This August’s report by the International Panel on Climate Change sounded the latest “final alarm” over mounting environmental devastation — another call to arms, followed by little actual response. While the crisis demands a far-reaching reordering of the global economy, summits such as the United Nations’ upcoming COP26 conference can reliably be expected to produce only further hand-wringing — and street protests that struggle to force political action.

But, as a new book argues, political action is precisely what we need if we are to overcome fatalism about the growing disaster. Burnt: Fighting for Climate Justice, released this week by Pluto Press, reflects on the structural causes of the climate crisis, the reasons why NGO-style “awareness raising” isn’t stopping it, and the youth-led movements fighting for a planet fit for human beings.

Burnt’s author Chris Saltmarsh is also cofounder of Labour for a Green New Deal, which has fought for Britain’s Labour Party to take up a transformative green agenda. In an interview, Jacobin’s David Broder asked Saltmarsh about his experience of climate activism and how we can develop a program of change that appeals to the social majority.