a Shell gas station pump.

You can't afford

an electric car,

but you're told

the company will offset

the carbon emissions

from the fuel

you're about to purchase.

How?

With carbon credits

from a new program

they've recently started.

All you need to do

is use an app.

Pay a fee.

Press a button.

And you can rest easy.

Deep down,

you know something's wrong.

Devastating

wildfires, heat waves,

floods, storms, droughts.

This is the climate crisis.

And we need to do

something about it now.

And this pump-side promise,

isn't going to change things

for the better.

Just like

many of the promises made

by governments

and corporations won't.

The real question is: why?

And don't worry,

we'll return to the gas

pump shortly.

It's a really important

part of the story,

You see,

whether you realize it

or not, you, me,

and people

all over

the world

are in an invisible cage

made out of carbon.

So what is a carbon cage

and how did we end up in it?

I'll explain.

Let's start

at the very beginning.

We're all born into a system

that demands

we engage in activities

that emit carbon

just to survive.

This constant need

for resources

creates invisible bars

all around us,

and they are built

and reinforced

with carbon dioxide.

These bars

prevent us from addressing

carbon's role

in climate change

on a real and systemic level.

See, the interconnected

bars of the carbon cage

are actually part

of a commodified existence

that keeps us trapped

in a cycle of resource

dependance.

By commodified existence.

I'm talking about

the need to make money

to survive,

to get jobs to live,

and the role of consumption

and keeping the

whole thing going.

So how did we get here

and why is carbon

specifically so important

to talk about?

To understand that,

let's rewind

to the 1800s

and the dawn

of the industrial era.

Importantly, in 1850,

steam power

was invented in Great Britain

as a way to use coal energy

more efficiently.

Soon, steam engines were used

to power

trains, ships

and industrial machinery.

The discovery of electricity

and oil was supported

by the development

of the internal combustion

engine,

furthering our

economic dependance

on carbon.

By the end of

the 20th century,

we became so

dependent on depleting

finite fossil fuels

the coal, oil and natural

gas derived from the remains

of prehistoric plants

and animals

that we burned

through millions of years

of accumulated fossil fuels

in just a few generations.

Since the

burning of fossil fuels

releases carbon dioxide,

the result has been

a major

increase of CO2

in the atmosphere.

Let's just take a look

at carbon dioxide.

In 1750, we were here.

Right now,

we're all the way up here.

The last time

Earth experienced

similar levels of atmospheric

CO2 was over

4 million years ago

during the Pliocene,

when a giant terror bird

named Titanis

roamed North America.

The fact is,

the entire history

of our economic development

has been dependent

on fossil fuels,

and it shows no real

signs of stopping.

That's in part

because it's

an economic system

that requires

limitless growth

on a limited planet.

And carbon

dioxide

is a stubbornly persistent

heat trapping gas.

Given

that CO2 can stay

in the atmosphere

for up to a thousand years,

some of the emissions

from the industrial

era are still with us today,

and everything else

we're burning right now

will be in the atmosphere

for even longer.

Now let's take a look at

how the initial bars

of our commodified

existence are reinforced

with new bars

keeping us trapped.

Let's zoom out

and take a look at those bars

made up of trucks, ships

and every Amazon package

currently

sitting on your doorstep.

I'm talking about our

global supply chain

and specifically

our system of production

and consumption.

Companies want to produce

things cheaply.

This ramped up in the 1980s

with more and more production

occurring in the Global South

and products

shipped to the Global North.

This type of globalization

comes with

a substantial

carbon footprint.

But what's the actual carbon

cost of all of this?

In fact, one study suggests

that just eight global supply

chains are responsible

for 50% of global emissions.

And yes,

I'm talking about that

new iPhone in your pocket.

All of this

comes in at

even greater cost.

And I'm not just talking

about the obvious inequality

built into the system.

To accommodate

the resource use pollution

and carbon

emissions

of overdeveloped countries

like the US and Canada.

We literally need over

five planet earths.

This takes us

to another set of bars.

It's something that companies

are doing

to take our attention away

from the effects

that the economies

grow or die

ethos is having on the planet

and our lives.

I'm talking

about greenwashing.

Let's go back

to that gas pump

and specifically

the carbon offsets

touted by companies

like Shell.

Carbon offsetting

is based on the idea

that companies and countries

can invest in climate

related projects

around the world

to cancel out their own

carbon emissions.

Think of it this way

it's like telling

yourself it's okay

to cheat on a big test

you have coming up.

As long as you pay

someone else not to cheat,

as though that somehow

cancels out your actions.

And with offsets,

there's a lot more at stake.

By May 2021, over 4.3

billion carbon offsets

had been issued globally.

But there's a problem.

Study after study confirms

that there are major issues

with carbon offsetting.

One, their potential climate

benefits are

often overestimated.

Two,

they would have

happened anyways,

so they're not new.

And three,

they don't actually

lower emissions.

They just take us back

to where we started.

And suddenly,

two conflicts

over land and human

rights abuses.

And there are major issues

with how offsetting

is regulated.

Ultimately, it's

greenwashing at its finest.

For the net zero

commitments of all companies

and countries globally,

land roughly equal

to all of the

farmland on earth

would be needed.

Such plans

simply aren't credible.

What's more, forests burn.

Trees die,

and they are no substitute

for a plan

that actually takes us

to zero

and leaves the fossil

fuels in the ground

where the carbon is

permanently stored.

Also, net zero is not

actually zero.

As you can see,

this isn't helping.

It's simply distracting us

from the bigger picture.

Let's move on.

I'm pretty sure

you have one of these.

From the mining of minerals

to the manufacture of parts

to industrial assembly,

to shipping to e-waste.

The life

cycle of your smartphone

is incredibly

carbon intensive.

So why do so many of us

upgrade our phones

every two years?

Well before

the end of their life?

Well,