Planet: Critical

It’s Them vs Us | George Monbiot

We need to stop pretending we live in a democracy.The essence of a democratic state is rule by the people, for the people. This has only ever been an illusion to mask oligarchic power. Upheld by the media, this illusion serves to sequester resources, power and divide a population who should be united in the face of their exploitation. We are a society of altruists governed by psychopaths. This is the message of George Monbiot, distinguished writer and activist, on today’s episode. George’s Guardian columns are read all over the world, lauded for their big picture scope on issues of climate, justice and politics. A fervent anti-capitalist and environmental campaigner, George joins me to discuss political, economic and legal corruption, the link between colonialism and strong welfare states, social tipping points, and movement-building. This is a wide-ranging and thorough discussion covering violence, sabotage, language and system dynamics: You cannot control a complex system from the centre—we are fighting against those who want to do just that at the expense of everything else.Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription.The episode also features the deeply moving song We Tried by climate activist Louise Harris. This is the anthem we’ve been waiting for, a rallying cry in the dark to take action before all is lost. Let’s get it to Christmas Number 1 in the UK charts to pierce the mainstream. Get the song here and support Louise’s climate album fund.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

Mongabay: Climate loss & damage fund ‘the furthest thing imaginable from a success’

Public Service Announcement!I’m now collaborating with Mongabay on their weekly Newscast podcast, bringing you conservation news from all around the world. To celebrate—and to encourage you all to subscribe!—I’m sharing my inaugural episode as cohost with you today.On this episode, I interview Brandon Wu of ActionAid USA about the Loss and Damages negotiations that took place ahead of COP28—and how the USA used its political weight to bully developing nations into accepting a deal unrecognisable from the premise of L&D. Loss and Damages is, in effect, climate reparations—a fund paid into by developed nations, who are historically responsible for the emissions causing global warming, which developing nations can then use to respond to the chaos caused by climate change: floods, storms, crop failures, displaced populations. However, it was the vulnerable nations who were forced to concede at the negotiating table, walking away with a deal which serves the interests of the world’s most powerful.Brandon gives an excellent overview and analysis of the situation, revealing how the USA used its muscle to twist the arms of developing nations at the final hour. I then discuss these details with my wonderful cohost, Mike DiGirolamo.Mike and I have collaborated over the years on a couple of projects and I was truly delighted when he suggested we join forces on this project! Please join us as we uncover the most important stories in conservation and environmental journalism from around the world.Subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast:* Apple * Spotify* Mongabay website* Download the free app on Apple or Android to access all episodes Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

Our Global Economy Won’t Survive | Sandy Trust

What maniac would suggest a hothouse earth would be economically positive?The financial services—and their incorrect models is costing us time to implement effective policies to mitigate climate change as much as possible. This is the warning from a report published by the Institute of Actuaries. The Emperor’s New Climate Scenarios warns that the world of finance is massively underestimating the destruction climate change will cause on our economy after 1.5 degrees of warming.Actuary and lead author, Sandy Trust, joins me to explain how such thinking got baked into the financial services by way of one man’s dodgy calculations, how to better interpret climate modelling, and the difference between risk assessment and scientific assessment. This is a truly fascinating conversation with Sandy expertly guiding us through technical terms to reveal a stark image: The people in charge are totally unaware of what’s coming. Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

The Green Democratic Revolution | James Schneider

All the money and power in the world—but still the ruling class is failing.James Schneider, Communications Director for Progressive International, explains how crisis is a permanent feature of fossil capitalism, which is currently cannibilising itself. He reveals a strategy for progressive movements around the world to unite around energy rights, before explaining how we need revolution over reform, including an anti-regime campaign to overthrow the ruling class. This is an acute and scathing analysis of the ruling class—and why hope lies with a green democratic revolution.James Schneider is the cofounder of People’s Momentum, author of Our Bloc: How We Win, and Labour’s Head of Strategic Communications under Jeremy Corbyn.© Rachel DonaldPlanet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription. Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

Oil and Conflict | John Browne

What Big Oil knew — from climate to Iraq.John Browne, Chairman of BeyondNetZero, was CEO of BP from 1995 – 2007. In 1997, he broke ranks with the industry and delivered a landmark speech on the impact of burning fossil fuels on the climate. But this was two decades after Exxon had hired their own climate scientists and buried the results.John explains what he and his executive team knew in the mid-nineties, insisting they began working solutions as soon as they understood the planet was heating up. However, as I point out, there are clues on BP’s website which suggest the company knew beforehand. We also discuss the impact of resources and particularly fossil fuels on conflict with John revealing he was invited to the Pentagon around the time of the Iraq war to estimate how much oil was in the Middle East nation. Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project by becoming a free or paid subscriber.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

