Interview with XR cofounder, Gail Bradbrook: "How do we live an honourable life?"

ClimateGenn hosted by Nick Breeze

In this ClimateGenn episode I am speaking with Extinction Rebellion cofounder, Gail Bradbrook, about the role of activism today and the inner world of those taking action that can and does result in severe imprisonment, and in some countries, even death. ORDER COPOUT BY NICK BREEZE: https://genn.cc/copout-nick-breeze/ GAILS LINKS: https://www.praler.net/ https://buymeacoffee.com/gailbradbrook/the-leadership-able-bring-just-transition Gail identifies her own position on taking risks and how, in her words, to "live an honourable life in these times.” Climate activists in the UK today risk prison sentences that we might expect to be handed out to people convicted of violent crimes, presenting a danger to society. But by silencing dissenting voices, the risk to society is that collective failings can be easily be swept under the carpet. During COP21 in Paris, Naomi Klein pointed out that the pressure of activists between the failed COP in Copenhagen 2009 and COP21 Paris 2015, created the momentum for countries to come together and sign the Paris Agreement. Since then the world has changed dramatically with climate impacts pushing the thresholds of safety for communities all around the world. The failure of countries to honour their Paris commitments is contributing to the severe climatic consequences we are seeing now. In a recent email I received, the case was put that activist calls for revolution are misplaced because we do not have time to restructure our society before large impacts overwhelm our ability to adapt. However, many activist calls - like Gail here - are for expanded democracy, such as the creation of civil assemblies, where citizens are given expert insights, allowing them to better inform policy. In this sense, the role of activism is to maintain momentum towards better policies that increase adaptation and resilience in as fair and equitable way as possible. Next ClimateGenn Episode With carbon emissions stubbornly high, we are seeing the rising trend of destruction. In the next ClimateGenn episode I speak with Climatologist, Professor Hayley Fowler from the University of Newcastle and Chief Meteorologist at the UK Met Office, Paul Davies. We discuss their work bridging the gap between meteorology and climatology to enhance severe storm warning systems in order to save lives. Whether in Europe, North Africa, the US, Philippines, the Himalayas, or beyond, severe life threatening storms are increasing in strength and frequency, in all cases posing an existential threat. Paul and Hayley discuss the intricacies of how these storms form and how they have found new ways to decipher critical signals within the expanse of noisy data. This episode will be available to subscribers very shortly and be public in a weeks time. Thank you to all subscribers and to everyone who has gotten in touch with feedback and episode suggestions. It is greatly appreciated. Remember you can support this channel by subscribing on Patreon or Youtube, as well as by ordering my book ‘COPOUT - How governments have failed the people on climate’ which is available worldwide in paperback and audio. COPOUT is based on my UN COP reporting from Paris 2015 to Dubai 2023. I take the reader behind the scenes to witness first-hand how the failure of successive global climate summits has led us to this era of dangerous consequences. Thanks again for listening.