S2 E16 - A Call to Action on Climate Change with Mike Berners-Lee

The government should be briefing the public on the climate and nature emergency the way it did during COVID. It hasn't, so Mike Berners-Lee and colleagues did it themselves. Mike, professor at Lancaster University, founder of Small World Consulting and author of How Bad Are Bananas? and There Is No Planet B, joins Matt and Al to talk about the National Emergency Briefing: 1,200 influential people, including around 85 MPs, gathered in Central Hall Westminster to hear nine top experts lay out the facts. CO2 far outside the range that supported human civilisation for 10,000 years. The rising risk of AMOC collapse and the end of UK crop farming. Weather extremes our infrastructure was never built for. Food security, health, defence, and an economic transition that pays for itself by about 2052. The briefing is now a 50-minute film, the People's Emergency Briefing, presented by Chris Packham, with over 1,600 community screenings across the UK and counting. Get involved at https://nebriefing.org: find or host a screening, check whether your MP attended, and sign the petition for a televised national emergency briefing. Chapters: 00:00 Welcome and introducing Mike Berners-Lee 00:35 What is the National Emergency Briefing? 02:20 The bare facts on CO2, and why 1.5 degrees is gone 03:15 Tipping points and the risk of AMOC collapse 04:40 Extreme weather and unprepared infrastructure 05:30 UK food security and changing diets 07:10 Health: 'we're in an emergency, we're just not treating it like one' 08:35 Security and threat multipliers 09:30 The economics: the transition pays for itself 10:20 The room's reaction: not one hand said 'exaggerated' 11:35 Why is there so little political will? 12:35 Disinformation and the psychology of denial 15:20 'The UK is too small to matter' answered 16:45 The People's Emergency Briefing film with Chris Packham 20:20 Take action: your MP and the petition 21:15 Should children watch it? Talking to kids honestly 24:20 UN SDGs and the Inner Development Goals 26:20 From climate crisis to climate and nature crisis 27:45 Have we passed the point of no return? 31:45 How Mike stays positive 34:25 Schools, social media and critical thinking 39:30 What you can do next 41:40 Wrap up National Emergency Briefing (screenings map, MP checker, petition, take action): https://nebriefing.org Small World Consulting: https://www.sw-consulting.co.uk Mentioned by Mike: People Planet Pint meetups, the Inner Development Goals, the Good Life Schools project #ClimateChange #NatureCrisis #NationalEmergencyBriefing #MikeBernersLee #ClimateAction #NetZero #Education