The push for net zero has become a new arena for class conflict, where the powerful profit and the rest suffer. Nicholas Beuret’s incisive critique and actionable strategies empower us to fight for a truly sustainable and equitable future.

Or Something Worse exposes the bleak realities of the transition to a carbon-neutral economy. Greening the economy has become a one-sided war, as governments and businesses squeeze the living standards of ordinary people. We need to seize control of the transition in order to reshape it to equitable ends.

Existing policies won’t limit global heating to anything close to a safe level. Claims of sustainability disguise a zero-sum battle where the powerful profit and everyone else foots the bill. Green growth was supposed to bring increased wealth for all. Instead, work has been degraded, energy bills have soared, and the most basic necessities have become expensive and scarce.

We need to disrupt green capitalism. Nicholas Beuret follows those already fighting back through ‘don’t pay’ campaigns, blockades of fossil-fuel infrastructure, and community counter-planning. He shows we have the tools not only to stop climate change but to build a fairer future.

Nicholas Beuret is an activist scholar and lecturer at the University of Essex. He has been engaged with questions of justice, labour rights, ecological politics and political economy for thirty years. His writing has appeared in Novara Media, The Ecologist, Open Democracy, and The Jacobin.

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