Hebden Bridge Web

The Hebden Bridge Literary and Scientific Society is excited to present Professor Kevin Anderson on Saturday January 11th, 2025, at 7.30pm in The Town Hall.

Be prepared to be challenged to consider the progress we, as a world, have made since
COP26. Kevin is best placed to provide this urgent wakeup call because he is Professor of Energy and Climate Change at Manchester University and the Uppsala University in Sweden.

In his talk, Kevin will explore what he calls, 'a damning indictment' of the world's response to global warming. No punches will be pulled.

He will state that politicians, journalists and many academics have failed to take the climate emergency seriously enough. From the Paris COP to the present day, the responsibility for the extreme weather that we are increasingly experiencing is widespread. The floods in Spain are only the most recent example of a catalogue of disasters that have been suffered around the globe.

We will learn that while some of the world's leaders have normalised a deeply fraudulent vision of a technical utopian future acting like old fashioned colonialists, others have kept firmly silent on the impending climate catastrophe.

He believes there has been an avoidance of anything that would question our existing way of life but wilful ignorance can no-longer be a defence. He will show us the frightening gap between current policies and the reality of our Paris commitments.

Kevin will claim that we are tiptoeing into the future when what we need are powerful and radical solutions taken at a fast pace. He will challenge us to realise that the choice is between a profound, but organised, shake-up of systems and day-to-day lives or waiting a little longer for the climate to trigger chaotic and violent social change.

Are we ready to make the choice? Who will be brave enough to make it? What will it mean to our everyday life? … The questions these two choices trigger are endless.

Come to the talk ready to engage directly with the future of the world.

Time to decide whether you possess: "Pessimism of the Intellect, the Optimism of the Will." Kevin will explain how this quote, which is the subtitle of his talk, is relevant to the current crisis. The End is Nye, or is it? You can decide after this not-to-be missed talk.