War: What Is It Good For?

As climate breakdown accelerates, incremental solutions are no longer viable. This report makes the case for a full-scale, WWII-style mobilisation—an economy-wide response that matches the scale of the emergency.

The Climate Mobilisation Imperative

The climate crisis now demands a mobilisation effort on par with the largest and fastest economic transformation in human history: World War II. This report argues that, for years, a few have called for this approach. Today, with growing momentum from figures like Bernie Sanders, Bill McKibben, and major political platforms, the idea is finally entering the mainstream.

But with this recognition comes a critical need for clarity. Drawing on the One Degree War Plan, co-authored with Professor Jorgen Randers in 2009, Paul Gilding outlines a practical roadmap: zero emissions in 20 years, followed by deep carbon drawdown. The science now shows we are even further behind than in 2009—and the urgency is greater than ever.

The report warns that delayed action, slow reform, or targets set decades into the future are a recipe for failure. Instead, War: What Is It Good For? defines mobilisation not as a policy option or ambitious goal, but as an all-in, immediate transformation of the economy and society.

This is not the Apollo Program. It is not the New Deal. It is something far larger—a coordinated, whole-of-society effort to protect humanity from civilisational collapse. Guided by science, ethics, and a refusal to accept defeat, this report calls for mobilisation as the only adequate response to the climate emergency.