Planet: Critical

Henrik Nordborg is a physics professor at the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, and program director for the university’s Renewable Energy and Environmental Technology. He began giving public lectures about the climate crisis some years ago when he felt his students deserved more honest information about the state of the world and the looming crisis. This led to him developing the Global Climate Compensation, a plan to tax fossil fuel companies and redistribute those funds to every nation around the world.Henrik’s plan differs from other carbon tax proposals—he wants to tax fossil fuel companies at production, not from calculations of their emissions. He says this not only prevents companies’ capacity to skew the data, but actually involves no additional accounting—these companies know exactly how much they’re producing because that’s where their profits come from.The redistribution factor is equally key. This fund would be redistributed around the world, per capita, and governments could then choose what to do with that money. It could provide a buffer for developing nations to begin their own energy transition. This is crucial in a world where Western nations are avoiding paying climate reparations—Loss and Damages payments—which Global South nations have tried to bring to the table at Cop conferences. * Listen on Apple or Spotify* Watch on Youtube* Read the interview transcriptPlanet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today.© Rachel Donald This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

Jeremy Lent is an author and integrator whose dedicated his life since the dot com boom to understanding meaning: how to find it, how to make it, and how to apply it. Author of renowned books ‘The Web of Meaning’ and ‘The Patterning Instinct’, Jeremy joins me to discuss how to combine traditional knowledge with scientific understanding to navigate the polycrisis, the impact of cultural worldviews and how to shift them, and how we can use interconnectedness as a foundation to create a better and more diverse world. * Listen on Apple or Spotify* Watch on Youtube* Read the interview transcript* Bonus video out on MondayPlanet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today.© Rachel Donald This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

How do we build resilient systems? How do we allow for transformation? How do we encourage adaptation? How does this apply to both to ecosystems and human systems? And how we use this to better understand and tackle the climate crisis?These are questions Professor Graeme Cumming answers on today’s episode. Graeme is the Director of the Arc Center of Excellence coral reef studies at James Cook University in Australia. An ecologist by training, his research increasingly focuses on socio-ecological functions, problems and resilience in systems.He explains what dung beetles can teach us about political division, why resilience is not enough on its own, and ultimately why we cannot use ecological systems as an exact map for understanding the complexity of human systems. * Listen on Apple or Spotify* Watch on Youtube* Read the interview transcript* Bonus video out on Monday© Rachel DonaldPlanet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

One of the greatest challenges we face when tackling the polycrisis is understanding and applying a diversity of approaches. This means recognising the solutions are as complex as the crisis itself. There is no singular, simple answer. Accepting the ecosystem of solutions we need to implement also comes with accepting both unknown variables and the fact that different people are going to attempt different things—but each attempt is valid, and potentially plays a significant role in the bigger picture. A diversity of approaches demands a diversity of understanding. It also demands accepting we’re not always going to agree with how some choose to fight the battle.Asher Miller, CEO of Post Carbon Institute, joins me to discuss this very problem on today’s episode. He explains the role the Institute has played in pointing out the severity of the crisis, the dangers of oversimplifying or universalising responses, and how to apply systems thinking to creating complex solutions—and just how tough that can be.* Listen on Apple or Spotify* Watch on Youtube* Read the interview transcript* Bonus video out on Monday© Rachel DonaldPlanet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

“Too many cooks spoil the broth.” That’s the old adage—but could the opposite be true when it comes to politics? Researchers and writers Susan Clark and Tom Prugh say so. Their research into deliberative democracies show that inviting local communities to take responsibility for local governance improves engagement, depoliticises debate, and achieves excellent results. And the best thing about it? The more people see their impact in the community, the more responsibility they take—creating even better results every time.What’s even more exciting is the deliberative democracy model scales up. It may not be “fast”, like the political processes we live in today, but it might just be the model we need to empower citizens to confront the climate crisis and hold their leaders to account. * Listen on Apple or Spotify* Watch on Youtube* Read the interview transcript* Bonus video out on Monday© Rachel DonaldPlanet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

