1.5

The Case for Change: Why the Linear Model is Failing

The linear “take-make-dispose” economy critically harms the environment through pollution of air, water, and soil, resource depletion, and exacerbating climate change, pushing planetary boundaries. It also directly impacts human health with illnesses and toxins, disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities, and fuels socio-economic inequalities.

In this step we have put together a deep dive podcast which has been created with Google NotebookLM, with human selection of sources and quality check, with NotebookLM putting together the actual conversation with AI voices. You can also listen on YouTube here.

Further reading, learning and references

World Inequality Database https://wid.world/

World Slavery Index https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/

Our World in Data https://ourworldindata.org/

World Resource Institute’s Datalab https://www.wri.org/data

The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025 https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2025/

University of Exeter: Global Carbon Budget: https://globalcarbonbudget.org/

Kevin Anderson: The New Denialism: Climate Change – from the Paris Agreement to Sweden https://uppsala.instructuremedia.com/embed/7073ac89-d6b9-46a0-b9a6-3647e30ea94c

Uppsala University: Carbon budgets and rapid energy transitions in Sweden https://www.cemus.uu.se/carbon-budgets/

Stoddard, I. (2025). Perilous times: Carbon budgets and the cosmopolitics of climate mitigation https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-547881

Stefan Rahmstorf: Tipping risk of the Atlantic Ocean’s overturning circulation, AMOC https://uppsala.instructuremedia.com/embed/af8808a8-a5e0-4900-ac96-8cae3a217722

Johan Rockström: The Tipping Points of Climate Change — and Where We Stand https://uppsala.instructuremedia.com/embed/4e0da472-4524-4558-a3f5-7d40e482ab1f

Stockholm Resilience Centre: Planetary Boundaries https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html

© Daniel Mossberg, CEMUS, Uppsala University, Sonali Phadke, studio Alternatives and Stephanie Foote