While we practise social distancing and stay at home due to the coronavirus emergency, this is a good time to read up and understand more about the other emergency – the climate emergency.
Here are 4 new books about climate change and what governments, businesses and individuals are doing and have to do more:
1. The Future We Choose
The authors of the new book, The Future We Choose, are Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, who led the negotiations for the United Nations during the 2015 Paris Agreement. They have outlined two possible scenarios for our planet – what life on Earth will be like by 2050 if we fail to meet the Paris climate targets, or what it will be like to live in a carbon neutral and regenerative world. They are cautious but optimistic, and argue for confronting the climate crisis head-on with determination and optimism.
2. What We Need to Do Now: For a Zero Carbon Future
Chris Goodall’s new book, What We Need to Do Now: For a Zero Carbon Future, sets out the ways for the UK to become carbon neutral by 2050. His proposals include building a huge over-capacity of wind and solar energy and storing the excess as hydrogen; using hydrogen to fuel our industry and transport; farming and eating plant-based alternatives to meat; maintaining woodlands; making the fashion and aviation sectors sustainable; and using technical solutions to capture carbon dioxide from the air.
3. How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
Bill Gates has written a book about climate change, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, after more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address the problems. He is optimistic and believe that we can work on a local, national, and global level to build the technologies, businesses, and industries to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
4. Our House Is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis
The book, Our House Is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis, is written by climate activist Greta Thunberg, her parents Malena Emman and Svante Thunberg, and her little sister Beata Emman. This is the story of how Greta decided to go on strike from school, and igniting a worldwide rebellion and global climate movement.
