The Planet

This outstanding documentary series outlines the challenges faced by humanity in the grip of global environmental change, making a strong case for mankind's own contribution to this life threatening problem. Not limited to climate change, The Planet examines global changes brought about by overpopulation, the destruction of plants and animals, levels of consumption, growing economies and industrialized farming. Swedish filmmakers Michael Stenberg, Linus Torell, Johan Söderberg take this serious material to the next level, using unconventional aerial photography, archived instructional films and a thriving soundtrack to bring a scientific subject into the realm of artistic, contemporary documentary. Environmental experts interviewed for the series include Pulitzer Prize and National Medal of Science winner Jared Diamond ("Guns, Germs and Steel"), author and Stanford professor Gretchen Daily, Herman Daly, Will Steffen, George Monbiot, Norman Myers and Lester Brown.

Part 2: Natural Resources
This episode of The Planet looks at the toll economic growth takes on the planet. While the world’s population continues to grow, the earth’s resources, particularly of food and water, remain finite. The West is the biggest consumer of goods per capita in the world, but what will happen when China and India manage to fulfill their dream of joining the "first world", with expectations to match?

Episode 2 of The Planet looks seriously at the term “economic growth”, so often quoted in the news, but misunderstood by many ordinary people, and argues for the necessity of shrinking our economies. That means scaling back the comfortable lifestyles many of us enjoy today.

Visit our pages for The Planet Part 1, Part 3 and Part 4.

LEARN MORE:

Read Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

Find out more at Bill McKibben's website
Visit The Planet's distributor, Svensk Filmindustri
Read bios of the filmmakers Michael Stenberg, Linus Torell, Johan Söderberg
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been established by WMO and UNEP to assess scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.

The League of Conservation Voters
WorldWater Council - a network of public and private sector organization with a stake in water issues. They are responsible for the World Water Forum.
Unesco's water portal
Food & Water Watch challenges the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.

Read about environmental innovators and ideas at WorldChanging.com.