DTA: Your class is titled Future thriving: Biophysical limits, systemic risk, and meeting the challenge of post-growth transition. What do you think is the most important thing for people to know about Future Thriving?
Piers: There’s quite a lot going on in that title! But it all points to some fundamental things about the predicament of being human in a world struggling to cope with the pressures we put on it and each other. You could say it points to a slow-motion emergency we’re struggling to speak about and take action on. Amidst that struggle though there is wisdom, knowledge, and voices worth listening to- the voices of those who are trying to imagine and plan our way out of this predicament. And I think those voices need to find each other, learn from each other, and take strength from each other.
More specifically, the course is about the planetary limits organised human life is breaching, the direct and indirect risks and consequences they are producing, and attempts to mitigate them by rethinking how we organise our lives. I find all this simultaneously scary, fascinating, and inspiring. So, I think the most important thing for students to know about this course is that it’s not just an opportunity to better understand the problems we face, or to appreciate attempts to develop solutions, but also to apply this understanding to themselves, their communities, and their purposes.
DTA: Given that we just set yet another record for hottest day, what do you think the climate movement needs to change to be successful?
Piers: That’s quite a question, and there are many ways to unpack ‘movement’ and ‘success’. If I may though, I would like to begin with some comments about the discursive supremacy of climate change- by which I mean the dominance of one aspect of the global ecological crisis in our consciousness, our institutions, and our policy-making. To illustrate; it’s very likely people have heard of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the IPCC) and those annual meetings called COPs where the nations of the world, along with lobbyists, activists, and experts, meet to try to decide on action to address climate change. However, I doubt as many people have heard of the IPBES- the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (it’s a mouthful!), and the annual COPs for the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
The former is much bigger news than the latter, even though it’s not hard to appreciate that the state of biodiversity and ecosystems are as crucial as climate change and are interlinked. And the former has stimulated greater institutional response, at least so far. In the world of business for example, an international Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) was established in 2015, whereas a Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) was not established until 2021.
My point here is not just that climate change has acquired greater priority in popular consciousness and governing institutions than other components of the global ecological crisis, but also that there are crucial questions to be asked about why a more integrated understanding and institutional response has not been achieved yet. As students will see, the earth system sciences have produced the Planetary Boundaries Framework for this, and it even has a memorable graphic (see below), which has also influenced social scientific aapproaches to how we might secure human wellbeing within environmental limits (which we’ll also explore on the course).
To come to the question of the success of the climate movement then, my glib answer would be that it won’t be successful until it succeeds in establishing discursive supremacy for a more integrated understanding of, and responses to the global ecological crisis. I appreciate that may sound rather intellectual in the face of the existential crisis we are facing, but I truly believe this is not a crisis amenable to merely technological and regulatory change. Rather, it requires a transformation in values and mindsets, as well as systems and infrastructures. I think that fits with Chris Shaw when he talks about ‘resetting our ideological satnav’.
Finally, I would add something I have noticed among my climate activist colleagues- not only are they struggling with burn-out, but they’re asking practical questions about the efficacy of campaigning without a positive vision. What I mean by this is a recognition that by shouting themselves hoarse about the world burning up, they are struggling to win more converts and solicit more effective action. I think we need to believe there’s a viable future worth striving for, and more of my colleagues are turning toward something called Degrowth for that. This informs the course because it not only offers integrated understanding of the crisis, but also a social movement supported by research and by social experimentation that focuses our attention on making a transition away from the dysfunctional systems and values that dominate the world today.
DTA: What drew you to teaching in a community education context and what role do you think that community education plays in helping build communities resilient to disinformation?
Piers: I’d like to answer this back to front if I may. Disinformation is a key term for this course because one of our key issues right now is the fact that the dominant approach to climate change and the broader crisis is based on the implausible idea that we can reduce environmental harms while increasing economic growth. It’s called Green Growth, it informs the transition planning of most government and corporate bodies, yet it has not been demonstrated as scientifically or logistically feasible. Whilst many ostensibly laudable initiatives to reform industries, improve efficiencies, and introduce new technologies are being pursued under the banner of Green Growth, it’s important to appreciate that they are not sufficient to meet UN targets for limiting global warming. As such, they serve a propaganda function for maintaining business-as-usual. Some critics argue that this is tantamount to a green-wishing kind of disinformation.
