The inspirational leaders we need must step forward

September 16, 2025

The World Bank has joined the expert chorus accepting the confronting reality of humanity’s environmental predicament. We are killing the planet which hosts us — polluting the air, poisoning the land, and choking the seas with plastic — all to maintain continuing growth in both our numbers and prosperity. We are destroying our future to enhance our present.

Julian Cribb asks: can we save a ‘liveable Earth’? Even at this late stage, we probably can. We have a clear, science-based understanding of our predicament, and of the imminent irreversible tipping points that give this challenge urgency. We have the technologies we need to secure a sustainable future.

Our democracies are hampered, however, by their need to inspire consensus support for major disruption to our lifestyles and material prospects. This consensus has remained elusive, stifled by a succession of populist politicians reluctant to address this major challenge, which in turn has been made more difficult by misinformation and distortion from the fossil fuel industry and other vested interests.

We could maintain a “livable Earth”, but doubts linger. We need inspirational political leaders stepping forward with the courage to champion this challenge and carry through the transition we must see.