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The Morning Star 2026 Conference
‘This civilization as we know it is finished’
Ian Sinclair speaks to Professor RUPERT READ about his new book Why Climate Breakdown Matters and its apocalyptic predictions
FOR THE FEW NOT THE MANY: Extinction Rebellion demonstration on Westminster Bridge in London on April 15 2022; (left) Rupert Read [(Left) Rama/CC]

PROFESSOR Rupert Read has devoted a huge amount of his life to green politics – as a Green Party member, councillor, parliamentary candidate and spokesperson, as an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia, and in 2019 as a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, appearing on BBC Question Time.

With his new book Why Climate Breakdown Matters (reviewed in the Morning Star on Monday October 24) just out, Ian Sinclair asked Read about why he thinks this civilisation is finished, the importance of telling the truth about the climate crisis and where the green movement goes from here.

 

Ian Sinclair: One of your central messages in the book is “This civilisation as we know it is finished.” What, exactly, do you mean by this? And does the climate science support this statement?  

IS: The 2015 Paris Agreement, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, agreed to “pursue efforts” to limit global temperature rises to 1.5°C, and to keep them “well below” 2.0°C above pre-industrial times. You describe the agreement as a failure. Why?  

 

IS: Responding to Liz Truss labelling opponents of her government as “the anti-growth coalition,” Fatima Ibrahim from Green New Deal Rising said: “this couldn’t be further from the truth. Activists such as myself are committed to clean, equitable growth for all.” What’s your take on “green growth”?   

IS: Reading your book about the radical transformations in society that need to be implemented as soon as possible, it strikes me that even the Green Party of England and Wales is not speaking honestly about the severity and enormity of the climate crisis. Do you agree?  

IS: In the book you argue for a new “moderate flank” to be built up within the green movement. What is this, and after playing a key role in Extinction Rebellion’s 2019 actions, why do you think this is the best way forward?  

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