23. How alarmed should we be about the environment? (Matt Ridley)
06/05/22 • 51 min
This episode is about environmental alarmism. Alarmism means exaggerating danger and thereby causing needless worry or panic. These days the media is flooded with proclamations and predictions of ecological catastrophe. There is no doubt that our environmental challenges are many, and huge, and they certainly do present dangers. But are they being seen in the context of broader developmental challenges and associated trade-offs? Or in the context of humankind's past achievements, and our ability to adapt? And is alarmist rhetoric the best way to motivate action to deal with them? Among the people offering answers to questions like these, is this month’s guest on The Case for Conservation Podcast, Matt Ridley.
Matt was, until he retired last year, an elected member of the UK Parliament’s House of Lords. He’s been been writer and/or editor for The Economist and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications, and his non-fiction books have sold more than a million copies. They include "The Rational Optimist", "The Evolution of Everything", "How Innovation Works" and, most recently, "Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19". His 2010 TED talk, "When Ideas Have Sex", has been viewed more than 2 and a half million times, and he’s spoken on various other popular forums including, quite recently, the Jordan Peterson Podcast.
Links to resources:
- Mattridley.co.uk - Matt's website, where all his other books, his blog, and other information can be found
- The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves - Perhaps the most relevant of Matt's books to our conversation - published in 2010
- How Innovation Works: Serendipity, Energy and the Saving of Time - another of Matt's books relevant to our discussion - published in 2020
- Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19 - Matt's most recent book, co-authored with Alina Chan (2021)
- When ideas have sex - Matt's TED talk in 2010, which has had more than two and a half million views
- Emissions – the ‘business as usual’ story is misleading - 2020 article by Zeke Hausfather and Glen Peters in the journal, "Nature", about RCP 8.5
Time stamps:
02:50: Matt's response to a Guardian article about climate change terminology
06:59: Species conservation and reports of species loss due to to climate change
13:35: A counsel of despair
15:32: The possible influence of funding in environmental rhetoric
17:40: How innovation helps conservation
24:40: How ecological footprint calculations may be misleading; finite resources
34:23: The Jevons paradox
35:42: The evolution of lightbulb technology; prehistoric technology without innovation
38:12: Which environmental issues are being neglected?
42:14: Invasive species as a driver of biodiversity loss
45:32: Is deforestation the cause of the Covid-19 pandemic?
48:27: Is there a link between environmental alarmism and theories of Covid-19 origins?
This episode is about environmental alarmism. Alarmism means exaggerating danger and thereby causing needless worry or panic. These days the media is flooded with proclamations and predictions of ecological catastrophe. There is no doubt that our environmental challenges are many, and huge, and they certainly do present dangers. But are they being seen in the context of broader developmental challenges and associated trade-offs? Or in the context of humankind's past achievements, and our ability to adapt? And is alarmist rhetoric the best way to motivate action to deal with them? Among the people offering answers to questions like these, is this month’s guest on The Case for Conservation Podcast, Matt Ridley.
Matt was, until he retired last year, an elected member of the UK Parliament’s House of Lords. He’s been been writer and/or editor for The Economist and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications, and his non-fiction books have sold more than a million copies. They include "The Rational Optimist", "The Evolution of Everything", "How Innovation Works" and, most recently, "Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19". His 2010 TED talk, "When Ideas Have Sex", has been viewed more than 2 and a half million times, and he’s spoken on various other popular forums including, quite recently, the Jordan Peterson Podcast.
Links to resources:
- Mattridley.co.uk - Matt's website, where all his other books, his blog, and other information can be found
- The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves - Perhaps the most relevant of Matt's books to our conversation - published in 2010
- How Innovation Works: Serendipity, Energy and the Saving of Time - another of Matt's books relevant to our discussion - published in 2020
- Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19 - Matt's most recent book, co-authored with Alina Chan (2021)
- When ideas have sex - Matt's TED talk in 2010, which has had more than two and a half million views
- Emissions – the ‘business as usual’ story is misleading - 2020 article by Zeke Hausfather and Glen Peters in the journal, "Nature", about RCP 8.5
Time stamps:
02:50: Matt's response to a Guardian article about climate change terminology
06:59: Species conservation and reports of species loss due to to climate change
13:35: A counsel of despair
15:32: The possible influence of funding in environmental rhetoric
17:40: How innovation helps conservation
24:40: How ecological footprint calculations may be misleading; finite resources
34:23: The Jevons paradox
35:42: The evolution of lightbulb technology; prehistoric technology without innovation
38:12: Which environmental issues are being neglected?
