Every Chapter of ‘There Is No Planet B’ by Mike Berners-Lee in 13 Minutes
“Whatever we make it into, Earth will be our only home for a very long time to come. There is no Planet B.”
— Mike Berners-Lee
There Is No Planet B is a book written by Professor Mike Berners-Lee, who is a lecturer at Lancaster University as well as a consultant focused on sustainability within organisations (and yes, he is related to Tim Berners-Lee — his brother, in fact). He’s also the author of How Bad are Bananas: The Carbon Footprint of Everything, which aims to help people make more informed decisions based on the environmental impact of everyday objects.
With There Is No Planet B he created a guide or handbook on climate change, containing an overview of all things climate, as well as Berners-Lee’s thoughts on the best course of action. Climate change is a huge topic with many interlinking parts, and this book offers readers a path through. It covers decision making at all levels, from individuals to businesses to governments.
We chose this book as our Rebel Book Club read for September 2019, within the topic of ‘Planetary Emergency’. It was well-loved by members and certainly sparked some interesting discussions. It’s well worth a read, but in the meantime this post will give you a summary and overview of each chapter of There Is No Planet B.
Chapter 1: Food
The first chapter of There Is No Planet B covers food and agriculture. This may seem an interesting choice, given other topics such as energy and transportation often come first in discussions of the environment. However, as Berners-Lee points out, 23% of our global total emissions come from agriculture. This may be surprising to many, and so it’s worth exploring first.
The main message of the chapter is that our existing reliance on animal agriculture is incredibly inefficient. We currently grow 5940 kcals of food per person per day, but 1740 kcals of that goes to feeding animals for us to eat. Of course, energy is lost in this chain: “The average farm animal converts just 10% of the calories it eats into meat and dairy foods.”
Our food distribution is also very uneven. 800 million people across the world are ‘undernourished’, physically not having enough food. A further 2 billion people are ‘malnourished’, deficient in vital vitamins. Meat is generally expensive, and seen as a marker of wealth.
On top of this, animal agriculture is responsible for a high amount of our methane emissions, generally seen as 5 times more damaging than carbon. It’s also the leading cause of deforestation, with land cleared to be used to grow crops to feed animals.
The main argument against moving towards a plant-based food system (or at least drastically reducing the amount of meat we eat) is that meat is necessary to fulfil our protein needs. Actually, the average human needs only 50g of protein per day, which you’re probably hitting easily without having to think about it. Plus, we would have much more protein to go round if we didn’t feed so much plant protein to the animals that we rear for human food.
At the end of each chapter Berners-Lee gives a set of actions, ways that the reader can contribute towards the change discussed. Naturally the key action from this chapter is for readers to reduce the amount of meat they eat. He argues that we will need an over 50% reduction in the world’s richest countries — with the priority being ruminant animals (cows and sheep). As well as this, reducing food waste should also be a priority, with consumers responsible for 20% of wasted food. Buy only what you need and know you will eat, and avoid sending food to landfill at all costs.
As well as these individual actions, he also suggests that shops and restaurants need to make meat alternatives more appealing. Governments should also stop incentives for farming animals, and instead give incentives for farmers to move to more sustainable farming techniques.
Chapter 2: Climate and environment
The second chapter covers climate science, as well as other environmental issues beyond the changing climate.
In terms of the science, the message is that a rise of global average temperatures by 2 degrees is incredibly risky, but if we cap the rise at 1.5 degrees Celsius, it’s much less risky. This was essentially the message agreed in The Paris Agreement. As it stands, we are set to overshoot 1.5 degrees of warming between 2030 and 2040. That’s scarily soon.
We’ve been talking about climate change and what actions should be taken for decades, but this has not even made a dent in the exponential growth of our carbon emissons yet. So, we urgently need to ensure that fossil fuels are kept in the ground, and we need to start taking carbon out of the atmosphere as soon as possible. Renewable sources of energy, although they should be encouraged, are likely to not be enough because of our growing demand for energy — currently we’re using renewable energy as well as fossil fuels, rather than instead of them.
The chapter also looks at biodiversity. Our environmental problems aren’t just about emissions and global warming. We’re also facing huge changes in terms of deforestation, monocultures, over-fishing, the release of toxins from animal agriculture into our waterways, plastic pollution, air pollution and more. All of these things mean that we are losing species of plants and animals at an incredibly quick rate. A WWF study found a 58% reduction in species since 1970. Another study specifically of flying insects found a 75% decline in just 27 years. There’s no way of knowing exactly what effect this decline will have. But, Mike Berners-Lee points out, one thing is sure:
“There’s no going back from extinction.”