I see this ‘don’t worry, we’ve got this under control’ approach to climate change as a more insidious form of climate disinformation than merely denying the reality of anthropogenic climate change (as many still do). It’s not hard to see through it, just read the desperate pronouncements of the UN’s Secretary General about the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and how far off course we are! But that doesn’t mean that these inadequate solutions and delaying tactics aren’t proliferating and aren’t ideologically seductive.
This brings me to the importance of community education. One of the interesting things about Green Growth disinformation is that there are people in positions of power who know the emperor wears no clothes but lack the legitimacy to say it. The public can help provide this legitimacy. Imagine if more business leaders and politicians heard demands from an informed public! Imagine if they knew there was significant support for genuinely transformative change!
This is why I care about community education. In the past, I taught these issues to University students in the ivory tower of academia, and I loved doing that. But more recently, as I have consulted on climate change and sustainability, I have also given lectures and classes, worked with voluntary organisations, and organised educational events. I fervently believe that a just and resilient future will require a new civic mobilisation where we have a greater say in our economy and our environment, and community education is a great tool for helping bring that about.
DTA: Why do you think people should register to take this class with you?
Piers: By now, I’m hoping readers are gaining a sense of what the course is about, what it’s for, and why it matters. It’s designed flexibly so that it won’t matter if you’re brand new to the issues or already invested. Students can engage with as many or as few of the reading, listening, and watching materials I provide as they like. There will be short lectures from me, there will be a group chat, and most importantly a weekly class. And, for students keen to apply their learning, there will be an opportunity to conduct a project of their choosing with my assistance.
So, why register? This course is for you if you’re concerned about our resilience in the face of the global ecological crisis and its political and economic effects. It’s for you if you’re interested in navigating toward a better future. Perhaps you want to upskill to be more effective in your job? Perhaps you want to apply your learning in your community or organisation? Or perhaps
you’re just interested in learning for its own sake?
And why register with me? Well, firstly, I have decades of experience as an anthropologist, researcher, and educator, and I received an award for teaching the global ecological crisis in a way that empowers students to take action and avoid apocalyptic despair. Secondly, I have extensive experience in climate policy, in business sustainability, and in grassroots environmental and activist organisations.
DTA: Who is your favourite thinker on climate issues and what draws you to their work?
Piers: That’s a great question. If you had asked me a few years ago I probably would have said Bruno Latour for his work on the Anthropocene- that’s the idea that we have entered a new geological epoch as a result of the terraforming activity of humanity. I would still recommend his 2018 book ‘Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime’ and the series of lectures he gave at Edinburgh University (available on YouTube). He was a remarkable thinker whose work
remains extremely influential.
More recently, the thinker who may be most crucial to my own work would be Jason Hickel. Also an anthropologist, he shifted from a focus on development and global inequality (which I used in my teaching), to Degrowth. I recommend his book ‘Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save The World’, which is probably the best introduction there is. His other publications for magazines, academic journals, and UN agencies are excellent too. He’s one of the leading thinkers and researchers in the field of Degrowth- his presentation to the Dutch parliament inspired me in a presentation I gave to Green Party MPs in March 2023.
Finally, I would like to give a shout-out to my favourite podcast- The Great Simplification, which explores the systems science underlying our human predicament through conversations with a fantastic range of expert guests. It looks at energy, ecology, economics, geopolitics, and more, all in pursuit of integrated understanding and inspiration for a better collective future. The host Nate Hagens was even kind enough to record a presentation for the Beyond Growth Aotearoa conference that I helped organise with Sahra Kress of Degrowth Aotearoa New Zealand (DANZ) in 2023.