Jean-Marc Jancovici: "Our Global Energy Predicament" | The Great Simplification #84

On this episode, Nate is joined by well-known French educator Jean-Marc Jancovici to discuss the critical importance of energy to modern economies. Together, Nate and Jean-Marc break down the fundamentals of our complex, growth dependent global economic system. How much of the stereotypical Western lifestyle is centered around access to cheap, surplus fossil energy? What would it mean for societies to lose this stable, cheap and abundant supply - and how would the people who have become used to it react? Will a shift in society’s institutions and expectations need to be forced upon us in a time of urgent change or is it possible for nations and societies to anticipate declining energy availability - to actively simplify before we are forced to by circumstances?

About Jean-Marc Jancovici:

Jean-Marc Jancovici is a founding partner of Carbone 4, a Paris based consultancy and data
provider specializing in low carbon transition, biodiversity impacts, and physical risks of
climate change (www.carbone4.com). He is the founder and president of The Shift Project, a
Paris based think tank advocating for a low carbon economy (www.theshiftproject.org). Jean-Marc Jancovici is also an associate professor at Mines ParisTech, member of the French
High Council for the Climate, and (co-)author of 8 books and the website
jancovici.com on energy and climate change issues. Jean-Marc Jancovici is a graduate from École polytechnique and Télécom ParisTech.

For Show Notes and More: https://www.thegreatsimplification.co...

00:00 - Introduction
01:38 - Jean-Marc’s introduction to the overall current human situation
08:50 - When was Jean-Marc’s ‘red pill’ moment?
12:50 - Does Jean-Marc encounter pushback on his work?
15:21 - Jean-Marc’s thoughts on ambitious plans such as net-zero or dematerializing GDP from energy?
19:58 - Why have some people been talking about these issues for years yet it has not reached the overarching societies?
27:09 - Jean-Marc’s opinion on finance and quantitative easing?
31:18 - Does printing more money cause an effect on extracted energy faster?
33:09 - Shift Project’s research
35:13 - Jean-Marc’s thoughts on climate change
40:19 - Protests in France over retirement and its connections to energy scarcity?
43:05 - Utilizing slave labor more once fossil fuels run out?
47:03 - What has been people’s response to increasing prices in Europe due to the Russia/Ukraine situation?
49:02 - Sobriété
54:20 - Overview of the Shift Project
59:05 - France’s understanding of the future of energy
1:01:50 - How is Jean-Marc navigating describing our biophysical reality in France?
1:12:39 - What should nations do?
1:17:10 - Jean-Marc’s advice
1:20:51 - Jean-Marc’s advice to young people
1:22:29 - Jean-Marc’s magic wand
1:23:52 - Future topic of conversation

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