George Monbiot

Born in Kensington, Monbiot grew up in Rotherfield Peppard, Oxfordshire.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/enter-the-cleanshaven-adventurer-hero-1618791.html |title=Enter the clean-shaven adventurer hero |last=Fox |first= Genevieve |website=Independent.co.uk | date=8 May 1995 |accessdate=29 May 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=K31EgplShzpJb5WJr3kGRA&scan=1|title=Index entry|access-date=22 February 2021|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}}{{cite news |first=Andy |last=Beckett |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/occupying-the-moral-high-ground-1346850.html |title=Occupying the Moral High Ground |newspaper=The Independent |date=12 May 1996}} His father, Raymond Monbiot, was a businessman who headed the Conservative Party's trade and industry forum.{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/jan/08/greenpolitics.conservatives|title=Nick Cohen: 'It's farcical how Cameron has rescued Blair's ideas from the rubbish dump'|date=8 January 2006|website=The Guardian}}{{cite news| last=Fox | first=Genevieve | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/enter-the-cleanshaven-adventurer-hero-1618791.html | title=Enter the clean-shaven adventurer hero | newspaper=The Independent | date=9 May 1995}} His mother, Rosalie (daughter of Gresham Cooke MP) was a Conservative councillor and former leader of South Oxfordshire District Council.{{cite news| title=Marriages | page=10 | newspaper=The Times | date=9 December 1961}}The Daily Telegraph, 25 May 1996. His uncle, Canon Hereward Cooke, was the Liberal Democrat deputy leader of Norwich City Council.{{cite news|newspaper=The Times |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6978311.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524060703/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6978311.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 May 2010 |title=Obituary: Canon Hereward Cooke |date=7 January 2010}}

After preparatory boarding school at Elstree School,{{cite web |last=Monbiot |first=George |date=2023-11-11 |title=Boarding schools warp our political class – I know because I went to one |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/07/boarding-schools-boris-johnson-bullies |access-date=2024-11-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111153114/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/07/boarding-schools-boris-johnson-bullies |archive-date=11 November 2023}} he was educated at Stowe School, in Buckinghamshire.{{Cite web|url=https://www.robhopkins.net/2017/07/24/george-monbiot/|title=George Monbiot on how boarding school destroys the imagination|date=2017-07-24|website=Rob Hopkins|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-03}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jan/16/boarding-school-bastion-cruelty|title=The British boarding school remains a bastion of cruelty|last=Monbiot|first=George|date=2012-01-16|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-03|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} He won an open scholarship to Brasenose College, Oxford.{{cite web| url=http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/history/216-brasenose-people/412-famous-brasenose-names | title=Past Members | publisher=Brasenose College, Oxford | location=UK | access-date=1 June 2014}} Monbiot has stated that his "political awakening" was prompted by reading Bettina Ehrlich's book, Paolo and Panetto, while at his prep school{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/24/george-monbiot-book-changed-me-help-me-trace-story-political-awakening|title=Help me trace the book that prompted my political awakening|last=Monbiot|first=George|date=24 August 2015|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=18 February 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/06/born-into-privilege-still-want-change-world|title=You can be born into privilege and still want to change the world|last=Monbiot|first=George|date=6 January 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=18 February 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} and that he regretted attending Oxford.{{Cite news|url=http://www.monbiot.com/about/|title=About George|newspaper=George Monbiot|access-date=18 February 2017|language=en-GB}}

File:George Monbiot interview with The Green Interview.webm about his work in 2014]]

After graduating with a degree in zoology, Monbiot joined the BBC Natural History Unit as a radio producer, making natural history and environmental programmes. He transferred to the BBC's World Service, where he worked briefly as a current affairs producer and presenter, before leaving to research and write his first book.{{cite web | title=About George | website=George Monbiot | date=2017-08-01 | url=https://www.monbiot.com/about/ | access-date=2023-12-09}}

