Increasing greenhouse gas emissions are intertwined with economic growth — The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was established in 1994 with the goal of preventing “dangerous” human interference with the climate system. Since its formation, the member countries of the Convention have met at a Climate Change Conference (COP), held every year since 1995. Every COP meeting…

The visionary economist’s ideas have radical implications — You wouldn’t know it, but one of the most visionary thinkers of the twenty-first century, Herman Daly, died recently. Daly was the father of steady-state economics (SSE). While all things sustainability have increased in popularity, this undoubted heavyweight in the sustainability field and his ideas, have not. Steady-state economics may…

Nation-states aren’t set up to deal with global problems — As obvious as it sounds, the climate doesn’t have borders. This means that when greenhouse gases are emitted, they don’t just magically float over a country they’re emitted in, but contribute to system-wide impacts that affect the global climate. When you consider that fact, it seems a little strange that…

Our conception of sustainability is defined by a reality that is unsustainable by design — Imagine a man whose been brought up in a cave his entire life. A small hole at the top of the cave, through which a streak of light passes, creates shadows within the abyss. Having seen nothing other than the cave and that light, the man makes a valid assumption…

Various obstacles work against the environmental movement, but once one falls, they all will — Extinction Rebellion (XR) launched on 31 October 2018 with its ‘Declaration of Rebellion’ outside the Houses of Parliament in London. The following month the group held a day-long demonstration to block five bridges across the River Thames. Thousands turned out in Central London in the most significant act of civil…

Scarcity will drive prices up, leading to market failures, social instability, and the risk of war — Since Putin’s regime went rogue, fears of scarcity have led to wholesale gas prices soaring. And in shutting down the NordStream gas pipeline indefinitely, those fears have become a reality. Russia is using its monopoly over gas supply into Europe as a weapon, leading to an energy crisis sweeping across…

Society is distracted by playing on people’s fears — The unemployed — lazy and happy to take handouts from the government. Immigrants — parasites who want to come to our country and scrounge. The poor — they’re not productive enough; they need to get better jobs. The problems in the world are due to individuals. It’s individuals who don’t…

Adaption is key to survival in the natural world — After a few months without rain, grass transforms from a vivid green to a murky brown, and it appears lifeless as it stops growing. If you didn't know any better, you would imagine the grass was dying. But it’s doing anything but. In moments of crisis brought on by heatwaves…

Viewing the climate crisis as merely ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’ is part of the reason why there is a climate crisis — Upon accepting his Nobel Prize in 2018, the economist William Nordhaus argued that 4°C of global warming is ‘optimal’. Optimal because that’s where the costs and benefits of mitigating climate change will balance out from a cost-benefit perspective. In a subsequent paper, Nordhaus argued that “damages are estimated to be…