Is Climate Collapse Inevitable? with Jem Bendell

In this Climate Chat episode, we interview climate scholar Jem Bendell on his 2018 paper, "Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy" and his August 2026 review of that paper to see if his earlier claims held up. We will also discuss other areas of Jem's research and talk about how Jem believes we should live our lives while knowing of the breakdown that is coming.
Jem Bendell is an emeritus professor of sustainability leadership with the University of Cumbria in the UK. He is best known for originating in 2018 the concept of "deep adaptation" for individuals and communities anticipating (or already coping with) the consequences of ongoing climate change. In 2019 he founded the Deep Adaptation Forum to support peer-to-peer communications in developing positive responses at the individual and community levels to societal disruptions induced by climate change.
Jem's website: https://jembendell.com
2018 Deep Adaptation paper:
2026 Evaluation of Deep Adaption paper: https://jembendell.com/2026/08/28/a-dozen-disputed-but-now-demonstrable-facts-about-climate-change-from-the-consequential-deep-adaptation-paper-of-2018/
Jem's book, "Breaking Together": https://jembendell.com/2023/04/08/breaking-together-a-freedom-loving-response-to-collapse/
Metacrisis Initiative: https://jembendell.com/metacrisis-initiative/
Jem's essay on committed warming: https://jembendell.com/2022/08/03/dont-be-a-climate-user-an-essay-on-climate-science-communication%EF%BF%BC/
Follow Jem on X/Twitter: @jembendell
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Dan Miller has been giving talks around the world on the need for urgent climate action for over 20 years. He is co-founder of The Roda Group, a climate-tech venture capital group, and he serves as an advisor for other climate funds and climate-focused non-profit groups. He started Climate Chat in 2021 on Clubhouse and added YouTube in 2023.
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Leon Simons is a climate scientist based in the Netherlands. He was a co-author with James Hansen on the 2023 "Global Warming in the Pipeline" paper that discussed the recent acceleration in global warming. Leon's work has focused recently on changes in aerosol emissions from ships and the impact of those changes on climate change. You can access Leon's research writings here:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Leon-Simons
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