Working as an investigative journalist, he travelled in Indonesia, Brazil, and East Africa. His activities led to his being made persona non grata in seven countries{{cite web |url=http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000047320,00.html |title=George Monbiot; short biography |publisher=Penguin Books |access-date=26 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820033139/http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0%2C%2C1000047320%2C00.html |archive-date=20 August 2007}} and being sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia in Indonesia.{{cite news | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article1144305.ece | work=The Sunday Times (UK) | date=22 June 2003 | access-date=27 May 2007 |title=In a globalised world of opportunity | location=London | first1=Patrick | last1=Hosking | first2=David |last2=Wighton}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

In these places he was also shot at,George Monbiot, 1991. Amazon Watershed. Michael Joseph, London brutally beaten up and arrested by military police, shipwrecked and stung into a poisoned coma by hornets.George Monbiot, 1989. Poisoned Arrows: an investigative journey through Indonesia. Michael Joseph, London He came back to work in Britain after being pronounced clinically dead in Lodwar General Hospital in north-western Kenya, having contracted cerebral malaria.{{citation| first=George | last=Monbiot | title=No Man's Land: an investigative journey through Kenya and Tanzania | year=1994}}

He joined the British roads protest movement and was often called to give press interviews; as a result he was denounced as a "media tart"{{cite book |last=Monbiot |first=George |date=July 17, 1998 |editor-last=McKay |editor-first=George |title=DiY Culture, Party and Protest in Nineties Britain |publisher=Verso | page=181 |chapter=The land is Ours campaign |isbn=9781859842607}} by groups such as Green Anarchist and Class War. He claims he was brutally beaten and attacked by security guards, who allegedly drove a metal spike through his foot, smashing the middle metatarsal bone. His injuries left him in hospital.{{cite web|first=Paul|last=Mobb|date=25 March 2011|work=ecolonomics|title=When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?|url=http://fraw.org.uk/mei/ecolonomics/01/ecolonomics-010-20110322.pdf|access-date=15 May 2019|archive-date=19 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519202233/http://www.fraw.org.uk/mei/ecolonomics/01/ecolonomics-010-20110322.pdf|url-status=dead}} Sir Crispin Tickell, a former United Nations diplomat, who was then Warden at Green College, Oxford, made the young protester a Visiting Fellow.Genevieve Fox, [https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/enter-the-cleanshaven-adventurer-hero-1618791.html Enter the clean-shaven adventurer hero], The Independent. 8 May 1995.

In November 2012, he apologised to Lord McAlpine for his "stupidity and thoughtlessness" in implying, in a tweet, that the Conservative peer was a paedophile.{{cite web|last1=Monbiot|first1=George|title=Lord McAlpine – An Abject Apology|url=http://www.monbiot.com/2012/11/10/lord-mcalpine-an-abject-apology/|website=George Monbiot|access-date=19 October 2016|date=10 November 2012}}{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/9667058/Guardian-columnist-apologises-for-naming-Lord-McAlpine-on-Twitter.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/9667058/Guardian-columnist-apologises-for-naming-Lord-McAlpine-on-Twitter.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph |date=9 November 2012 | title=Guardian columnist apologises for naming Lord McAlpine on Twitter}}{{cbignore}}Interview, BBC Radio 4, World at One, 15 November 2012

In 2014, Monbiot wrote an article on the theme of loneliness.{{Cite news|last=Monbiot|first=George|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/14/age-of-loneliness-killing-us|title=The age of loneliness is killing us|work=The Guardian|date=14 October 2014|access-date=13 June 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} This led to a collaboration with musician Ewan McLennan. Together they released an album Breaking the Spell of Loneliness in October 2016 followed by a tour of the UK.{{cite web|last=Hughes|first=Tim|url=http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/music/15020385._No_more_lonely_nights____George_Monbiot_and_Ewan_McLennan_bring_us_together_to_fight_isolation/|title='No more lonely nights' - George Monbiot and Ewan McLennan bring us together to fight isolation|work=Oxford Times|date=12 January 2017|access-date=13 June 2017|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Monbiot|first=George|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/03/loneliness-george-monbiot-ewan-mclennan-songs-tour|title=George Monbiot: why I wrote an album of anthems for all the lonely people|work=The Guardian|date=3 October 2016|access-date=13 June 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Folk Radio described it as "an enthralling album" where "Each song is a short, eloquent and thought provoking essay on the destruction of our humanity and how it can be regained".{{cite web|last=McFadyen|first=Neil|url=http://www.folkradio.co.uk/2016/10/ewan-mclennan-george-monbiot-breaking-the-spell-of-loneliness-featured-review |title=Folk Radio review of "Breaking The Spell Of Loneliness", 2016|work=Folk Radio |date=11 October 2016|access-date=28 December 2016}}

