This will require richer countries to learn to share with poorer countries. He argues for a Universal Basic Income, calls for an end to hunger, and admits reaching a worldwide deal to effectively fight climate change. For example, Berners-Lee says that when considering a purchase of seafood you should get to know your local fishmonger and brightly ask them, “What are the environmental and ethical issues to consider with this particular type of fish?” As a British person, he actually knows his fishmonger.Īt the other end of the spectrum, he blithely tosses off the idea that a business that exists primarily to make a profit is unhelpful. It’s an impossible task, really, and easy to mock.

Planet B rushes through complex topics, pivots to solutions and then offers up a call to action on each issue for everyone from countries to corporations, right down to you and me in our daily lives. Through his semi-panicked lens, to tackle climate change, you must tackle food and transportation and our consumerist society and inequality and global politics and much more. This topic proves to be so massive that it positively swamps Berners-Lee. Hence the subtitle: “A Handbook For The Make Or Break Years.” You go to war with the planet you have, so to speak So we must act. With the time remaining before irreversible disaster, a stage-left exit via Tesla Rocket to Alpha Centauri or parts unknown isn’t going to happen. With that in mind, Berners-Lee (the brother of Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web and I assume lords it over Mike at every family dinner) has delivered his new work, a paperback and e-book release cheekily titled There Is No Planet B. It reminds you, and everyone around you, about the crisis we face. You can do lots of little things in your daily life to “make a difference.” Acting in small ways adds up and changes your thinking.

He’s here to tell you–quite correctly–that climate change is a MASSIVE problem that poses an existential threat to life as we know it.īut he also wants to say, a la Douglas Adams, DON’T PANIC. Mike Berners-Lee is an expert on carbon footprints but also a generalist and a magpie of information, especially when it comes to climate change.

Mike berners lee there is no planet b