From the global financial crash in 2008 to Arab Springs in 2011 to the rise of authoritarian regimes climaxing in the election of a fake-tanned despot to the White House and a compulsive liar buffoon in Downing Street, the past decade and a half has seen the unravelling of political, financial and ecological stability.What was the first domino? Academic, documentarian and author, Rupert Russell, thinks we can blame prices. Rupert spent the past few years tracking how speculative markets and the resulting volatility in prices have exacerbated and even caused much of the crises we see around the world. He joins me to explain how the coffee crash in Guatemala led to the U.S border crisis, how the Arab Springs were caused by a spike in wheat prices, and how the physical effects of the climate crisis are driving vulnerable people into market climate wars, dictated by the speculative whims of bankers in the West. * Listen on Apple or Spotify* Watch on Youtube* Read the interview transcript* Bonus video out on Friday© Rachel DonaldPlanet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

We’re living in the anthropocene — a geological period defined by the impact of human activity on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. Essentially, it’s our behaviour that’s at the root of the problem. But so often this isn’t addressed as the root. Our economic system claims tech will save us from ourselves—but imagine we do find a silver bullet, do we have the social cohesion in place to implement that solution, or any? That’s what Richard Heinberg, senior fellow at Post Carbon Institute, joins me to discuss. Richard’s devoted his life to understanding the crisis and its solutions, authoring 14 books and hundreds of articles on the topic. Richard’s a big picture thinker, and he believes it is our behaviour and our current political division which is the real threat to climate progress.We discuss energy rationing, political division, the effect of increasing economic inequality, and the knowledge gap between the public and leaders.* Listen on Apple or Spotify* Watch on Youtube * Read the interview transcript* Bonus video out on Friday© Rachel DonaldPlanet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

Degrowth is making waves in academic and climate circles. Not only does the research field provide genuine hope for a more equitable and environmental future, but its advocates are hellbent on revealing the incorrect math, manipulated data and idiotic assumptions propping up capitalism’s regime. They’re debunking the myth of green growth.Ecological Economist, Tim Parrique, the lead author of ‘Decoupling Debunked’ joins me this week to explain how neoliberal ideologies have co-opted the climate movement by promoting “green growth”. He exposes the language and mechanisms economists and politicians use to lull the public into a false sense of security, gives a damning analysis of decoupling (believe me, you need to know this), drops a bombshell about the IPCC report, and puts to bed the argument that growth on a finite planet could be a good thing. This is a brilliant episode building on Jason Hickel’s Introduction to Degrowth a few weeks ago. Listen to the full interview here, catch it on on Apple or Spotify or watch on Youtube. You’ll find the bonus episode on Youtube tomorrow, and this week everyone has access to the interview transcript.© Rachel DonaldPlanet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

Extinction Rebellion drew attention to the climate crisis like no other group before them. Founded in just 2018, they’ve forced the climate conversation into the mainstream, and their organisation is an inspiring reminder of what citizens can achieve when mobilized.But what happens after the alarm has been raised? How do activist groups evolve their messaging and their mission to identify a new goal: solutions.That’s what Dr Gail Bradbrook joins me to discuss. Gail is one of the original members who set up Extinction Rebellion and has now transitioned to Being The Change which empowers both activist groups and members of the public to connect with one another around the world and do something. Gail also gives insight into where activism is going wrong in the West, from white saviour complex beliefs to inadequately connecting with the public. This is a fascinating discussion from someone who really knows these movements about where they’re going and what to do about it. Listen to the full interview here, catch it on on Apple or Spotify or watch on Youtube. You’ll find the bonus episode on Youtube over the weekend, and paid subscribers have access to the interview transcript on Planet: Critical.© Rachel DonaldPlanet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com

What happens when a small percentage of the population amass resources and power? Oligarchy. And polymath Sally Goerner says oligarchy is the final stage of most human civilizations—and a symptom of dysfunctional human systems.She joins me to explain why the future is integral and collaborative, why empowering people with vision and hope is key to creating systemic changes, why citizenship is the foundation of any human system, and how to measure the health of those systems.This is a far-reaching and impressive conversation covering neurobiology, history, sociology, political theory and systems thinking. I found Sally and her research utterly fascinating and hope you all get as much out of it as I did. Sally’s email: sgoerner@mindspring.comListen to the full interview here, catch it on on Apple or Spotify or watch on Youtube. You’ll find the bonus episode on Youtube over the weekend, and paid subscribers have access to the interview transcript on Planet: Critical.© Rachel DonaldPlanet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit planetcritical.substack.com