The climate disaster is here, and scientists have recently delivered their “final warning”. Understanding the root causes and ripple effects of these complex issues can be difficult, however help is at hand.

In this comprehensive series of online classes, you will learn from leading scientists, economists, environmental activists, and award-winning journalists, who will convey what is really happening to our planet and what we must do to protect it.

Through a combination of live classes and recordings, you will deepen your understanding of the climate crisis and have the opportunity to connect with others from around the world.

Purchasing tickets to our Masterclasses is a powerful way to fund the Guardian’s journalism, including our quality, independent reporting on the climate emergency. Thank you for your support.

Course overview

Week one will cover the impact of humans on the natural environment, the origins of the Anthropocene, and how mainstream economics has led to climate breakdown and what can be done to reverse this.

Tuesday 13 June, 6.30pm-9pm BST

The impact of humans on the planet and how mainstream economics has led to climate breakdown. Mark Maslin and Julia Steinberger

Wednesday 14 June, 6.30pm-7.30pm BST

Networking hour: Get to know your fellow masterclass attendees at the first weekly networking session.

Thursday 15 June, 6.30pm-8pm BST

Human exceptionalism and recognising our role, as animals, in the wider ecosystem. Melanie Challenger

Week two will focus on the latest scientific research and political interventions, both crucial to resolving the climate crisis.

Tuesday 20 June, 6.30pm-9pm BST

The latest science and politics of the climate crisis. Mark Maslin and Fiona Harvey

Wednesday 21 June, 6.30pm-7.30pm BST

Networking hour: Get to know your fellow masterclass attendees at the weekly networking session.

Thursday 22 June, 6pm-7pm BST

The global waste crisis – what really happens to what we throw away? Oliver Franklin-Wallis

Week three will explore what practical steps can be taken to reduce our impact on the planet. You will also be invited to join a live session with the Guardian’s environmental journalists, to discuss their reporting and answer your questions. Lastly, a leading environmental activist will help you to reflect back on the course and look ahead.

Tuesday 27 June, 3pm-3.30pm BST

Current climate affairs and Q&A with the Guardian’s environment reporters from the UK and US. Helena Horton, Gabrielle Canon and Patrick Greenfield

Tuesday 27 June, 6.30pm-9pm BST

The role of corporations and governments in tackling the climate crisis, and the actions we can all take as individuals to make a positive impact. Mark Maslin and Sarah LaBrecque

Wednesday 28 June, 6.30pm-7.30pm BST

Networking hour: Get to know your fellow masterclass attendees at the final networking session.

Thursday 29 June, 6.30pm-8pm BST

Climate activism: former university vice-chancellor turned environmental activist, Dr Alison Green, leads this post-course workshop to help you reflect on your learnings and explore what actions you may wish to take.

These sessions will be recorded and available to watch back until 31 July 2023.

Additional recorded content

As part of the course, you will also receive access to recordings from previous Guardian Masterclasses and Guardian Live events, including:

Phoebe Weston and Patrick Barkham on the importance of biodiversity and how to protect our planet’s natural habitats and diverse species
Adrienne Buller on the illusions of green capitalism, interviewed by Sahil Dutta.
Greta Thunberg, Naomi Klein, Saleemul Huq, Ayisha Siddiqa and Kate Raworth on the climate emergency and how we can stop it, hosted by Damien Carrington
George Monbiot on how to shift our relationship to the living world: Regenesis.
Bella Lack, Dara McAnulty and Patrick Barkham on how to overcome eco-anxiety.
Matthew Taylor, Tessa Khan and Kjell Kuehne on how to stop climate breakdown.

This course is for …

Anyone and everyone with an interest in the climate crisis, who wants to protect and ensure the longevity of our planet.

Host profile

Mark A. Maslin is Professor of Earth System Science at University College London and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit scholar. He is a world leading expert on climate change and has published over 175 scientific papers and 10 books. His book The Cradle of Humanity Professor Brian Cox called ‘exhilarating’,while Bill McKibben called his book with Prof. Simon Lewis The Human Planet ‘remarkable’. His latest book How to Save Our Planet: The Facts is the ultimate handbook of irrefutable facts for saving the planet and ourselves. John Simpson suggests ‘‘everyone should read it and absorb its contents’.

