Fallacy 3: The 1.5 degree centigrade target provides a safe limit
Release Date: 03/17/2025
Fallacy 12: Prosperity requires economic growth
21 Environmental Fallacies
Fallacy 12: Prosperity requires economic growth. This podcast episode considers the relationship between economic growth and prosperity. It looks at what we mean by prosperity and whether it is possible to have prosperity without growth. A continuing growth in GDP is no guarantee that the majority of people will enjoy increasing standards of living, but one thing is clear: ever-increasing economic growth is not sustainable on a planet of limited resources. This podcast discusses four possible scenarios as our global economy strives to become sustainable.
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Fallacy 11: We can adapt to climate change
21 Environmental Fallacies
This podcast considers whether we can adapt to a changing climate. Our sophisticated global economies face huge challenges, and an effective response requires effective strategies and major investment (unfortunately, there is little evidence of either). Even if we divert a large proportion of GDP to protect our economic infrastructure, it will not be possible to prevent a collapse in the ecosystems that are fundamental to our survival. At what point will human efforts be overwhelmed by Nature? Do we have fifty years? A hundred years? Reports by the UN suggest that adaptation measures will...
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Fallacy 10: Every little bit helps
21 Environmental Fallacies
This podcast episode explores how token gestures are used to justify our unsustainable lifestyles. We also discuss the characteristics of the human brain, which responds rapidly to threats that are obviously dangerous and imminent but struggles when faced with threats that are uncertain, complex and some point in the future. The problem is compounded by political processes that elect leaders promising ‘better times’ rather than those who advocate social and economic change. In the light of these issues, it is not surprising that the response to the climate crisis has been characterised by...
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Fallacy 9: The global population must be reduced if we are to tackle climate change
21 Environmental Fallacies
The challenge of a growing global population is frequently linked to the threat of climate change. This is not surprising as a growing population will increase the demand for consumer goods and energy. This will increase the pressure on natural resources, and a growing energy demand is likely to accelerate the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. The challenges presented by population growth are particularly relevant on the continent of Africa, where the population is predicted to double within the next 30 years. How can highly developed economies be expected to tackle climate change if less...
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Fallacy 8: Free Market Forces Will Drive The Transition to Renewables
21 Environmental Fallacies
This episode considers the challenge of transitioning to renewable energy. Rapid adoption of renewables is essential, but many governments appear reluctant to intervene in the energy market. Instead, there appears to be a reliance on free market forces. This strategy seems to be based largely on political ideology. However, this policy of abdicating responsibility to market forces does not apply to the fossil fuel sector, which receives massive financial support from governments. This discussion unpicks the contradictions and flaws in political strategies that rely on free market forces to...
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Fallacy 7: Carbon Credits Provide an Effective Mechanism For Offsetting Carbon Emissions
21 Environmental Fallacies
The carbon credit industry is integral to many of the strategies designed to limit the rise in global temperatures. Carbon credits provide a trading mechanism that enables the producers of carbon emissions to pay other organisations to undertake activities to offset the carbon emissions. In theory, this should prevent carbon emissions from warming the climate. In practice, it encourages the continued production of CO2 at a time when every effort should be dedicated to reducing CO2. However, there is a risk that carbon credits distort markets, slow the adoption of renewable technologies and...
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Fallacy 6: Green Policies Make People Worse Off
21 Environmental Fallacies
This episode considers the characteristics of good and bad environmental policies plus the complexities of cost-benefit analysis - who pays the cost and who enjoys the benefit. We also examine why governments might wish to perpetuate the view that we should not overreact to fears about global warming.
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Fallacy 5: Governments Are On Track To Deliver International Climate Targets
21 Environmental Fallacies
This episode considers whether we should feel reassured by political claims that ‘We are on track’. What does ‘On Track’ mean? Is this ‘On Track’ to achieve Net Zero? Is this ‘On Track’ to avoid temperatures exceeding the two-degree Centigrade upper limit? Is this ‘On Track’ to meet some other, vague and unspecified, climate targets? Scientific evidence shows that carbon emissions are increasing and global warming is accelerating. A dispassionate assessment of the current situation would suggest that we are far from being ‘On Track’. It is unclear whether claims...
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Fallacy 4: The Conference of The Parties is Making Acceptable Progress
21 Environmental Fallacies
The stated purpose of The Conference of The Parties is to ‘ …stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system’. For the last 30 years, COP events have been attempting to stabilise concentrations of CO2. For the last 30 years, concentrations have increased. It is astonishing that the international community has not declared COP to be an ineffective, failed organisation. The economic consequences of the impending climate catastrophe were highlighted in a recent report by The Institute and...
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Fallacy 3: The 1.5 degree centigrade target provides a safe limit
21 Environmental Fallacies
This episode questions the concept of a ‘safe limit’. Is this safe for people living at subsistence levels in developing countries? Or is it safe for people living in the major, western cities. Is it safe for the next 5 years or is it safe for future of generations yet to be born? Is it safe for all ecosystems around the world, or maybe just for some of them? There is a risk that even minimal rises in global temperatures could trigger natural feedback loops that might take the climate to an irreversible tipping point. Do we know where the tipping point is, or are we hoping that it is still...
info_outlineThis episode questions the concept of a ‘safe limit’. Is this safe for people living at subsistence levels in developing countries? Or is it safe for people living in the major, western cities. Is it safe for the next 5 years or is it safe for future of generations yet to be born? Is it safe for all ecosystems around the world, or maybe just for some of them?
There is a risk that even minimal rises in global temperatures could trigger natural feedback loops that might take the climate to an irreversible tipping point. Do we know where the tipping point is, or are we hoping that it is still some way off? There is a risk that we might already be dangerously close to the tipping point without knowing it.
The global response to the climate crisis should adopt the ‘precautionary principle’. (i.e. If there is a degree of uncertainty, we should err on the side of caution). However, this does not appear to be the case.