Climate change is the most important issue now facing humanity. As global temperatures increase, floods, fires and storms are becoming both more intense and frequent. People are suffering. And yet, emissions continue to rise. This book unpacks the activities of the key actors which have organised past and present climate responses – specifically, corporations, governments, and civil society organisations. Analysing three elements of climate change – mitigation, adaptation and suffering – the authors show how exponential growth of the capitalist system has allowed the fossil fuel industry to maintain its dominance. However, this hegemonic position is now coming under threat as new and innovative social movements have emerged, including the fossil fuel divestment movement, Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion and others. In exposing the inadequacies of current climate policies and pointing to the possibilities of new social and economic systems, this book highlights how the worst impacts of climate change can be avoided.

‘The barriers to climate action today aren’t technological. They’re political. Read this book to understand how polluters have created obstacles to the task of decarbonization and how we can fight back.’

Michael Mann - Distinguished Professor, Pennsylvania State University and author of The New Climate War

‘Climate change is not an environmental issue; it is a breakdown of natural systems that requires an urgent re-examination of the system that is causing it: capitalism. The time for urgent action is now - in ‘the age of consequences’ - and this book explains why the market lens through which we view that urgency is actually blocking action. Instead, we are seduced by “magical thinking” that tells us we can have the win-win solution, avoiding hard choices and looking for the silver bullet solutions that do not exist. Read this book for a sober and unflinching view of the political roots of the climate challenge before us and the profound need to both recognize and change our thinking.’

Andrew J. Hoffman - Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, University of Michigan

‘This is a truly fascinating account of how business-as-usual has managed to continue even in the face of the greatest crisis humans have ever wandered too. It is equal parts illuminating and infuriating, and hopefully will provide activists with a new sense of where we might find purchase in the fight to make the rich and powerful face the truth of our moment.’

Bill McKibben - author of The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon

‘From sophisticated political analyses to a compassionate and courageous expose of the politics of climate suffering, this beautifully written book hits the mark on the key climate questions of the day.’

Kari Norgaard - Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies, University of Oregon