Speaker profiles

Julia Steinberger researches Ecological Economics at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Her research examines the connections between resource use (energy and materials, greenhouse gas emissions) and societal performance (economic activity and human wellbeing). She is the recipient of a Leverhulme Research Leadership Award for her research project ‘Living Well Within Limits’ investigating how universal human well-being might be achieved within planetary boundaries. She is Lead Author for the IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report with Working Group 3.

Melanie Challenger writes, researches, and broadcasts on environmental history, philosophy of biology, and bioethics. She’s Deputy Chair of the Nuffield Council and a Vice President of the RSPCA. Her books include How to Be Animal: What it means to be human (2021) and Animal Dignity: Philosophical Reflections on Non-human Existence (2023).

Fiona Harvey is an award-winning journalist who has covered the environment since 2004, at the Financial Times and subsequently for the Guardian newspaper. She has written extensively on every environmental issue, from air pollution and biodiversity to ocean plastic and climate change. Her assignments have taken her as far afield as the Arctic and the Amazon, and she has attended almost every UNFCCC Cop since 2004, including reporting live from the 2015 Paris conference. The long list of major world figures she has interviewed includes Antonio Guterres, Ban Ki-moon, Tony Blair, Jose Manuel Barroso, Noam Chomsky, Mikhail Gorbachev and Sir David Attenborough. Among numerous awards and recognitions, she has twice won the Foreign Press Association award for Environment Story of the Year, the British Environment and Media Awards journalist of the year, and in 2020 she was named in the Woman’s Hour Power List of 30 top UK women, focusing on Our Planet.

Alison Green is a cognitive psychologist and expert on human learning and thinking, who has held several senior academic roles in the UK. She was Dean at the Open University and most recently was Pro Vice-Chancellor at Arden University. At the end of 2018, she traded academia for activism and resigned from her post, which was reported in both the Guardian and the Financial Times. Alison is currently Executive Director of the Scientists Warning Foundation. Her most recent article examines the role of academia in perpetuating the climate and ecological crisis. She is a member of the rewilding campaign group Wildcard and is Academic lead for Faculty for a Future

Sarah LaBrecque is an editor at Positive News, and writes freelance for publications such as Ethical Corporation magazine. She is passionate about sustainability, having spent the last decade doing all manner of environmental work, from canvassing door-to-door in her native Canada to working on The Guardian’s sustainable business desk in London. Today, she writes on everything from regenerative agriculture to natural beauty and strongly advocates for the power of a positive mindset. Her new green living guide book, Positively Green: Everyday Tips to Help the Planet and Calm Climate Anxiety, focuses on how we can all live more sustainably while keeping climate anxiety at bay.

Oliver Franklin-Wallis is an award-winning magazine journalist, whose writing has appeared in GQ, WIRED, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Times Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Economist’s 1843 magazine, and many other publications. He is currently the Features Editor of British GQ. Wasteland: The Dirty Truth About What We Throw Away, Where IT Goes and Why it Matters is his first book.

Course Details

Dates: 13-29 June 2023
Times: various times with a selection of recordings available until 31 July 2023

This masterclass is available globally. If you are joining us from outside the United Kingdom, please use this time zone converter to check your local live streaming time.

You will be sent a link to the webinar 24 hours and 30 minutes before the start time. Please email masterclasses@theguardian.com if you do not receive the access link 24 hours before the scheduled start time.

We aim to make all Guardian Masterclasses fully accessible. If you require any adjustments to enable your participation in this course, please get in touch with us at masterclasses@theguardian.com.

This event will be hosted on a third-party live streaming platform Zoom, please refer to their privacy policy and terms and conditions before purchasing a ticket to the class.

Once a purchase is complete we will not be able to refund you where you do not attend or if you cancel your event booking. Please see our terms and conditions for more information on our refund policy.

The climate crisis: A masterclass with academics, journalists and activists