3 RIP SDG? Are UN Sustainable Development Goals Enough to Save Us?
Planet in Crisis
As we face an urgent ecological crisis, a group of experts discuss whether the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development goals are a help, or a hindrance, in rising to the challenge. According to the UN, "The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that...
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2 The Energy War and Climate Breakdown - Road to COP 27
Planet in Crisis
Cost of living crisis, global conflict, and climate breakdown - is a shift in our energy systems the solution to all of this? What does the recent Russia/Ukraine conflict tell us about our energy security? Is renewable energy the answer, or is there more to the equation? What should our energy systems look like in these times of unprecedented global change? Energy experts from science and industry discuss the changes that are rapidly required to secure humanity's safety on a local, national, and international level. Panelists also offer suggestions of what we can each do, as individuals, to...
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1 Climate Leadership Panel – Road to COP27
Planet in Crisis
What should leadership look like in these times of unprecedented global change? How can successful leadership mitigate a climate catastrophe? Where are we now – on the road to ruin or is there hope on the horizon? Scientists Warning Europe convened this panel of experts to hear what we need to see from leadership – at all levels – to respond to the climate crisis. At COP26 Scientists Warning Europe launched a new paper, the 'Scientists Warnings into Action'. It expanded on the six stressors identified in the previous three warnings of Nature, Population, Economy, Energy, Food and...
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Angus Rose on His Hunger Strike and Climate Action
Planet in Crisis
Climate activist and hunger-striker Angus Rose struck for 37 days without food, stationed outside the Houses of Parliament. He ended his hunger strike after being given a promise that all MPs will be offered a briefing on the climate emergency by UK Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance. He shares his rationale and experience in this May, 2022 conversation with Scientists Warning Europe Managing Director Ed Gemmell. LINKS: Angus's letters and news updates Follow Angus on Twitter Video of this conversation Scientists Warning Europe presents and promotes science endorsed solutions...
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30 Mobilising Humanity Film Premier at COP26
Planet in Crisis
“The scientific world has researched and reported, peer-reviewed and presented report after report after report. Most scientists are quite frankly fed up.... Now is the time for moral courage and real leadership.” These are among the words of Ed Gemmell as he moderated this press conference at COP26. At this event, Scientists Warning Europe premiered its new film, Warning into Action: Mobilising Humanity. Gemmell was joined by Dr. Victoria Hurth, Fellow of University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and Dr. Paul Behrens, researcher and science communicator at...
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29 Tribute to Stuart Scott - COP26 Press Conference
Planet in Crisis
Friends and colleagues pay tribute to the late Stuart Scott, who passed away on July 15, 2021 after a long battle with cancer. Scott’s efforts to put attention on World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: Second Notice, led to the formation of the World Scientists’ Warning Foundation. This is audio from a press conference hosted by Scientists Warning Europe at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland in November of 2021. From the Foundation’s website: “Stuart H. Scott was an American environmentalist and educator known for his creativity in communicating the urgency and severity of the impact...
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28 Food Systems with Helen Harwatt and Sunniva Sorby - COP26 Press Conference
Planet in Crisis
Our food system, as run today, is a major cause of the climate crisis. “We need to change production, we need to change consumption, and we need to change everything in the middle,” according to Sunniva Sorby. “Peak livestock” should be among our goals. Food systems and the climate crisis are discussed in this press conference held at COP26 in November of 2021. The panel includes Dr. Helen Harwatt, senior research fellow in the Energy, Environment and Resources programme at Chatham House, and arctic ice explorer Sunniva Sorby, co-founder of Hearts in the Ice, a social media project...
