Writings
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No words: On Trump’s triumph
The U.S. general election result implies a need to pivot much more toward climate adaptation. Because it is plain that our civilisation has chosen not to address the root cause of the deep deep trouble that we are in.
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Transformative Adaptation: the path, in this ‘Trump won!?’ world
I write as Trump gives his victory speech. …This is a dire dire day for the living planet. Probably on balance literally the worst day ever.
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Why the Green Party admitting the limits of its power could aid the fight for climate justice
This article first appeared on Compass here. The July 4 general election results were nothing short of extraordinary for the Green Party. As someone who has been deeply involved in this movement for many years, I cannot express how overjoyed I am at the success we achieved. Yet, even amidst this celebration, we must confront a sobering truth: our remarkable victories still fall far short of granting us real power at Westminster. Despite our stunning success, the Green Party will not have enough time in this ‘critical decade’ to make everything okay, even if we maximise our gains in future elections. We might have made a significant impact had we…
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The true power of the Green Party is now: to admit our own powerlessness to ‘save the world’
This post first appeared on Green House here. What you can say when you win that you couldn’t say before Let’s start with the obvious and good: What a brilliant, unprecedented set of general election results for the Green Party. Having been in this game for a long time, I can’t tell you how overjoyed I am at the success that July 4 brought. (For instance, I cried uncontrollably, with a great release, when it really hit me, on July 5, while welcoming Adrian Ramsay MP (!) to the heart of his new constituency, along with a big gaggle of Greens, that here where I live in East Anglia, we…
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Labour’s Manifesto: an initial analysis of the presumptive next U.K. Government’s stance on…resilience…
I’ve had a quick read of Labour’s manifesto, so you don’t have to. It is immeasurably weaker than the Greens’ on climate, nature, etc. It is of course superior to the Conservatives’ actually climate-wrecking promises. But that is an incredibly low bar.
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The True Power of the Climate Movement Is Now to Admit Our Own Powerlessness
Six years ago, I gave a public lecture at Churchill College Cambridge, called This Civilisation is Finished. Many students were in the audience. It’s far and away the most viral climate talk I’ve ever given. What explains its success? I’m quite certain that the most significant factor is that I began the talk with the following words: “Your leaders have failed you. Your governments have failed you. Your parents surely love you, but they and their generation have failed you. Your teachers, despite the best of intentions, have failed you… and I too have failed you.”
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Both/and?: The Climate Majority Project and the Radical Flank
The climate situation has deteriorated very significantly, even since last year; it is so tragic and gut wrenching. The situation is ‘with’ me almost all the time, now…
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Emergency action
Could civil disobedience be morally obligatory in a society on a collision course with climate catastrophe?
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Phoenix, dodo or butterfly? Three futures for East Anglia
This opinion piece first appeared in the Eastern Daily Press here. Let me transport you a decade into the future, in this vulnerable and beautiful part of the world that we share, out here in the East. It’s 2034. Little progress has been made worldwide or in this country at making us safe against climate breakdown. Here in East Anglia, we are, as a result, increasingly vulnerable to extreme temperatures – and extreme ‘weather events’ aka climate disasters. It’s early autumn. A huge storm-system is barrelling down the North Sea. Combining with ultra high tides, it overwhelms coastal flood defences in some places. But worse, gigantic volumes of sea water…
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The End of the Beginning?
As the climate crisis has escalated over the last decade, there has been a conspicuous absence of films that mirror the predicament we are faced with. Climate philosopher and activist Rupert Read responds to the recently released 'The End We Start From', a mainstream drama that attempts to portray the reality of what may come our way when the floodwaters break. And most of all, what it feels like to live among the ruins of a civilisation we take for granted.