He then goes on to discuss the plastic problem. We have around 9 billion tonnes of plastic on our planet, all of which has been produced since the 1980s and which cannot biodegrade or be destroyed. If all this plastic were clingfilm, it would be enough to wrap the whole planet, with room left over. This is unsightly, and damaging to marine life. Even if you don’t care about this, plastic is now found in a third of UK caught fish, meaning that humans are ingesting it too. This will have an inevitable impact on our health. Given that 36% of plastic production is for packaging, the key action here is to reduce your usage of single-use plastic where you can, and push businesses and governments to enforce this too.
Side note: for more information on plastic pollution and actions you can take, I recommend Lucy Siegle’s Turning The Tide on Plastic.
Chapter 3: Energy
The average person uses 59 kWh (kilowatt hours) of energy every day. That’s equivalent to 6 litres of petrol, which would get you around 70 miles in a fairly efficient car. This usage is, like food, very unbalanced. The average American uses four times that global average and the average European uses two times the average, whereas the average African uses only one fifth.
Our energy use is increasing drastically, and we now use three times as much energy as we did just 50 years ago. This is set to continue increasing, which is bad news for the continued extraction of fossil fuels to create energy — 83% of our energy currently still comes from fossil fuel sources.
Alternatives to fossil fuels are becoming more accessible and more financially viable, particularly solar energy. At our current usage, solar panels covering less than 0.1% of the world’s total land mass could meet our total energy needs. It’s an attractive option in terms of efficiency and cost. However, if our energy demand is to increase further then in 300 years time we would likely need solar panels on every single inch of land space to meet needs. So, whilst it is important to support progression of renewable options, this may not be a forever solution — unless we also reduce our overall use of energy.
Nuclear fusion holds the potential for unlimited energy, which could solve this problem. Timelines on when this could be achievable vary hugely, but one group of MIT researchers predicts that we could have fusion electricity in the US grid as early as 2033. There should be careful consideration, though, on the question of whether this unlimited energy would be a positive move for humanity, or whether there are risks to this too.
So what are the actions, what can you do in terms of energy? Berners-Lee recommends investing in clean, renewable energy sources in order to keep fossil fuels in the ground in the short term. This means switching your own energy supplier, investing in renewable companies, and pushing for policies that enforce this too, using your right to vote. On top of this, try to be more energy efficient yourself and focus on activities in your spare time which require no energy (walks, books, socialising etc).
Chapter 4: Travel and transport
The average person travels 3921 miles every year. 57% of these miles are by road, 23% by foot, 7% by rail and 13% by plane. This has increased a lot over recent years (especially air miles, which have doubled every 10 years) but some researchers feel that we are reaching an end point in terms of our desire to travel further and travel more.
In an ideal world, we would see the percentages of foot and rail increasing, and the road and plane decreasing. To do this, Berners-Lee believes the focus should be on:
- Cleaning up our existing vehicles, ensuring that our public transportation is efficient and electric where possible.
- Improve transport infrastructure within and around our cities to promote walking, cycling, and electric bikes, making the low carbon choices the easiest and most convenient options.
- Changing our messaging around car ownership. Do you absolutely need a car? If not, don’t get one. If you do, then don’t buy a new one until you really need to, and if you do buy a new one then opt for electric.
- Make a future where car sharing is the norm.
One big question in terms of transportation is how we can replace aviation fuels with a cleaner option. Going electric is not currently possible due to the weight of batteries needed onboard for energy storage — although this may soon be possible for short haul flights. The action on this? Try to treat flying as a special occasion and extravagance, minimising the flights that you take.
Chapter 5: Growth, money and metrics
In this chapter of There Is No Planet B, Berners-Lee discusses the economy, and whether it’s possible to solve our climate crisis within our current economic models, promoting constant growth and progression.
He argues that not all growth is inherently bad, but that striving for growth in all areas is bad. We need to change and adapt the metrics that we focus on. For instance, growth in greenhouse gas emissions, meat consumption, and consumption generally would be objectively bad. Growth in technology and energy use are not necessarily bad, but need thought and selectivity. Growth in GDP, which is what our existing economy is modelled towards, is “irrelevant at best” and “not a measure of human progress” because money is simply an abstract concept created by us.
What we should be working towards, Berners-Lee argues, is growth in wellbeing of all humans. How we measure this, though, is difficult.
The free market of goods and services which exists currently is incapable of dealing with large, global issues because it relies on self-interest of merchants and countries. Large-scale, global problems require global governance and problem-solving, not individual countries or policymakers.
Wealth distribution is also important within this. If particular countries or people feel unfairly treated within the global whole then they are unlikely to be receptive to global agreements. Currently the vast majority of the world’s wealth lies with a tiny minority of people. For instance, just over a third of the world’s wealth is currently in North America, where just 5% of the world’s population live. We would need methods to redistribute this wealth is we are to look at global solutions to our climate crisis.
