Tackling the Earth Emergency

AUTHOR

Julian Cribb AM is an Australian science writer and author of seven books (below) on the human existential emergency. His latest book is How to Fix a Broken Planet (Cambridge University Press, 2023)

Following is an edited transcript of a speech by Julian Cribb to the Real Truth About Health Conference, USA, 2025. You can view a video of his address at Earth Emergency Our Planet’s health crisis and what we can do about it.

The Greatest Crisis in Human History

We are living through the greatest crisis in our species’ million-year history, the Earth Emergency.

It’s a converging catastrophe created by humanity’s relentless exploitation of our planet’s resources, ecosystems, and stability.

And yet, no government or global organisation has a complete plan to address it.

Science warns us we are hurtling towards disaster, driven by ten interconnected megathreats.

These threats, extinction, pollution, resource loss, climate

KEY POINTS Earth is facing ten interconnected megathreats Core causes include over consumption and unrestrained economic growth Planetary life support systems are collapsing Chemical pollution and militarism are killing millions Climate breakdown is accelerating toward +4°C Twelve systemic solutions are urgently needed Governments are failing to act — it’s up to people Global cooperation is humanity’s last best hope

collapse, disease, misinformation, and more, all stem from four core drivers: over population, over consumption, over pollution, and unrestrained economic greed.

Collapsing the Planet’s Life Support

We are extinguishing Earth’s life support systems.

Three quarters of large wild animals are gone.

Humans and livestock now make up 96% of land vertebrate mass.

We are transforming forests into deserts and oceans into dead zones.

Every year, human consumption surpasses what the Earth can renew in just seven months.

We extract 120 billion tonnes of materials annually, destroying soils, watersheds, and biodiversity along the way.

Freshwater shortages now affect over half the world’s population.

The Poisoning of Life on Earth

We are poisoning everything, especially our children.

Chemical emissions now exceed 200 billion tonnes a year, five times more than climate emissions.

They kill 14 million people annually and rob humanity of 600 million years of healthy life.

Armed for Annihilation

We’re spending $2.5 trillion a year on weapons.

Nuclear arsenals still threaten all life, and even a limited nuclear war could starve billions.

The Doomsday Clock is now 89 seconds to midnight, the closest we’ve ever come to annihilation.

Climate Breakdown Is Accelerating

Despite pledges, emissions continue rising.

We’re on track for +2°C by 2050 and +4°C by 2100, conditions under which most human societies would collapse.

Methane from melting permafrost and ocean floors is already venting.

Runaway Technologies Without Oversight

We are unleashing dangerous technologies — AI, biotech, surveillance — with no oversight, regulation, or public control.

Like fossil fuels before them, these tools could do terrible harm if misused or left unchecked.

A Broken Food System

Our food system wastes nearly half of what it produces, while degrading the ecosystems it depends on.

Global food demand is set to double by the 2060s, but we are eroding the soils, waters, and biodiversity needed to meet that demand.

Population Pressures and Forced Migration

The human population has tripled in 75 years.

Each year, 80 million more people are added to a planet already strained to breaking point.

Mass migration may soon reach a billion people per year as climate, conflict, and scarcity multiply.

Pandemics of Our Own Making

All pandemics are human-made: the result of crowding, overpopulation, travel, and ecosystem destruction.

Since 2000, we’ve seen seven pandemics, with more on the way.

Science is still experimenting with dangerous new viruses.

WHO warns the next one could be worse than COVID-19.

The Misinformation Pandemic

Lies are now a global industry.

The fossil fuel sector pioneered paid disinformation.

Today, media and tech platforms profit from confusion.

This poisons public discourse, cripples democracy, and blocks action when it's most urgently needed.

Solutions Exist — and Must Be Unified

All these megathreats are interconnected and must be solved together, not one by one.

That’s why I wrote How to Fix a Broken Planet — to show that global action is not only necessary, but possible.

Twelve Transformative Solutions

1. Earth System Treaty: A global compact to address all ten threats together and live within planetary boundaries.
2. Ban on Nuclear Weapons:  world without nukes is essential for survival.
3. End Fossil Fuels: To halt climate collapse and stop poisoning ourselves.
4. Circular Economy: One that recycles everything and shifts to idea-based value.
5. Renewable Food Systems: Regenerative farms, urban agriculture, and deep ocean aquaculture.
6. Stewards of the Earth Plan: Rewild half the planet with Indigenous leadership.
7. Global Clean-Up Initiative: And a new Human Right: the Right Not to Be Poisoned.
8. World Population Plan: Voluntary family planning and global access to reproductive care.
9. Pandemic Prevention Strategy: Behavioural reform, bioethics, and early detection.
10. Technology Convention: A global oversight body for AI, biotech, and beyond.
11. World Truth Commission: To fight lies with facts, and hold the deceivers accountable.
12. Earth Standard Currency: An economy rooted in planetary health, not fantasy finance.

Where Action Begins

More solutions can be found in How to Fix a Broken Planet.

But above all, this must begin with a new global compact — an Earth System Treaty, committing all of humanity to a safe, habitable world.

The key to survival is wisdom — the ability to see what’s coming and act in time.

Governments are failing us. So now, the responsibility passes to us all.

A Global Awakening

By 2030, nearly everyone on Earth will be online.

For the first time in history, we can think together, share knowledge, and act with shared purpose.

Saving our planet will be the greatest challenge — and the noblest cause — of human history.

Row Together — Or Sink Together

Earth is our lifeboat. It is overcrowded, stressed, and under attack.

We must row it to safety, together.

Or we go down, together.

The choice is ours.

Footnotes

• All facts and statistics verified from peer-reviewed research, UN reports, IPCC assessments, WHO estimates, and original work in How to Fix a Broken Planet
• Books by Julian Cribb
  How to Fix a Broken Planet: Advice for Surviving the 21st Century
  Earth Detox: How and Why we Must Clean Up Our Planet
  Food or War
  Surviving the 21st Century: Humanity's Ten Great Challenges and How We Can Overcome The
  Poisoned Planet: How Constant Exposure to Man-made Chemicals is Putting Your Life at Risk
  The Coming Famine: The Global Food Crisis and What We Can Do to Avoid It
  Open Science: Sharing Knowledge in the Global Century

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