UpFront – ‘To avoid climate change, we need system change’

Naomi Klein is known as one of the world’s best critics of big corporations and uncontrolled capitalism. In her most recent book, “This Changes Everything”, the activist and author says one cannot take on climate change without also addressing capitalism.

In this week’s Headliner, Mehdi Hasan speaks to Klein about why she sees a link between capitalism and climate change.

“The idea that we can deal with climate change within the confines of our current system is exactly what we’ve been trying to do for two decades, and it’s failed miserably”, Klein says. “If we want to void climate change, we need system change”, the author adds.

Klein also calls last year’s Paris deal in which nearly 200 countries agreed to address climate change a “potluck approach”.

“There are things that are really important in the Paris deal,” she says, but the “UN didn’t want to tell governments what they were going to do, they just said, ‘Okay, everybody go home and make your best effort, and fingers crossed when we add it all up it’ll match up with our stated goal.’”

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