And the actions? Essentially we need government intervention to stop rich people getting richer and richer, sucking wealth from those less wealthy. Examples of policy to support this would be: universal access to high quality education, the implementation of a universal basic income or citizen’s wage, even distribution of wealth in inheritance, adjusting the income tax system.
On a personal level, Berners-Lee’s message is to avoid greed. Don’t seek excessive profit or wealth beyond your lifetime needs and what is needed to support your children. Beyond that, invest your money in renewables, sustainable agriculture systems research, and carbon capture technology. Spend your money wisely, do your research into the company you’re buying from and ensure you understand the full supply chain that you’re funding before you part with any money.
Side note: for more information on this topic, and particularly on models of circular economy, I’d recommend Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics.
Chapter 6: People and work
Our population has been growing massively. For Berners-Lee this isn’t necessarily bad — as long as each person lives ‘carefully’. If they don’t, then population growth will increase our total impact on the planet. Therefore, we should ensure that it is easy for people not to have babies unless they really want to. The focus for this needs to be education and access to care and contraception for women in poorer countries.
This growing population needs purpose. Currently we see human purpose as work and careers, but if our economy were to change (see chapter 5) this may be different. For Berners-Lee, for a job to exist it should:
- Be useful to society and to overall human wellbeing
- Be fulfilling and rewarding for the employee
- Provide a mechanism for resources and money to be more appropriately allocated amongst people
For now, he advocates ‘bringing your full self to work’, meaning taking your environmentalism with you. Talk to colleagues, change the culture, and encourage change from your company as a business (see chapter 7).
Chapter 7: Business and technology
Berners-Lee’s perspective on businesses and organisations is broadly the same as his view on jobs. So, for a business to exist it should:
- Be useful to society and to overall human wellbeing
- Be fulfilling and rewarding for employees
- Provide a mechanism for resources and money to be more appropriately allocated amongst people.
Essentially, businesses should have a greater purpose than simply making money. Targets should be based on the positive impact they have on wellbeing, rather than on profits and revenue.
“In the Twenty First Century it is totally unhelpful to have organisations that exist primarily in order to make profit”.
All existing businesses should also ensure that they have a crystal clear understanding of their direct and indirect impacts as an organisation. This requires systematic thinking, and a strategy in which the business can think through all of its aspects to ensure it is not having a negative effect. Here’s an example from the book:
Chapter 8: Values, truth and trust
For the individual, business, and governmental changes outlined in the previous chapters to take place, Berners-Lee believes that we fundamentally need to change our motivations.
Currently, most people are motivated by extrinsic motivations and desires such as money in wealth or material items. To solve big global issues such as climate change, we need to promote people being motivated by their intrinsic values instead. Research suggests that when people are motivated by internal values rather than external desires, they will have better personal wellbeing, lower levels of depression, increased pro-social behaviours, increased positive ecological behaviours and more.
So what values do we need to promote to achieve this:
- All people are inherently equal in their humanity — and should be encouraged to live their lives in a way that they find meaningful, as long as it doesn’t infringe on others peoples’ rights to do the same
- Respect and care for the world and all life forms
- Respect for truth evidence and transparency
And how do we achieve this? With the right messaging. Berners-Lee argues that there are two things which motivate us: our own worth and happiness, and our social acceptance by others. Currently the messaging and advertising which surrounds us tells us that our worth is tied to wealth and material possessions. Instead, we need to be constantly reminded of those intrinsic values and motivations which bring us all together.
So, the key action for chapter 8 is to spend time considering your values. As well as this, consume media and advertising critically and mindfully, increasing your awareness of the messages which surround us. From a system level, push for honesty from politicians, journalists, and advertisers.
Chapter 9: Thinking skills for today’s world
Chapter 9 is the final chapter of There Is No Planet B, the conclusion. For Berners-Lee, the key to a global, systematic solution to our climate crisis is to get better at thinking about several central elements of life:
- The big picture: thinking in a global way in terms of systematic solutions and in terms of global and local impacts.
- Future thinking: creating policy that reach beyond four of five year political cycles. Our children need us to implement policies and systems which protect them and our planet decades in the future.
- Learn to appreciate the small, the simple, and the local. Notice the world around you and have a sense of wonder about it, rather then constantly striving for more things or more travel to get away from the now.
- Self reflection, to increase humility and open mindedness.
- Critical thinking, in terms of what and who you can trust, and what the ‘truth’ is in the noise.
- Joined-up thinking: one sector (climate science, technology, philosophy, politics) isn’t going to solve our climate crisis. They are all interconnected and interdependent, and we need these sectors to work together rather than in isolation.
The Rebel Read
There is No Planet B was the 53rd read for Rebel Book Club, which chose Mike Berners-Lee’s book from three ‘Planetary Emergency’ alternatives.
