Professor Julia Steinberger’s research is at the puzzling, yet important, intersection of the immaterial (human well-being) and the physical (environmental resource use), specifically trying to understand how much stuff is necessary to live a good life. She has been moving steadily through disciplines since she obtained her PhD in experimental atomic physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Right now, she is a Professor in Social Ecology and Ecological Economics at the University of Leeds. She has published widely and sometimes well, and is a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment Report. She is the recipient of a Leverhulme Research Leadership Award for her research project “Living Well Within Limits” investigating how universal human well-being might be achieved within planetary boundaries.

Talk: From Climate Science to Rebellion: Why Acting on the Climate Emergency now means becoming an Activist

We are in a climate crisis – what does this mean, scientifically? How did we get here? And how can we possibly escape its worst effects? In this talk, I’ll cover the scientific basis of the climate emergency, expose how the science was ignored by governments, while they continued to support polluting industries, and explain why activism is much more important than recycling or switching off light bulbs (although of course it doesn’t have to be one or the other!). Along the way, I’ll discuss corruption by fossil fuel industries, demonstrate the huge role of inequality in consumption in driving the climate crisis, and show that it is technically possible to live good lives within planetary limits – but only if we all work together to get there. To the barricades!