Noam Chomsky: the end of human life on earth? With George Monbiot & John Sauven | The New Statesman

Noam Chomsky: "We are now facing the prospect of the destruction of organised human life on earth"

Temperatures in the UK reached 40°C for the first time ever this week. The 2022 UK heatwave caused wildfires in London, and parts of Europe sweltered in 46°C heat.

Despite plenty of political pledges, governments around the world are failing to take the radical action needed if humanity is to have any chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.

In this video the New Statesman asks three eminent experts - Noam Chomsky, George Monbiot and John Sauven - if the world is facing its "most dangerous moment", and whether there is still room for hope.

"We have not begun to exploit the full potential of renewable energy," says John Sauven, former Chief Executive of Greenpeace. "We do have the ability and the intelligence to design a system that could be powered 100% by renewables."

Sauven argues that our efforts should focus on renewables over nuclear power, pointing out that nuclear waste takes a million years to become safe: "I don't think that's the definition of sustainability."

Environmentalist and author George Monbiot has a different focus: agriculture and farming. "We have to get away from means of food production that has a massive environmental cost," he says, describing the inefficiencies inherent in a livestock-centred food system which involves using "half the world's calories [from grain]... going into the mouths of livestock" which provide 1% of our protein.

Meanwhile conflict rages in Europe for the first time in decades, and governments continue to invest in nuclear weapons.

"We are rapidly increasing the threat of nuclear war," says Noam Chomsky, citing that "over a third of Americans say in polls they are willing to engage in US military action in Ukraine, even if it's likely to lead to nuclear war."

However each of these experts hold out reason to hope. For Sauven, it's the fact that the solutions - renewable energy and changing to a more plant-based diet - are "completely feasible". For Monbiot it's the power of economy: "farmers would be happy to change if the money was right." Noam Chomsky, now 96 years old and a veteran of civil disobedience, finds hope in the activism of young people - including those involved with Extinction Rebellion - willing to undertake "serious actions... to try to stop this mad race to catastrophe".

Watch their interviews in full:

Read more on the New Statesman:
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[NewStatesman]

Watch our interviews with George Mobiot, Noam Chomsky and John Sauven here:

[seraaron]

When I was a kid, the first time I remember watching the news, and believing a government promise, and feeling hopeful about the future was when they promised Britain would be net zero by 2020. Over the years, I watched those goal posts get shifted further and further back, until all hope of us ever reaching net zero was shattered when the new target was set for 2050 at COP27. The worst part is, we're now at the point where reaching net zero wouldn't even be enough. This is a global problem that has to be tackled as a global community. And yet, every day more and more it feels like we're on the verge of apocalypse.

[steveco]

And yet I can't do anything about it myself, other than get depressed and avoid living a fulfilling life - e.g. it would be nice to have a child but I couldn't feel at ease with the world I'd be bringing them up in and their future.

[diarmaiddillon]

This title is beautiful. The end of HUMAN life..Not of life. Once the biggest parasitic virus in history, the human, is eradicated, life will still go on

[davidlloyd]

When I was studying chemistry in the 70s at school, my chemistry teacher stated that the CO2 concentration was going up (back then, 275ppm) and increases could have a greenhouse affect. It’s 475ppm now.

[thomasullmann]

The current leader of the Labour party in the UK harks on about the current government not growing the ecnomy enough. The size isn't the problem, its the distribution of wealth, the ecnomy is big enough to statisfy everyone in terms of materials.

Economic growth thus far has grown faster than the increased efficiency of production leading to overal inceased levels of CO2. Blind ecnomic growth at the cost of our environment and climate is madness. A market lead approach to ecnomics is part of the problem, a major part.

[sneakyone]

It’s crazy because 5000 years from know, new civilisations will try and piece together what has happened like we try to work out what happened during the younger dryas period.

[Germanbattle]

And just when you though the internet and the dawn of the age information would help educate people and put the world on the right track.... nope.... we gonna go look up conspiracy theories and contradict science at every turn instead.... we'll do "our own research"... *shrug*

[aussiedrones]

“100% could be renewable”

Elite capitalists - “but what about moneyyyy???”

[luperamos]

I thought the latest IPCC report said that we have already passed these irreversible tipping points.

[GreezyWorks]

I love the nuclear "waste" argument, considering 95% of energy still has not been realized; and using the rest of it would in turn consume all the long-lived material.

Plutonium?
The important thing is that the grade of it made in commercial reactors is too impure with heavier isotopes of Pu, NFG for weapons.

The real waste is the perpetuation of water-based reactor, an obsolete design. We've made very reliable vacuum tubes, eventually, but then semiconductors came along and replaced them.
It's time to replace water reactors with molten salt, which would use almost all of the energy in natural Uranium or Thorium, and eliminate the inherent complexity, inefficiency and waste, associated with use of solid fuel and water cooling in nuclear.

[yukonnoka]

We need to stop attempting to come up with some fantastical “green” method to prop up our obsessive compulsive consumptive suicide fit and we need to just simplify things and re learn to find pleasure in nature rather than stuff.

[robbiebouchart]

7:45 farmers DONT want to change.. look how they treat vegans..

[rob]

1 - The IPCC requires nuclear power for all of their action pathways. So, IPCC experts all agree it is needed. And people who know about nuclear waste are not worried about it.
2 - Interesting that George Manbiot was not asked about nuclear power as he is a very vocal proponent of the technology. Shows bian from The New Statesman.

[MegaRyan]

Its a pity he got the Australian sub deal wrong its not a good deal ... its not good for geopolitical reasons and the only reasons

The subs are only nuclear powered not armed

And china has a nuclear sub fleet they have 3 han class ssn that are being replaced with newer models

They also field 7 ssbn subs

[uowjugu]

George Montbiot ‘s position is don’t change anything to our habits let s use technology instead. This wont work.

[AzathothNyxkind]

This anti nuclear nonsense is such an anachronism.

[elkpaz]

Let the livestock graze - we'd be healthier if we eat them and they'd be happier. We don't need grain.

[jbagger]

None of these people know how to grow wheat.

[lifetimevic]

I think this guy is wrong in China's nuclear subs they have 12