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@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ of a geological catastrophe. Cosmos-scale world-changing events destroy much of
 the existing world order and its life-sustaining powers: the heavens are
 rolled up like a scroll, the sun and moon are darkened, water turns to blood,
 fire rains down from above. In its place, a new world order is established,
-which enables different forms of life. Al Gore, in his influential global
+supporting different forms of life. Al Gore, in his influential global
 warming campaign film, _An Inconvenient Truth_, was (and remains) typical in the
 way he describes the consequences of certain floods and wildfires as 'like a
 nature hike through the Book of Revelations' [@inconvenient-truth]. In the next
@@ -169,59 +169,36 @@ widespread phenomenon in mainstream American media. This media landscape
 neutralises what might have been active concern and transforms it into apathetic
 fatalism [@american-apocalyptic, p. 60].
 
-A second problem with catastrophic language is that it is conservative. Often,
-catastrophist narratives tacitly assume that everything was going well until The
-Catastrophe loomed its ugly head. The urgency of the crisis means that
+A second problem with catastrophic language is that it is conservative.
+For some rhetors, the urgency of the crisis means that
 established power structures must be supported to work at full throttle, and we
 certainly haven't got time to replace or radically transform them. But if, as
 many political analysts contend, green harms are in fact an inevitable
 consequence of business as usual, such narratives then obstruct the radical
 political critique which will be necessary for a lasting solution to green
-issues. For example, when a consortium of central banks commissioned a report
-on financing the global response to climate change, this is how that report
-opened:
-
-> Climate change is one of the most critical challenges facing humanity, with
-> far reaching consequences that threaten the well-being of people and the
-> planet. Current estimates for climate investment needs in \[emerging market
-> and developing economies\] are in the trillions, _with about 80-90 percent of
-> climate mitigation investments to be financed by the private sector as public
-> funding will be limited._ [@ngfs-dec-2023, p. 5, my emphasis]
-
-Where does this '80-90 percent' come from? The citation takes you to an IMF
-report on global financial stability. The relevant paragraph reads as follows:
+issues. For example, the International Monetary Fund recently reported:
 
 > Aligning capital flows on a low-carbon trajectory has become a critical policy
-> objective, including for financial stability, given that current renewable
-> energy investment and production fall grossly short of funding needed to meet
-> climate targets. A rapid acceleration of investment in low-carbon
-> energy infrastructure is needed, especially in emerging market and developing
-> economies. Private finance is key to achieving these objectives, while climate
-> and financial policies, such as a transition-oriented climate information
-> architecture, are complementary. The new Resilience and Sustainability Trust
-> can help eligible IMF members address longer-term structural challenges
-> generated by climate change. [@imf-apr-2023, p. 46]
-
-There is no mention of an '80 to 90 percent' figure. Doubtless, it is helpful as
-a rhetorical flourish to make the assertion seem more scientific that it really
-is: an ideological assumption that the neoliberal world order, in which
-governments are held hostage to markets, is permanent and inevitable. The figure
-of climate catastrophe functions here to attempt to foreclose radical
-imagination.
-
-So catastrophic language, apart from its fatalist tendencies, can shut down
-radical political discourses and thus discredit the best solutions to green
-problems before they've even been proposed. But perhaps the most vicious
-criticism of green catastrophism is that since green catastrophism reverberates
-strongly with 'Anthropocene' discourses, such rhetoric flattens out power
-relationships. This, say the critics, is the death of all genuine politics.
+> objective \[…\] Private finance is key to achieving these objectives, while
+> climate and financial policies, such as a transition-oriented climate
+> information architecture, are complementary. change. [@imf-apr-2023, p. 46]
+
+The IMF presumes that massive capital flows can only come from the private
+sector, ignoring the fact that historical economic transformations have been
+driven by command-and-control. Tacitly, the IMF assumes that the neoliberal
+order, in which governments are held hostage by markets, is permanent and
+inevitable. The figure of climate catastrophe functions here to attempt to
+foreclose radical imagination.
+
+But perhaps the most vicious criticism of green catastrophism is that since
+green catastrophism reverberates strongly with 'Anthropocene' discourses, such
+rhetoric flattens out power relationships. This, say the critics, is the 'death
+of politics.'
 
 Anthropocene discourse is catastrophic. The arrival of the Anthropocene means
 the end of the Holocene, defined as the time when the climate was hospitable to
 the growth of human civilization. The Anthropocene is thus inherently perceived
-as a threat to human survival. Climate change is conceived as a catastrophic
-consequence of greed driving human individuals to over-consume natural
-resources, especially fossil fuels. Critics, meanwhile, lambast such narratives,
+as a threat to human survival. Critics, meanwhile, lambast such narratives,
 accusing them of deploying threats of catastrophe to distract from the
 importance of economic structure in driving the climate crisis.
 
@@ -229,20 +206,13 @@ Andreas Malm and Alf Hornborg, to take one typical example, argue that the
 Anthropocene discourse of climate catastrophe emphasises the 'anthropos', the
 universal human subject, implying that social relations within the human species
 are relatively unimportant, and what matters is some universal, natural trait of
-the biological species, such as greed or the ability to make fire.
-
-> Climate change is _denaturalised_ in one moment – relocated from the sphere of
-> natural causes to that of human activities – only to be _renaturalised_ in the
-> next, when derived from an innate human trait, such as the ability to control
-> fire. Not nature, but human nature – this is the Anthropocene displacement. It
-> backs away from the vertiginous depth of what is perhaps the most
-> ground-breaking scientific discovery of our time, which tells us that human
-> beings have caused global warming over the course of their _history_.
-> [@malm-hornborg-2014, pp. 65-66]
+the biological species, such as greed or the ability to make fire. In reality,
+the climate catastrophe is not the result of a biological trait, but an historical
+process, and therefore an economic structure.
 
 In sum, green catastrophism is accused of encouraging a fatalist outlook,
-disarming radical discourses in favour of business as usual, and deeping harmful
-'post-politics' discourses by obscuring the importance of power relationships.
+disarming radical discourses in favour of business as usual, and deepening the
+'death of politics' by obscuring the importance of power relationships.
 In all these ways, catastrophic language in green rhetoric can work to actively
 de-motivate audiences to play their part in bringing about the green movement's
 desired outcomes.