial: Rising economic division is destabilising nations and eroding accountability. Joseph Stiglitz’s G20 blueprint offers a way toward global economic renewal

So pleased @theguardian.com's editorial board agrees with our expert committee that it makes a lot of sense to establish an International Panel on Inequality.

We are in an inequality emergency, and there are ways to lessen it.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Podcast: Starke Fakten, schwache Politik - Wie kann Klimaforschung überzeugen? Haben Forschende nicht klar genug gewarnt? Hat wissenschaftliche Vernunft gegen Lobbygruppen keine Chance? Oder haben Forschende zu viel Schreckensszenarien entworfen anstatt auf positive Nebeneffekte...

www.ardaudiothek.de/episode/urn:... Ein Podcast mit weitem Panorama dazu, warum die Politik doch immer was anderes beschließt als die Klimawissenschaft und die VWL empfehlen würden. Ich darf auch ein bisschen was dazu sagen @pik-potsdam.bsky.social @tuberlin.bsky.social

Starting in January 2026, PIK scientist @falkoueckerdt.bsky.social will join the newly established @ituaustria.bsky.social IT:U in Linz, Austria, as Founding Professor for Energy Transition and Climate Futures - congrats 👏 💐
www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

a cartoon character is pointing at a potato with the words `` come on do something '' written above it . ALT: a cartoon character is pointing at a potato with the words `` come on do something '' written above it .

Politicians trying to get carbon offsets to re-freeze the Arctic:

Auf dem Podium (v.l.n.r.): Dr. Elisabeth Dütschke (Fraunhofer ISI), Prof. Linus Mattauch (TU Berlin und Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung), Oliver Schenker (ZEW), Sara Hagemann (Bertelsmann Stiftung), Prof. Martin Kesternich (Universität Paderborn)

Martin Kesternich im Vortrag

Grußwort ZEW-Präsident Achim Wambach

Grußwort Gabriël Clemens (Kuratoriumsvorsitzender der Stiftung) vor Publikum

Heute am #ZEW: Akzeptanz der Energiewende⚡🌍Wer zahlt, wer profitiert?
🔹Elisabeth Dütschke @fraunhoferisi.bsky.social
🔹Sara Hagemann @bertelsmannst.bsky.social
🔹Martin Kesternich, Uni Paderborn
🔹 @linusmattauch.bsky.social @pik-potsdam.bsky.social @tuberlin.bsky.social
🔹 @olischenker.bsky.social

Inside the Republican network behind big soda’s bid to pit Maga against Maha A Guardian investigation finds the US soda and snack-food industries, threatened by RFK Jr’s movement to change Americans’ eating habits, have turned to a group of well-connected strategists, shadowy ...

This seems like classic Merchants of Doubt techniques, slightly updated for social media, and notable for trying to rupture the alliance between two anti-science groups
@naomioreskes.bsky.social

Jahrelang werfen sie Veganern vor, die würden ihnen "das Schnitzel" wegnehmen und jetzt nehmen sie Veganern das Schnitzel weg.

Bild: AbsolutVision auf Unsplash Auf einem gelben Post-it ist eine Glühbirne gezeichnet. Der Zettel ist an eine Pinnwand aus Kork gepinnt.

Die Junge Akademie hat einen neuen Rat ernannt. "Wir freuen uns auf die konstruktive und kritische Begleitung durch die Ratsmitglieder und danken den ausscheidenden Ratsmitgliedern für ihre Expertise", erklärt Philipp Rothemund, Sprecher der Jungen Akademie.

🔗https://t1p.de/avcez

#Wissenschaft

Klingbeil: Steuererhöhungen statt Einziehung krimineller Vermögen Die Bundesregierung muss entscheiden, ob sie Steuererhöhungen vorschlägt oder kriminelle Gelder effektiver einzieht. Experten fordern ein Umdenken, um das Vertrauen in den Rechtsstaat zu stärken.

Genau, was Zollfahnder Buckenhofer sagt: Wer ein rätselhaftes Vermögen nicht erklären kann, sollte es nicht haben…

www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/s...

1️⃣Elena Dilger und @linusmattauch.bsky.social befassen sich mit dem "Klimaschutzparadoxon" - also mit der Frage, warum die starke Zustimmung der Bevölkerung bisher nicht zu entsprechender Politik führt.
www.klimafakten.de/kommunikatio...

Opinion | Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves

"New civil rights violations will be imagined, new vistas of anti-Americanism on campus will be discovered, and the attacks will continue." My colleague Suresh Naidu nails it.

The deal might as well say, "souls will be searched."

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...

Screenshot of Jesse Jenkins on The Ezra Klein Show with headline "Is Decarbonization Dead?"

Screenshot of Jane Flegal on The Ezra Klein Show with headline "Is Decarbonization Dead?"

Is decarbonization dead? @janeaflegal.bsky.social & I join Ezra Klein to talk through how Trump just shredded America's most ambitious climate policy, what survived, and where we go from here. Listen @nytimes.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/o...

🧵Introducing the Trump Action Tracker website!

Today I’m launching www.trumpactiontracker.info - a live, searchable list of authoritarian‑style actions from Trump’s second term (over 740 actions so far). 1/14

Zach Parolin Appointed Oxford Professor of Social Policy, Inequality… Zach Parolin will direct the Economics, Inequality and Opportunity Programme at INET Oxford, which seeks to understand the drivers and implications of…

This fall, I'll join the University of Oxford as Professor of Social Policy, Inequality & Opportunity. I'll also become the Director of the Economics, Inequality and Opportunity Program at INET Oxford, and will join @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social as a Professorial Fellow.

EU\'s Climate Law presents a new way to get to 2040 The European Commission today proposed an amendment to the EU Climate Law, setting a 2040 EU climate target of 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, compared to 1990 levels, as requeste...

1/5 Today, we propose a 90% cut in emissions by 2040

🔗 ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

🧵 Sündenbock Klimapolitik? Klimaschutz wird zuletzt oft für Wettbewerbsverluste, Deindustrialisierung & Wohlstandseinbußen verantwortlich gemacht.

In @politischemeinung.bsky.social argumentieren wir: Das ist irreführend. Aus mindestens 3 Gründen führt an einem ehrgeizigen Klimakurs kein Weg vorbei.

🏆𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘆🏆

We are delighted to announce the winner of the 2025 European Award for Researchers in Environmental Economics under the Age of Forty: Linus Mattauch (TU Berlin & Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research)

https://eaere-conferences.org/index.php?p=515

#EAERE2025 is here! This morning, we already had an excellent pre-EAERE workshop on Climate Policy in Low-and Middle Income countries. Now, I am looking forward to an interesting conference and meeting many old friends and making new ones @eaere.bsky.social

Or the national focus of media is restricting the options discussed by societies. Perhaps also vested interests explain the lack of policy supply if there is policy demand. In any case, the real reason why we see not more global climate action is not the view of the people. (6/6)

All methods suggest that the support is either completely sincere, or the share of insincere answers is limited. Perhaps, then, politicians who wish to advance climate action underestimate the support in the population.

We found that surprising and hence used several methods to assess the sincerity of the support: a list experiment, a real-stake petition, conjoint analyses and an exercise involving the prioritization of policies.

Why do we not see more global climate change mitigation policy then? We hypothesized “pluralistic ignorance” (that is people underestimate that other people also like policies) – but only found a bit of that in Europe and essentially none of it in the US.