Monbiot narrated the video How Wolves Change Rivers{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/ysa5OBhXz-Q| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=How Wolves Change Rivers|website=YouTube |date=13 February 2014 }}{{cbignore}} which was based on his TED talk of 2013{{cite web|url=https://www.ted.com/talks/george_monbiot_for_more_wonder_rewild_the_world|title=For more wonder, rewild the world|first=George|last=Monbiot|date=9 September 2013 |via=www.ted.com}} on the restoration of ecosystems and landscape (rewilding) when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park. In 2019, Monbiot co-presented Nature Now,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlfW7aYouYQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/GlfW7aYouYQ| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Nature Now|website=YouTube |date=19 September 2019 }}{{cbignore}} a video about natural climate solutions, with Greta Thunberg. Monbiot appeared in the documentary The Cost of Living: Does Britain Need a Basic Income?, a companion piece to the film The Future of Work and Death, about UBI in the UK – released on Amazon Prime in 2020. {{Cite web |title=Cost of Living: An interview with basic income documentarians {{!}} BIEN — Basic Income Earth Network |url=https://basicincome.org/news/2021/01/cost-of-living-an-interview-with-basic-income-documentarians/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=basicincome.org}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://mubi.com/en/de/films/the-cost-of-living-2020 |title=The Cost of Living (2020) {{!}} MUBI |language=en |access-date=2025-02-28 |via=mubi.com}} He appeared in the 2021 Netflix documentary Seaspiracy, which focuses on the human impact on marine life and fishing, and defended it from critics.{{Cite web |date=2021-04-07 |title=Seaspiracy shows why we must treat fish not as seafood, but as wildlife {{!}} George Monbiot |url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/07/seaspiracy-earth-oceans-destruction-industrial-fishing |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}

In 2021, Monbiot created the live documentary Rivercide, highlighting the lamentable state of the UK's rivers, and in particular the River Wye.{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/14/livestreamed-documentary-rivercide-to-unmask-uks-water-polluters |title=Livestreamed documentary Rivercide to unmask UK's water polluters |website=the Guardian |date=14 July 2021 |access-date=1 November 2022}}

While describing the film Don't Look Up in early{{nbsp}}2022, Monbiot explained how difficult it is to campaign for the preservation of Earth in the face of what he sees as overwhelming inaction.{{cite news |last1=Monbiot |first1 = George |title=Watching Don't Look Up made me see my whole life of campaigning flash before me |date=4 January 2022 |work=The Guardian |location=London, United Kingdom |issn=0261-3077 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/04/dont-look-up-life-of-campaigning |access-date=2022-01-04 }}

In 2024, Monbiot appeared in the British documentary film I Could Never Go Vegan.{{cite web |title=Dartmouth Films announces release of I Could Never Go Vegan documentary exploring objections to veganism |url=https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2024/03/12/dartmouth-films-announces-release-of-i-could-never-go-vegan-documentary-exploring-objections-to-veganism/ |website=The Upcoming |date=March 12, 2024 |access-date=August 1, 2024}}

In the early 2000s, Monbiot predicted that global production of oil "will peak before long". In his article, titled "The Bottom of the Barrel", he wrote:

{{Blockquote|The most optimistic projections are the ones produced by the US Department of Energy, which claims that this will not take place until 2037. But the US energy information agency has admitted that the government’s figures have been fudged: it has based its projections for oil supply on the projections for oil demand,(5) perhaps in order not to sow panic in the financial markets. Other analysts are less sanguine. The petroleum geologist Colin Campbell calculates that global extraction will peak before 2010.(6) In August the geophysicist Kenneth Deffeyes told New Scientist that he was “99 per cent confident” that the date of maximum global production will be 2004. Even if the optimists are correct, we will be scraping the oil barrel within the lifetimes of most of those who are middle-aged today.

The supply of oil will decline, but global demand will not. Today we will burn 76 million barrels; by 2020 we will be using 112 million barrels a day, after which projected demand accelarates. If supply declines and demand grows, we soon encounter something with which the people of the advanced industrial economies are unfamiliar: shortage. The price of oil will go through the roof.

File:George Monbiot Scotland.jpg rally in Edinburgh, July 2005]]

Monbiot believes that drastic action coupled with strong political will is needed to combat global warming.{{cite journal |last1 = Monbiot | first1 = G| author-link1 = George Monbiot| last2 = Lynas | first2 = M. | last3 = Marshall | first3 = G.| last4 = Juniper | first4 = T.| last5 = Tindale | first5 = S. | doi = 10.1038/434559a | title = Time to speak up for climate-change science | journal = Nature | volume = 434 | issue = 7033 | page = 559| year = 2005 | pmid = 15800596| bibcode = 2005Natur.434..559.| doi-access = free}} He supports the introduction of the crime of ecocide to the International Criminal Court stating “I believe [a crime of ecocide] would change everything. It would radically shift the balance of power, forcing anyone contemplating large-scale vandalism to ask themselves: ‘Will I end up in the international criminal court for this?’ It could make the difference between a habitable and an uninhabitable planet.”{{Cite web |title=Supporters of Ecocide Law |url=https://www.stopecocide.earth/supporters |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Stop Ecocide International |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Monbiot |first=George |date=2019-03-28 |title=The destruction of the Earth is a crime. It should be prosecuted |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/28/destruction-earth-crime-polly-higgins-ecocide-george-monbiot |access-date=2023-06-21 |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news |last=Monbiot |first=George |date=2019-09-19 |title=For the sake of life on Earth, we must put a limit on wealth |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/19/life-earth-wealth-megarich-spending-power-environmental-damage |access-date=2023-06-21 |issn=0261-3077}}

To reduce his personal impact on the environment, he has transitioned to a vegan lifestyle and encourages others to do the same.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/09/vegan-corrupt-food-system-meat-dairy|title=I've converted to veganism to reduce my impact on the living world|website=The Guardian|last=Monbiot|first=George|date=9 August 2016|access-date=25 March 2021}}

Monbiot has criticised media coverage of climate change and environmental issues, in particular that of the BBC and its nature documentaries. He has also criticised the BBC for what he views as its political bias.{{Cite web |date=2022-10-05 |title=Rightwing thinktanks run this government. But first, they had to capture the BBC {{!}} George Monbiot |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/05/rightwing-thinktanks-government-bbc-news-programmes |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}

Monbiot made an unsuccessful attempt to carry out a citizen's arrest of John Bolton, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, when the latter attended the Hay Festival to give a talk on international relations in May 2008. Monbiot argued that Bolton was one of the instigators of the Iraq War, of which Monbiot was an opponent.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2044737/John-Bolton-escapes-citizens-arrest-at-Hay-Festival.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2044737/John-Bolton-escapes-citizens-arrest-at-Hay-Festival.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=John Bolton escapes citizen's arrest at Hay Festival|last=Adams|first=Stephen|date=28 May 2008|work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}

Monbiot is a critic of neoliberalism. In January 2004, Monbiot and Salma Yaqoob co-founded Respect – The Unity Coalition (later formally the Respect Party) which grew out of the Stop the War Coalition.{{cite journal|title=All I'm asking, is for a little respect: Assessing the Performance of Britain's Most Successful Radical Left Party |last=Peace |first=Timothy |year=2013a |journal=Parliamentary Affairs |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=405–424 |doi=10.1093/pa/gsr064 |url=http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/144518/1/144518.pdf}} He resigned from the group the following February when Respect failed to reach agreement with the Green Party not to stand candidates in the same constituencies in the forthcoming 2004 European Parliament election.{{cite news|last=Tempest|first=Matthew|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/feb/17/iraq.iraq1|title=Monbiot quits Respect over threat to Greens|work=The Guardian|date=17 February 2004|access-date=10 February 2018}}

In an interview with the British political blog Third Estate in September 2009, Monbiot expressed his support for the policies of Plaid Cymru, saying "I have finally found the party that I feel very comfortable with. That's not to say I feel uncomfortable with the Green Party, on the whole I support it, but I feel even more comfortable with Plaid."{{cite web |author=An Interview with George Monbiot |url=http://thethirdestate.net/2009/09/an-interview-with-george-monbiot/ |title=An Interview with George Monbiot |publisher=Thethirdestate.net |access-date=27 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028144319/http://thethirdestate.net/2009/09/an-interview-with-george-monbiot/ |archive-date=28 October 2012}}

In April 2010, he was a signatory to an open letter of support for the Liberal Democrats, published in The Guardian.[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/apr/28/lib-dems-party-of-progress "Lib Dems are the party of progress"]. The Guardian. 28 April 2010 Prior to the May 2015 UK general election, he was one of several public figures who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the Green Party's Caroline Lucas.{{cite news | url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/24/celebrities-sign-statement-support-caroline-lucas-not-green-party | title= Celebrities sign statement of support for Caroline Lucas – but not the Greens | work=The Guardian | location=London | first=Jessica | last=Elgot | date=24 April 2015 | access-date=22 July 2015}} In the election he also endorsed the Green Party as a whole.{{cite news |last= Monbiot |first= George |date= 28 January 2015 |title= Follow your convictions – this could be the end of the politics of fear |url= https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/28/convictions-politics-fear-syriza-podemos-snp-green |work= The Guardian |access-date= 17 August 2021}} In August 2015, Monbiot endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election.{{cite news |last=Monbiot|first=George|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/18/jeremy-corbyn-rivals-chase-impossible-dream|title=Jeremy Corbyn is the curator of the future. His rivals are chasing an impossible dream|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 August 2015|access-date=15 July 2017}} In April 2017, he announced his intention to vote for the Labour Party in the 2017 general election.{{cite news |last=Monbiot|first=George|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/25/vote-labour-jeremy-corbyn-theresa-may|title=If ever there was a time to vote Labour, it is now|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 April 2017|access-date=26 April 2017}}{{cite news |last=Monbiot|first=George|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/06/vote-jeremy-corbyn-labour-leader-policies|title=I've never voted with hope before. Jeremy Corbyn has changed that|newspaper=The Guardian|date=6 June 2017|access-date=17 July 2017}}{{cite news |last=Monbiot|first=George|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/13/election-tories-media-broadcasters-press-jeremy-corbyn|title=The election's biggest losers? Not the Tories but the media, who missed the story|newspaper=The Guardian|date=13 June 2017|access-date=17 July 2017}} In August 2021, he endorsed Tamsin Omond and Amelia Womack in the 2021 Green Party of England and Wales leadership election.{{cite news |last= Jarvis |first= Chris |date= 16 August 2021 |title= A 3 horse race? – Green Party leadership election round up issue 1 |url= https://bright-green.org/2021/08/16/a-3-horse-race-green-party-leadership-election-round-up-issue-1/ |work= Bright Green |access-date= 24 August 2021}}

Monbiot, who has warned that Britain is at risk of becoming a failed state,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ_9QE-34Ec |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/XJ_9QE-34Ec| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=How Britain Could Become a Failed State - George Monbiot|author=Double Down News|date=11 February 2021|publisher=YouTube|access-date=11 February 2021}}{{cbignore}} is a supporter of Scottish independence, Welsh independence and Irish reunification.{{cite tweet|user=GeorgeMonbiot|last=Monbiot|first=George|number=1351082109407031298|title=In the meantime, it is surely now clear that the best protection against ongoing disaster for the people of Wales and Scotland is independence, and for the people of Northern Ireland, reunification.|date=18 January 2021|access-date=18 January 2021}} On 11 February 2021, whilst on BBC Two's Politics Live, he said, "If I lived in Scotland, I'd want to get out of this corrupt, dysfunctional, chaotic union as quickly as possible. And the same applies to Wales, the same applies to Northern Ireland. I can't see the point of staying in the United Kingdom, of being chained to the United Kingdom like a block of concrete, as the boat begins to founder."{{cite news|date=11 February 2021|title=Monbiot: Wales should escape 'chaotic, dysfunctional, corrupt' UK as soon as possible|url=https://nation.cymru/news/monbiot-wales-should-escape-chaotic-dyfunctional-corrupt-uk-as-soon-as-possible/|access-date=11 February 2021|website=Nation.Cymru|language=en-GB}}{{cite news|title=WATCH: Scottish Tory MP squirms as George Monbiot tears the 'corrupt' Union apart|url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/19083740.scottish-independence-tory-mp-squirms-george-monbiot-slams-corrupt-union/|last=Webster|first=Laura|date=11 February 2021|access-date=11 February 2021|website=The National|language=en}}

Monbiot has criticised linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky, arguing on Twitter in November 2017 that "Part of the problem is that a kind of cult has developed around Noam Chomsky and John Pilger, which cannot believe they could ever be wrong, and produces ever more elaborate conspiracy theories to justify their mistakes."{{cite web | title=Cult of Chomsky and Pilger | website=X (formerly Twitter) | url=https://twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot/status/933294796684349441 | access-date=2023-12-09}}

Monbiot once expressed deep antipathy to the nuclear industry.George Monbiot [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2000/mar/30/energy.nuclearindustry?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 "The nuclear winter draws near"], The Guardian, 30 March 2000 He then rejected his later neutral position regarding nuclear power in March 2011. Although he "still loathe[s] the liars who run the nuclear industry",{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/21/pro-nuclear-japan-fukushima/|title=Why Fukushima made me stop worrying and love nuclear power|last=Monbiot|first=George|date=21 March 2011|work=The Guardian|accessdate=22 March 2011|location=London}} Monbiot now advocates its use, having been convinced of its relative safety by what he considers the limited effects of the 2011 Japan tsunami on nuclear reactors in the region. Subsequently, he has harshly condemned the anti-nuclear movement, writing that it "has misled the world about the impacts of radiation on human health ... made [claims] ungrounded in science, unsupportable when challenged and wildly wrong." He singled out Helen Caldicott for, he wrote, making unsourced and inaccurate claims, dismissing contrary evidence as part of a cover-up, and overstating the death toll from the Chernobyl disaster by a factor of more than 140.{{cite news|url=http://www.monbiot.com/2011/04/04/evidence-meltdown/|title=Evidence Meltdown|last=Monbiot|first=George|date=4 April 2011|work=The Guardian|accessdate=17 April 2011}}

In October 2013 Monbiot criticised the selection of a generation III reactor design for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station due to cost as well as for a half century requirement of uranium mining and transuranic waste production; he contrasted this with two generation IV reactor concepts: "if integral fast reactors were deployed, the UK's stockpile of nuclear waste could be used to generate enough low-carbon energy to meet all UK demand for 500 years. These reactors would keep recycling the waste until hardly any remained: solving three huge problems – energy supply, nuclear waste and climate change – at once. Thorium reactors use an element that's already extracted in large quantities as an unwanted byproduct of other mining industries. They recycle their own waste, leaving almost nothing behind."{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/21/farce-hinckley-nuclear-reactor-haunt-britain|title=The farce of the Hinkley C nuclear reactor will haunt Britain for decades|author=George Monbiot|work=The Guardian|date=21 October 2013|accessdate=26 October 2013}} (cf. similar comments by James Hansen)

File:George Monbiot interview with The Green Interview.webm

Monbiot's first book was Poisoned Arrows (1989), concerning the partially World Bank-funded transmigration program on the peoples and tribes of West Papua. It was followed by Amazon Watershed (1991), which documents the expulsions of Brazilian peasant farmers from their land. His third book, No Man's Land: An Investigative Journey Through Kenya and Tanzania (1994), documented the seizure of land and cattle from nomadic people in Kenya and Tanzania.

In 2000, he published Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain in which Monbiot argues that corporate power in the United Kingdom is a serious threat to democracy. His fifth book, The Age of Consent: A Manifesto for a New World Order, was published in 2003. The book is an attempt to set out a positive manifesto for change for the global justice movement.{{cite web |last=Glossop |first=Ronald J. |title=The Age of Consent: A Manifesto for a New World Order |url=http://globalsolutions.org/books/age-consent-manifesto-new-world-order |work=GlobalSolutions.org |date=18 November 2010 |access-date=28 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905181947/http://globalsolutions.org/books/age-consent-manifesto-new-world-order |archive-date=5 September 2012 |url-status=dead}}

Monbiot's next book, Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning, published in 2006, focused on the issue of climate change. Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding was published in 2013, and focuses on the concept of rewilding the planet. In the book, Monbiot criticises sheep farming. The book received favourable reviews in The Spectator{{cite web|title=Sam Leith enjoys a vision of Britain where sheep may no longer safely graze|url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/books-feature/8913081/crying-up-the-wolf/|work=The Spectator|access-date=11 June 2013}} and The Daily Telegraph.{{cite news|title=Philip Hoare is enchanted by a call for the return of bear, beaver and bison to Britain |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/scienceandnaturebookreviews/10077216/Feral-by-George-Monbiot-review.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/scienceandnaturebookreviews/10077216/Feral-by-George-Monbiot-review.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=11 June 2013|location=London|date=28 May 2013}}{{cbignore}} It won the Society of Biology Book Award for general biology in 2014.{{cite web |author=Website developed by James Hamlin |url=https://www.societyofbiology.org/get-involved/awards-and-competitions/book-awards/2014-winners |title=2014 winners |publisher=Societyofbiology.org |date=6 February 2014 |access-date=2 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519140658/http://www.societyofbiology.org/get-involved/awards-and-competitions/book-awards/2014-winners |archive-date=19 May 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}} Monbiot's 2022 book Regenesis focuses on the environmental impact of agriculture and sustainable approaches.{{Cite web |first=Rowan |last=Hooper |date=18 May 2022 |title=Regenesis review: Farming is killing the planet but we can stop it |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25433870-500-regenesis-review-farming-is-killing-the-planet-but-we-can-stop-it/ |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}}

The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism (& How It Came to Control Your Life), published in 2024, was coauthored by Monbiot and Peter Hutchison, an American filmmaker.{{Cite news |last=Geoghegan |first=Peter |date=2024-05-29 |title=The Invisible Doctrine by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison review – neoliberalism's ascent |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/29/the-invisible-doctrine-by-george-monbiot-and-peter-hutchison-review-neoliberalisms-ascent |access-date=2024-11-23 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} The book is accompanied by a film of the same name, to be published in autumn 2024.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

Monbiot's weekly column for The Guardian has covered a variety of issues, concentrating on political philosophy in relation to ecological and social problems, particularly in the United Kingdom.{{cite web |title=George Monbiot Profile |url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/georgemonbiot |website=The Guardian |access-date=5 May 2019}}

Monbiot has mostly lived in Oxford, but for a few years from 2007, he lived in a low emissions house in the market town of Machynlleth, Montgomeryshire, originally with his then-wife, writer and campaigner Angharad Penrhyn Jones, and their daughter.{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/moving-house-from-the-city-to-the-country-bbhv65fr723 |location=London |work=The Times |first=Bel |last=Crewe |title=Moving house from the city to the country |date=7 September 2008 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241103-170248/https://www.thetimes.com/article/moving-house-from-the-city-to-the-country-bbhv65fr723 |archive-date=2024-11-03}} Because his new partner lives in Oxford, Monbiot returned by 2012.{{cite news |first=David |last=Sexton |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/books/wild-ideas-a-dream-of-boars-bears-and-wolves-back-in-britain-8633779.html |title=Wild ideas: a dream of boars, bears and wolves back in Britain |date=28 May 2013 |work=Evening Standard}} The couple's daughter, Monbiot's second, was born in early 2012.{{cite web|last=Monbiot|first=George|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/16/birthright-squandered-nhs|title=Daughter, my generation is squandering your birthright|work=The Guardian|date=16 April 2012}} In December 2017, Monbiot was diagnosed with prostate cancer; he had surgery in March 2018.{{cite news|last=Monbiot|first=George|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/13/prostate-cancer-happy-diagnosis-operation|title=I have prostate cancer. But I am happy|work=The Guardian|date=13 March 2018|access-date=13 March 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://theecologist.org/2019/sep/05/george-monbiot-mental-health-climate-breakdown|title=George Monbiot: from mental health to climate breakdown|website=The Ecologist|date=5 September 2019 |language=en|access-date=2019-10-03}} In 2022, he relocated to South Devon.{{Cite web |date=2023-08-11 |title=The Mingling |url=https://www.monbiot.com/2023/08/11/the-mingling/ |access-date=2023-08-12 |website=George Monbiot |language=en-GB}}

In 1995, Nelson Mandela presented him with a United Nations Global 500 Award for outstanding environmental achievement.[http://www.global500.org/ViewLaureate.asp?ID=131 Monbiot Profile on Global 500 Forum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927110148/http://www.global500.org/ViewLaureate.asp?ID=131 |date=27 September 2007}} Accessed 10 November 2006. He won the Sir Peter Kent award 1991 prize for his book Amazon Watershed. In November 2007, his book Heat was awarded the Premio Mazotti, an Italian book prize, but he was denied the money given with the prize because he chose not to travel to Venice to collect it in person, arguing that it was not a good enough reason to justify flying. In 2017, he was a recipient of the SEAL Environmental Journalism Award for his work at The Guardian.{{Cite news|url=https://sealawards.com/environmental-journalism-award-winners-seal-2017/|title=2017 SEAL Environmental Journalism Award Winners - SEAL Awards|date=26 September 2017|work=SEAL Awards|access-date=12 October 2017|language=en-US}}

In 2022, Monbiot was awarded The Orwell Prize for Journalism.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/claire-keegan-s-novella-small-things-like-these-wins-2022-orwell-prize-for-political-fiction-1.6521507 |title=Claire Keegan's novella Small Things Like These wins 2022 Orwell Prize for political fiction |publisher=CBC/Radio-Canada |date=15 July 2022 |accessdate=13 October 2022}}

• (1989). Poisoned Arrows: An investigative journey through the forbidden lands of West Papua. London: Abacus. {{ISBN|0-7181-3153-3}}
• (1991). Amazon Watershed: The new environmental investigation. London: Abacus. {{ISBN|0-7181-3428-1}}
• (1992). Mahogany is Murder: Mahogany Extraction from Indian Reserves in Brazil. {{ISBN|1-85750-160-8}}
• (1994). No Man's Land: An Investigative Journey Through Kenya and Tanzania. Picador. {{ISBN|0-333-60163-7}}
• (2000). Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain. Macmillan. {{ISBN|0-333-90164-9}}
• (2003). The Age of Consent. Flamingo. {{ISBN|0-00-715042-3}}
• (2004). Manifesto for a New World Order. The New Press. {{ISBN|1-56584-908-6}}
• (2006). Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning. Allen Lane. {{ISBN|0-7139-9923-3}}
• (2008). Bring on the Apocalypse: Six Arguments for Global Justice. Atlantic Books. {{ISBN|978-1-84354-858-4}}
• (2013). Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding. London: Penguin Books. {{ISBN|978-1-84614-748-7}}
• (2016). How Did We Get into This Mess?: Politics, Equality, Nature. London: Verso.
• (2017). Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis. London: Verso. {{ISBN|978-1-78663-289-0}}
• (2022). Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet. London: Penguin Books. {{ISBN|978-0143135968}}
• (2024). The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism (& How It Came to Control Your Life). {{ISBN|978-0-241-63590-2}}

• Individual and political action on climate change

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• {{Official website|https://www.monbiot.com|Monbiot.com}}
• [https://www.theguardian.com/profile/georgemonbiot/ George Monbiot] on The Guardian
• [https://www.huckmag.com/topics/george-monbiot/ George Monbiot] archives - Huck Magazine
• [https://profilecritics.com/content/review/Regenesis Review of Regenesis ] - Profile

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