In short, we aren’t on track to an apocalyptic extinction, and the new head is concerned that rhetoric that we are is making people apathetic and paralyzes them from making beneficial actions.
He makes it clear too that this doesn’t mean things are perfectly fine. The world is becoming and will be more dangerous with respect to climate. We’re going to still have serious problems to deal with. The problems just aren’t insurmountable and extinction level.
This reminds me of an episode of The Conversation’s Fear and Wonder podcast. There are some interesting points made there about the collective power of small scale technologies like rooftop solar, as well as an exploration of the idea of sufficiency and how it’s already being used in places where modern technological solutions are expensive or inaccessible. It basically explores what we can do as individuals to help, rather than just sitting around waiting for governments and corporations to conjure up a magical silver bullet.