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Abundance v Activism at London Climate Week

Is "abundance" discourse a way forward or a new name for an old delusion to ignore limits? Yasmine Abdu, Charles Perry, and Michael Spiekermann discuss.
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We Start at the End

PJ Harvey needs no explanation of why one of her songs is worth listening to, at least from me. The idea of subverting a system from the inside chimes with this conversation. But if it hits different for you, tell us in the comments.

Is the “Abundance” discourse - and you can fit most iterations of it in a spectrum from Aaron Bastani and Zohran Mamdani to Ezra Klein to Elon Musk - an inspiring vision of the future or a dangerous delusion? Is insisting on “limits” just realism or is it pathological pessimism? And where does climate tech fit into all that?

We think the answers to these questions are kind of important. So we were excited to talk it through onstage at Extreme Hangout during London Climate Action Week at Ladbroke Hall; with climate tech entrepreneur Yasmine Abdu, co-founder of Fridays for the Future Michael Spiekermann, and BP exec to sustainability strategist Charles Perry.

Enjoy!

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02:27 Michael Speakman's Journey from Activism to Policy

03:36 Yasin Abdu's Carbon Track Initiative

04:51 Discussion on Abundance vs. Limits

15:19 Charles Perry on the Stellar Vision

24:30 Debating the Future of Energy and Policy

28:18 Reconciling System Change and Longevity

28:44 Building an Ecosystem of Corporate Support

29:39 Avoiding Venture Capital for Mission-Driven Impact

30:58 Choosing Entrepreneurship Over Activism

32:18 The Power of Bottom-Up Movements

37:31 Identifying the Villain in Climate Narratives

50:29 Hope and the Global Sustainability Revolution

52:45 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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All the Outros

Many thanks to our panel and our partners at Extreme Hangout for bringing us on to their stage!

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