There won't be a substantive discussion about it (at least not by the people who can actively do something about it), because capitalism won't allow it until it

There won't be a substantive discussion about it (at least not by the people who can actively do something about it), because capitalism won't allow it until it's too late. Sure, politicians will talk a lot about how we should really, any day now, start reducing our carbon output, but ask them to actually implement strict measures and the silence is deafening. Then we have corporations, like oil companies, who for many decades suppressed information and actively tried to distort public discussion about climate change. We have politicians who are either in the pocket of corporations or who support an ideology that opposes them even acknowledging the existence of climate change (or denying the role of humans), as that would hurt stock markets and shareholder profits in the short term. And we have consumers (people aren't really citizens anymore, but consumers first and foremost thanks to capitalism) who are bombarded daily with things they should buy to improve their lives, and who thus refuse to give up things like flying or meat or cheap clothes from the other side of the world. Combine it all and you get the frog that's being slowly boiled (except the frog is smart enough to get out in time).