Senior Science Editor at @CarbonBrief with a fondness for baking and Arsenal FC. All opinions are my own, however dull they might be.
Joined March 2014
- Tweets 5,803
- Following 2,910
- Followers 4,172
- Likes 963
544 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
15 Oct 2018
Still kind of reeling from this… 😳
14 Oct 2018
.@CarbonBrief has compiled data from 70 peer-reviewed climate studies to show how #climatechange is projected to affect the world by regions. Check out the interactive summary here: interactive.carbonbrief.org/…
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
May 1
The arc of the scenario universe is long, but it bends inevitably toward more realistic emissions.
A new paper outlining the emissions scenarios we will be using in the upcoming IPCC AR7 report notes that "the CMIP6 high emission levels (quantified by SSP5-8.5) have become implausible".
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
Mar 25
NEW: Have YOU seen these FALSE OR MISLEADING CLAIMS about the NORTH SEA?
Find out more:
carbonbrief.org/factcheck-ni…
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
If you want to know more about how we established that there is a statistically significant increase in the speed of global warming since 2015, @CarbonBrief explains it nicely.
Mar 6
NEW – Pace of global warming has nearly doubled since 2015, reveals study
✍️ @AyeshaTandon
Read here: buff.ly/60Q5TkL
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Jan 15
For such a softly spoken guy, Ben doesn't hold back on the Trump administration:
"Insane. That’s the only word for it. Removing our ability to measure and monitor how the world around us is changing, makes no sense whatsoever."
Jan 15
NEW – Prof Ben Santer: Trump administration is ‘embracing ignorance’ on climate science | @rtmcswee
Read here ⬇️
buff.ly/2lKP1CG
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Jan 13
Here's our annual look at the most talked-about climate papers of the previous year:
Jan 13
NEW – Analysis: The climate papers most featured in the media in 2025 | @rtmcswee @AyeshaTandon
Read here: buff.ly/sF3cD1c
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
11 Nov 2025
Are you a journalist covering COP30 looking for new and diverse sources?
Check out the Global South Climate Database.
This publicly available, searchable database features 1000 climate scientists and experts from the global south.
🌍🔗 buff.ly/5bhfWeV
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11 Nov 2025
Here's our annual look at COP delegates:
Top story: no US delegation for the 1st time in COP history
Also: ~56k people registered, so no big drop-off despite accommodation issues in Belém
(Caveat: these are provisional figures)
Also also: most "virtual" delegates ever
#COP30
11 Nov 2025
NEW – Analysis: Which countries have sent the most delegates to COP30? | @rtmcswee Ho Woo Nam
Read here: buff.ly/I5pUBHu
ALT Overall totals for delegates from parties, observers and the media for all COPs, as published by the UNFCCC (see this article for more details on the data). Data for COPs 1-29 are the “final” figures, while COP30 data is “provisional”. Chart by Carbon Brief.
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
23 Sep 2025
In a UN speech today, President Trump said that "all of these [climate] predictions were wrong".
Back in 2019 I led a research effort to digitize old climate model projections and assess how well they did. Turns out they got future warming pretty spot on!
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
3 Sep 2025
Well this is embarrassing for "newspaper of record" The Times:
Its coverage of EVs is the most misleading among UK titles, with 52% of pieces in H1 2024 containing at least one misleading statement
(The Daily Telegraph "wins" on volume, with 44 misleading pieces)
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
14 Aug 2025
The recent DOE climate science report misrepresents the work of many researchers. Carbon Brief asked those cited to review the parts of the report where their work was used, and we collectively found 100 misleading or false statements: interactive.carbonbrief.org/…
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27 Jun 2025
More net-zero misinformation in the @Telegraph
It claims that a proposed scheme to put the cost of recycling onto packaging producers, rather than local councils, is a “net-zero glass tax”.
It is about waste management, not net-zero.
Somehow, this made it onto the frontpage 🤦
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27 Jun 2025
Here's more on the “Packaging extended producer responsibility” scheme: commonslibrary.parliament.uk…
I suspect the Telegraph knows that the connection to net-zero is bogus as it only mentions the phrase in its headline & opening line.
Link here: telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06…
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27 Jun 2025
And then @thetimes, revealing its credulity, has followed with its own piece that does exactly the same thing (just 2 hours later):
thetimes.com/uk/environment/…
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
14 Jun 2025
Chart: The rise, fall and rise of UK nuclear power over eight decades
Written by @DrSimEvans. Data analysis by Ho Woo Nam. Visuals by @tomoprater.
Read here ➡️ buff.ly/54FJd7w
ALT UK nuclear capacity, 1955-2100, gigawatts. Individual plants are shown separately. Source: World Nuclear Association and Carbon Brief analysis.
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
10 Jun 2025
NEW – Explainer: How human-caused aerosols are ‘masking’ global warming | @hausfath
Read here: buff.ly/46ERb71
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
24 Apr 2025
2025 had the second warmest first quarter (Jan-Mar) on record, just a hair behind last year (2024). This is remarkable since 2024 was boosted by a strong El Nino event, while 2025 started off in weak La Nina conditions.
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My HORRIFYING cartoon for this week’s @GuardianBooks
ALT Title: Modern Folk horrors of the British Isles Five images of various characters: A coven of murderous witches... Who play loud youtube videos on public transport. An ancient malevolent demon... With a three-hour podcast interviewing entrepreneurs. A flock of bloodthirsty ravens... Who think absolutely everything is "Woke". A primordial shambling beast... Wearing a "Make albion great again" baseball cap. A mob of satanic villagers... Who give bad reviews to books they haven't read.
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
28 Mar 2025
On today's and yesterday's @BBCr4today programme, it was erroneously suggested that car companies, like Tesla, receive Government subsidies via the ZEV Mandate
This is completely false
Not a penny of taxpayer money is given to car manufacturers via the Mandate
A short thread
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
18 Mar 2025
FACTCHECK: Why Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is wrong about UK's net-zero goal
In which I take a look at the evidence contradicting Badenoch's speech, from the science on the 2050 target to fact gas is causing high electricity prices much much more
carbonbrief.org/factcheck-wh…
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Robert McSweeney retweeted
18 Mar 2025
Dear @BBCNews - none of these answers are correct.
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly3…
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