Net Zero Festival: Alex Steffen on why the climate crisis isn't taken seriously enough

BusinessGreen staff
clock • 1 min read

VIDEO: Veteran climate futurist argues 'the world we have built is no longer suited to planet we've made' at BusinessGreen's Net Zero Festival

Influential US commentator and writer Alex Steffen boasts a long an career in sustainability, social innovation and design, in addition to several years reporting on the interlinked climate and environmental crises.

He describes himself as a "veteran climate futurist", and his work on cities and ubanisation in particular has been widely acclaimed and highly influential, having been arguing the importance of sustianable cities to delivering a sustainable society since the mid-1990s. He is currently working on his latest book on the need to accelerate climate action - The Snap Forward - which is based on his newsletter of the same name.

At BusinessGreen's Net Zero Festival last week, Steffen delivered a fascinating lecture on how he views the climate and environmental crises, and the pathway forward for the global economy. The climate crisis, he argued, is not taken seriously enough, even by people working in sustainability, as there is a failure to fully grasp the wide-ranging, all-encompassing risks and opportunities it presents to society. His speech can be watched in full above.

All of the panel debates, keynote speeches, and presentations from the Net Zero Festival - which took place over three days from 29 September 2021 featuring hundreds of top speakers from business, politics and academia - are now available to watch again on demand by signing up for free on the Net Zero Festival website.

More on Climate change

'Pollutocrat Day': World's richest emit share of 2025 carbon budget in just 10 days

'Pollutocrat Day': World's richest emit share of 2025 carbon budget in just 10 days

World's wealthiest one per cent must cut emissions by 97 per cent this decade to bring themselves into line with 1.5C warming budget, Oxfam study calculates

Stuart Stone
clock 10 January 2025 • 4 min read
'The impact will be dire': 2024 confirmed as first year to pass 1.5C threshold

'The impact will be dire': 2024 confirmed as first year to pass 1.5C threshold

Hottest year on record confirmed, as snap analysis suggests cost of California wildfires could reach $150bn

James Murray
clock 10 January 2025 • 5 min read
'Hydroclimatic whiplash' and the hottest year on record: How is climate change fuelling the California wildfires?

'Hydroclimatic whiplash' and the hottest year on record: How is climate change fuelling the California wildfires?

As new data all but confirms 2024 exceeded the 1.5C warming threshold, researchers explain how climate-impacted weather events are exacerbating the conditions fuelling deadly California fires that could result in over $20bn of insurance claims

clock 10 January 2025 • 7 min read