Let’s face it, argues Jonathan Franzen: The climate apocalypse is coming. We’ve already messed up the planet. The polar bears are running out of ice to stand on. Australia and California will burn again. Temperatures keep rising. Our chance to prevent the radical destabilization of life on earth has already come and gone. According to Franzen, one of America’s most celebrated writers, there are two ways we can think about this. We can keep on hoping that catastrophe is preventable, and feel ever more frustrated or enraged by the world’s inaction. Or we can accept that disaster is coming, and begin to rethink what it means to have hope.

In this special event for Intelligence Squared, Franzen explored what we can do once we accept the idea that it is too late to ‘save the planet’. Is there still a case for reducing carbon emissions? Is it still worth fighting for a more fair and just society? And how can we find meaning and hope in a world where we have no future?