The state of the planet is scary - But that's just the start

clock • 5 min read

Scaring people is only the first step in driving climate action - we have to then show people how to channel their fear, argues David Powell from the New Economics Foundation

Last week marked Earth Overshoot Day. August 2 was 2017's date roughly calculated as when we've started to cause more impact on the ecosystem than it can safely absorb, and used more of its resources than...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

More on Climate change

UK emissions from consumers and industry fell one per cent in 2025
Climate change

UK emissions from consumers and industry fell one per cent in 2025

Provisional data from Office for National Statistics suggests slight drop in UK emissions was led by significant fall in CO2 from the manufacturing sector

Michael Holder
Michael Holder
clock 29 October 2026 • 3 min read
UN warns national climate pledges amount to global emissions cuts of just six per cent by 2035
Climate change

UN warns national climate pledges amount to global emissions cuts of just six per cent by 2035

UNFCCC estimates current climate pledges will deliver only marginal reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, underscoring the urgent need for a breakthrough at next month's COP31 Summit

Michael Holder
Michael Holder
clock 27 October 2026 • 9 min read
'Disaster Divide': UK's richest 0.1 per cent emit 46 times more CO2 than poorest half of population
Climate change

'Disaster Divide': UK's richest 0.1 per cent emit 46 times more CO2 than poorest half of population

The UK's 'ultra rich; emit more CO2 in just under a year than someone in the poorest half of the population has emitted over the last three decades, Oxfam study claims

Stuart Stone
Stuart Stone
clock 27 October 2026 • 4 min read