4 books to give at Christmas to decarbonise faster (Dec 08, 2022)

Picking the right present for someone is never easy, but it is still easier than decarbonising our economy on time. Here is a quick guide to help you pick just the right book to give to each person, for maximum reader enjoyment and CO2 impact.

Don’t worry, be happy.
For the disbelieving relative who still thinks it will all be fine and it is all a fuss about nothing and climate change won’t have any impact on them or their descendants, The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the Future might be the wake up call they need. It is quite frankly terrifying, but might just be the ticket to get them on to a decarbonisation path.

We will survive!
Or maybe they think that human society can survive when our environment is abused? Then Jared Diamond’s review of why societies have disappeared in the past called Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive and how it could happen to us on a global scale if we don’t take action soon is a real eye opener.

Champions of the world
For those who are worried about the problem, but feel ignorant and powerless to do anything about it, then Bill Gates’ How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, is just the book they need. It sets out the source of society’s emissions, the challenges to eliminating them and possible solutions in a very structured and amusing style. While it makes it clear that we have a huge challenge ahead, it also provides examples as to how society has made impressive changes in the past when all the conditions were right and what we all need to do to get the conditions right this time.

The right stuff
While Gate’s book is a brilliant overview, if you want to drill down in to the different areas that society or your friend or relative could tackle, they can dig a little deeper in to them to try and figure out where they could make the most difference by reading: Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken. It is extremely comprehensive, providing a couple of pages on each plan, its costs and impact, yet very easy to dive into and help you pick your battle or career direction to focus on. It makes for a good coffee table book too!

I hope our overview proves useful. What is your favourite climate change or decarbonisation book and why? Let us know.

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