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27 Scientists Warning Into Action with Amelia Womack and Marianne Overton – Live at COP26
Planet in Crisis
Local government is at the heart of climate action. Local governments are closest to the citizens and need to pick up the pace of action that is far too slow at the national level. Among topics discussed are Boris Johnson’s COP26 opening speech. Scientists Warning Europe Managing Director Ed Gemmell led this conversation just outside the plenary room at COP 26 with Marianne Overton, vice chair of the Local Government Association and Amelia Womack, deputy leader of the Green Party of England. MORE INFO: World Scientists’ Warnings into Action, Local to Global Green Party of England Local...
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26 Nature Recovery with Seaspiracy Director Ali Tabrizi and Julia Davies
Planet in Crisis
Nature is in freefall decline. Complex, interdependent ecosystem processes - pollination, natural flood control and water purification – have been severely depleted by humanity. Some of the most major tropical and temperate forests are now carbon sources, instead of sinks. The biodiversity crisis extends to the seas. Nature’s decline, and what we need to do for it to recover, were the subjects of this press conference hosted by Scientists Warnings Europe at COP 26 in November of 2021. At the conference we heard from Julia Davies, founder of We Have The POWER and Ali Tabrizi, director of...
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25 Ecological Economics with Prof Tim Jackson: Scientists Warning into Action COP26 Press Conference
Planet in Crisis
Tim Jackson discusses the latest World Scientists Warning into Action paper and his paper, Net Zero Sooner, addressing the economics of carbon budgets. These are remarks made at the Scientists Warning Into Action press conference at COP26. Jackson is a noted British ecological economist and professor of sustainable development at the University of Surrey. Learn more about the Scientists Warning Into Action paper and sign it here: MORE INFO: World Scientists’ Warnings into Action, Local to Global World Scientists Recommend Urgent Actions for Survival of Civilization Zero...
info_outlineOne of the biggest messages scientists should warn policymakers with is that “GDP growth is just the wrong goal for the 21st century.” That’s the conclusion reached by Brian Czech, Executive Director of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy. In this presentation, Czech quickly hones in on two of the most controversial topics in ecological economics today: the sustainability of GDP growth and the prospects for avoiding limits to growth with technological progress.
Applying principles of ecology and national income accounting, Czech argues that GDP has become an outstanding indicator of one thing above all others: namely, environmental destruction. Next, reflecting a deep dive into the origins of technological progress, Czech defuses the notion that technological progress can reconcile the conflict between economic growth and environmental protection. He concludes with policy proposals for a steady state economy and “steady statesmanship” in international diplomacy.
Brian Czech suggests the “biggest question for democracy in the 21st century” will be how to get to an optimal level of GDP, considering the variety of preferences and opinions about what that optimal level may be. Czech served in the headquarters of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1999-2017 and as a visiting professor in Virginia Tech’s National Capitol Region during most of that period. He is the author of three books, most recently Supply Shock: Economic Growth at the Crossroads and the Steady State Solution. Czech’s primary areas of expertise include ecology, economics, and ecological macroeconomics.
This is the audio from a session held as part of the Planet in Crisis – Creating Action for COP26 global online summit. In November 2020, exactly one year before the official COP26 climate conference, Scientists Warning Europe organised this series of online Pre-COP events to raise awareness, push the conversation, show demand, and drive real action. Over 25 events were attended by more than 2,000 people from across the globe.
Scientists Warning Europe presents and promotes science endorsed solutions which will lead to a just transition for our World to a sustainable and equitable future. Learn more, sign up for updates, and support our work at https://www.scientistswarningeurope.org.uk
This podcast series is made possible through the generous help of the GrowthBusters podcast about limits to growth.
LINKS:
Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy
https://steadystate.org/
Publications of the Steady State Press
https://steadystate.org/discover/steady-state-press/
Scientists Warning Europe
https://scientistswarningeurope.org.uk/
All Three World Scientists’ Warnings
https://scientistswarningeurope.org.uk/warnings
Planet in Crisis Pre-COP Video Series
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyl1v07bfIaLHtXjYBtaca3YdlPaKC9Vx
GrowthBusters podcast
http://www.growthbusters.org/podcast/
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