Moral Clarity | Hamza Yusuf

Genocides are a Weapon of WarIdeologies are weaponised by the morally bankrupt to control those who are oriented towards values. Despite what the long arc of narrativised history would have us believe, even as it is being rewritten in realtime, the minority want more than their share—and they’ll do anything to take it. Wars are fought over resources; only the soldiers pray as dawn breaks.Hamza Yusuf is a British-Palestinian writer and journalist. He joins me to discuss the establishment’s lack of moral clarity concerning the genocide taking place in Gaza. We discuss the colonial roots of Israel’s ethnic cleansing and the long history of Western forces’ desire to appropriate the immense fossil fuel resources of the Middle East. We also explore the failures of Arab state leaders to protect the Palestinian people, the weaponisation of ideology, and the deliberate obfuscation of linguistic tricks that see Israel acting with impunity on the international stage.Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project by becoming a free or paid subscriber.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

Climate Delay and the Fossil Fuel Industry | Ketan Joshi

Welcome to the sophisticated world of greenwashing.From outright climate denial to tactics of delay, the status quo is rapidly responding to the eco-crisis—just not in the way we need it to. Rather than throw money at an energy transition, tackle runaway capitalism and tax polluters, Big Oil and governments alike are muddying the waters of discourse to eke out every last drop of fossil fuel.Ketan Joshi joins me to explain how this happened. A climate researcher and communications consultant, Ketan is one of the most astute guardians of our future, prolifically revealing greenwashing tactics used to dupe the public by private and state institutions. In this episode, he reveals these and the actions that the fossil fuel industry took to delay national energy transitions, the link between wealth, power and influence, and the root of the inequitable distribution of resources.Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project by becoming a free or paid subscriber.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

How Corporations Overthrew Democracy | Matt Kennard

Honduras is being sued for a third of its GDP by an American company—why?Because the developing nation changed its mind about Prospera building a charter city on its territory. This case, which could bankrupt Honduras, will be judged in a back room of the World Bank by three people, none of whom are obliged to even have a law degree.Matt Kennard, investigative journalist and author of Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy, explains the origin of this shadowy legal system, and how it has infiltrated politics, skews policies, and traps developing nations into exploitative relationships with some of the world’s biggest corporations, definitively undermining the democratic process.Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription. Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

Dignity and Liberation | lisa minerva luxx

Genocide.Israel will not stop until it subsumes the entirety of Gaza and, from the words of their leaders, destroys the Palestinian people.Brave people everywhere are protesting. Many are talking. Some stay quiet, for fear of losing their jobs. A minority around the world firmly believe the rhetoric developed by the Israeli state. The injustice in the Middle East, the violent impunity murdering thousands of civilians, backed by Western powers who blush not at their own hypocrisy, is uniting people all over the globe. This is an uprising against colonialism, against violence itself.lisa minerva luxx, poet, political activist, and member of Palestine Action joins me to discuss the dignity of the Palestinian people, and the dignity they have long been denied. We discuss their right to resist under international law, examining the narrative that passivity could have led to their liberation. We also explore the relationship of the Palestinian struggle for freedom to all other liberation movements around the world, with luxx highlighting the many leaders who fought for freedom using the tools of resistance, including guerilla warfare and sabotage.This is an episode about colonialism, violence, action and love. This is an episode about the reality of the situation in Palestine, and the Israelis and Palestinians suffering under this colonial regime. “Many people have been talking about and been horrified by—but not enough people—the use of “these are human animals”. We heard this before with the persecution of Jews.  How are we not learning? Jews were called rats. And that's why so many people allowed for the Holocaust to happen. ‘Oh, well, it's not happening to humans, I can allow it to happen to rats. I don't like rats.’ We allowed for this to happen before. How are we back here?"Subscribe to support Planet: Critical. Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

Exposing UN Greenwashing | Jacob Goldberg

“I don't think you want an organisation that is misleading the public about its achievements addressing the climate crisis, to necessarily be the one leading the global effort to do something about the climate crisis.”The UN claims they're "climate neutral"—it couldn't be farther from the truth.A recent investigation done by Mongabay and the New Humanitarian revealed many carbon credit projects the UN buys are linked to protest, rainforest destruction and dispossession of indigenous people. I'm joined by reporter Jacob Goldberg who investigated this story for over a year.Shockingly, he reveals the UN performs no checks on the carbon credits they buy—and did not respond to the reporters once they raised the alarm. As he says during the episode—can we trust an institution that can’t even keep track of the harm it’s doing to really lead the world through the climate crisis?Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project by becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe