Bernice Maxton-Lee

A former director of the Jane Goodall Institute, Bernice Maxton-Lee lectures on climate change and deforestation at the Technical University in Vienna and is a Research Associate at ETH University in Zurich.

Her latest book, co-written with best-selling author Graeme Maxton, is A Chicken can’t lay a Duck Egg: How Covid-19 can solve the climate crisis.

The book explains how Covid-19 can be a spring-board for the rapid changes needed to solve the climate emergency. The authors show that to slow the pace of climate change, the fossil fuel industry, aviation sector and auto business need to be dismantled. Until recently that was thought impossible but Covid-19 proves that it is possible to shut businesses overnight, cut greenhouse gas emissions and pay people during a transition. Because Covid-19 has done half the job for us, a sustainable future is finally within our grasp. This new book shows how societies can embrace this unique chance for change and build a future where people can live in balance with nature.

“The time for governments to act is not when the consequences of their negligence and folly have become overwhelming. It is now”, says Maxton-Lee. “Societies have very little time to introduce the radical changes that are needed.”

“The change needs to be led by young people, and those who have not been brainwashed by the economic virus killing the planet”, says co-author Graeme Maxton. “It is time for a new political leadership to build a different, less selfish future for humanity.”