42:14: Invasive species as a driver of biodiversity loss
45:32: Is deforestation the cause of the Covid-19 pandemic?
48:27: Is there a link between environmental alarmism and theories of Covid-19 origins?
Previous Episode
22. Trophy hunting: Who's to judge? (Lochran Traill)
Most people outside Africa probably don’t associate trophy hunting with conservation. In fact, certain publicized incidents of trophy hunting have caused something of a global moral panic. The same often goes for the culling of animal populations to manage their numbers and the trade in ivory, even ivory harvested from elephants that die naturally. In today’s discussion we get into these perceptions, and my guest explains why they may be misguided.
Lochran Traill is a lecturer at the University of Leeds. He is a conservation biologist and, having grown up in Zimbabwe, specializes in African ecology and conservation. Among the many topics he has researched and published on in top journals, is the afore-mentioned trophy hunting. Our discussion focuses on, but is not limited to, his most recent paper, on divergent views on trophy hunting in Africa, especially between people in Africa, and people outside the continent.
Links to resources:
- Divergent views on trophy hunting in Africa, and what this may mean for research and policy - A 2021 paper that Lochran's group published in Conservation Letters
- Campfire Association - A famous and long-lived community conservation initiative in Zimbabwe
- Cecil the Lion incident - Wikipedia entry about the hunting of a Lion in Hwange National Park
- Predicting the evolutionary consequences of trophy hunting on a quantitative trait - a 2018 article in The Journal of Wildlife Management by Lochran and colleagues
Time stamps:
... coming soon
Next Episode
24. Can GMOs benefit biodiversity? (Joseph Opoku Gakpo)
Few technologies are viewed with as much suspicion as genetic modification. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are banned in several parts of the world; an entire protocol under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is dedicated to controlling their effects on biodiversity; and national and international agreements and regulations tightly legislate their use across a broad range of applications. Why, then, do GMOs continue to grow in popularity? Why do farmers in the developing world consider them game-changing tools to deal with the demands of making a living, or even a livelihood, from agriculture? And what's all this subversive business about GMOs being good for biodiversity?
Joseph Opoku Gakpo is an environmental journalist who writes about GMOs and other aspects of agriculture, the environment, and rural development. He is Ghana correspondent for "Alliance for Science", and was awarded the Ghana Journalists Association prize for Best Journalist in Poverty Alleviation Reporting in 2015. Joseph has a passion for sharing the struggle of farmers and other rural people, which is reflected in his refreshingly clear and level-headed style of reporting. In this illuminating discussion we talk about how GMOs got such a bad name; whether any of the allegations against them are reasonable; what they mean for poor people around the world; and what is the nature of their relationship with biodiversity.
Links to resources:
- Ghana’s GMO conversation turns to biodiversity - A 2018 article by Joseph for Alliance for Science
- Ghanaian scientist: ‘Africa needs GMOs more than the rest of the world’ - A 2022 article by Joseph in which he talks about and quotes one of the academics he has worked with
- The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety - Website for the protocol discussed with Joseph
Time stamps:
02:09: What are GMOs?
04:17: Why GMOs are so controversial
08:20: The geographical chronology of GMO introduction
09:27: Why GMOs shouldn’t be shunned
11:41: What about impacts on health; terminator genes; and contamination of other organisms?
17:56: How GMOs can help biodiversity
20:00: Savings to farmers
25:00: The slow uptake of GMOs in some parts of the world and the targeted traits of GMOs
30:53: Changing perspectives on GMOs, and local champions of GMOs
40:25: Changing attitudes in Europe?
43:08: Does political polarization play a role?
45:57: The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/the-case-for-conservation-podcast-408685/23-how-alarmed-should-we-be-about-the-environment-matt-ridley-57079369"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to 23. how alarmed should we be about the environment? (matt ridley) on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy