Could a Ministry for the Future solve the climate crisis? | Kim Stanley Robinson interview
This episode is available in video form on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1cGrD47eZSk
American science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson joins Kamran Abbasi to discuss climate disaster, the need for political imagination, and science fiction's vision for health.
Kim Stanley Robinson is the acclaimed author of a trilogy of novels, exploring the terraforming and settlement of Mars. His most recent novel, 'Ministry for the Future', was published in 2020.
'Ministry for the Future' sets out a vision for real solutions to our climate crisis, covering global finance, the animal kingdom, rising sea levels, energy production and much more. The book imagines a Ministry that begins its work in 2025.
Five years after publication, with 2025 past and gone, The BMJ spoke to Robinson to explore how closely the novel's vision for the future has reflected reality.
01:00 BMJ's New Climate Change Initiative
01:21 Kim Stanley Robinson's Ministry for the Future
04:02 The Role of Political Violence in Climate Action
10:50 The Concept of the Carbon Coin
12:51 The Importance of Global Collaboration
27:32 The Role of Medicine in Climate Change
32:33 Youth and Climate Activism
37:53 Hope and Despair in Climate Action
41:29 Conclusion and Future Works
Read more about The BMJ's climate coverage in the latest issue: https://www.bmj.com/content/392/8479