The Climate Book

Stuart Capstick, an environmental and social scientist, and Lorraine Whitmarsh, an environmental scientist and psychologist, note the disparity between the climate crisis and the subdued responses. Individual actions seem futile when compared to the need for systemic change. The area between systemic and individual actions is where meaningful change takes place. Individual actions inspire others to act—e.g. plant-based diet movements have reduced demands for animal-based foods and increased demands for plant-based options, leading to reduced emissions and more diet changes. Public figures can amplify this impact by using their platforms to inspire change, and such changes compound to create systemic change. They note, however, that government action is critical, and companies have exploited the concept of personal responsibility to prevent systemic change.

Economist Kate Rawoth argues that consumption between the Global North and South needs rebalancing. Early economists declared humans insatiable consumers, leading to reliance on the GDP to measure economic success; however, Rawoth claims that advertising is what creates insatiable consumerism. Policymakers can help humanity “recover” from propaganda-driven consumerism through regulations, taxes, incentives, and alternatives. Humanity must balance necessary consumption by providing basic services, such as access to education, housing, and healthcare.

Individuals should identify excessiveness in their lives, Rawoth contends. Studies show that well-being is based on social and physical activities and awareness. Take the Jump, a citizens’ movement, provides six principles for reducing consumption: eliminate clutter, travel locally and avoid flying, eat plant-based foods and reduce food waste, buy second-hand clothing, use public transportation, and use actions to drive systemic change. Such changes are intimidating because of the marketed idea that sufficiency isn’t satisfactory. Raworth shares her personal experience of making such changes and writes that reduced consumption is freeing.

After noticing widespread climate apathy, psychologist Per Espen Stoknes began studying the psychology of climate action. He found humans tend to distance themselves from climate change, to habituate to or avoid the sense of doom, to practice cognitive dissonance, to deny climate change, and to perceive systemic changes as an identify threat. Stoknes summarizes these as the “Five Ds”: “Distancing, Doom, Dissonance, Denial and iDentity” (337). These traits are resolved through five communication principles: “Social, Simple, Supportive, with Stories and Signals” (338)—in other words, making communication more social, simple, and supportive and using stories to set goals and signals to track progress.

People like to feel as if they make a difference; individual actions do make a difference, Stoknes argues, and it takes all kinds of people to create change. Processing negative feelings regarding climate change can also inspire action, enthusiasm, and gratitude.

Geophysicist Gidon Eshel discusses how modern agriculture degrades the environment. Chemical and mechanical topsoil disturbance degrades croplands, and runoff pollutes the water. Such issues can be mitigated by altering farming practices, which will require dietary changes. Eliminating beef is the most impactful change, as beef requires more resources, water, and space than other foods. Reducing beef consumption may also have health benefits, and replacing beef with nutritious plant-based foods could prevent 350 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions each year.

Marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson writes that the ocean has buffered climate change by absorbing most of the excess heat and one-third of CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels. This has warmed the ocean, increased its acidity, and altered its density and currents. Ocean ecosystems are rapidly degrading, and humans face consequences including decreased access to seafood. Warm oceans result in species migrations or death, and increased acidity causes biological complications, like thinning shells. Overfishing and pollution also degrade ecosystems.

The ocean can provide renewable energy though hydropower and offshore windfarms. Regenerative ocean farming practices centering on shellfish and seaweed are sustainable and beneficial, and ocean plants can serve as carbon sinks. Preserving or restoring coastal ecosystems can reduce storm damage in coastal civilizations, and preserving large areas of the ocean will promote biodiversity. Such actions could result in a 21% reduction of emissions that would help limit further warming.

Writer and activist George Monbiot and Rebecca Wrigley, founder of Rewilding Britain, argue that restoring ecosystems, or rewilding, can help people psychologically navigate climate change. Humans are enchanted by nature, but it is difficult to find natural areas. Ecosystems lack the biodiversity and abundance of life they once held, and only 3% of land is “ecologically intact.” Rewilding can establish carbon sinks, though they note that this can’t replace decarbonization or existing conservation. Rewilding supports biodiversity and encourages people to learn about and live in harmony with nature. Indigenous and local individuals should work together to lead rewilding efforts, and such efforts can be economically beneficial by creating employment opportunities.

Thunberg questions whether people are ready to change. Thunberg was intimidated and made mistakes in her early activism but persevered regardless. She and others are inspiring change but are also met with threats and derision, with some comparing climate activism to terrorism.

The media greatly influences public opinion, and Thunberg cites the COVID-19 pandemic as an example. Climate change is also a crisis but has not been treated as such by the media. The media needs to convey that mitigating climate change is time-sensitive and cannot be delayed, and they should emphasize climate justice, which has been ignored because the West rejects guilt and shame. However, changing social norms will remove the taboo around guilt and shame, and Thunberg notes that guilt has been shown to motivate individuals to make good choices. These changes are unlikely but are more realistic than humanity surviving unchecked climate change. While the media has partially caused climate apathy, they can undo that damage.

Author Margaret Atwood writes that, while researching birds for her novel Oryx and Crake, she questioned whether humans are doomed. Crake, a character from the novel, believed humans wouldn’t alter their lifestyles; Atwood writes that humanity should prove Crake wrong. Atwood writes about her exploration of “Practical Utopias.” Utopias were popular in the 1800s but were replaced in popularity by dystopias in the 1900s. Writing utopias is challenging, says Atwood, so she has created an online course on the topic. Atwood cites Les Stroud, who argues humans need four things to survive disasters: “knowledge, appropriate equipment, willpower and luck” (363). Atwood writes that humanity lacks the willpower it needs to address climate change and encourages humans to make their own luck.

Political scientist Erica Chenoweth notes that, in regard to climate change, political will is lacking but peaceful activism can inspire political change. Activist movements create change by expanding, garnering support from defectors, using a variety of methods to enact change, and persisting. The climate change movement is expanding but needs to expand to include at least 3.5% of the population—the unofficial threshold at which non-violent movements have historically become infallible. Sociologist Damnon Centola’s work suggests that systemic change will follow if one-fourth of the population commits to climate mitigation. Change is readily made during crises, like the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought widespread behavioral change. Climate activism is making a difference, and humanity may be nearing the 3.5% tipping point.

Monbiot argues the media is responsible for environmental degradation as it has sanctioned destructive behaviors, demonized activism, and prioritized maintaining the status of the wealthy. For instance, a UK documentary, The Truth About Climate Change, blames China’s rising population for emissions industry and implies that climate action is futile. While climate reporting has increased, relevant information is still underreported. Monbiot calls for media outlets to prioritize climate change awareness, and he finds hope in young individuals who are turning away from traditional news outlets. “Good media,” Monbiot argues, has the power to hold governments accountable and to drive widespread change.

Atmospheric scientist Michael E. Mann states that he and others created the “hockey stick” graph showing the correlation between fossil fuel use and the global temperature. Record-setting weather events prove climate change is happening; however, climate change deniers are sowing division and despair and are deflecting the focus toward individual rather than systemic changes. Mann encourages people to speak the truth, resist social media fights, set positive examples, work together, vote for climate supporters, and be guided by ethics.

Author and researcher Seth Klein has researched how Canada has historically mobilized to address emergencies. He has found four markers that a government has recognized an emergency: spending money on the issue, creating new institutions, implementing mandatory policies, and presenting truthful information about the severity of the circumstances. Governments are not treating climate change as an emergency, preventing climate change mitigation. Jobs must be offered to those working in the fossil fuel industry to prevent another source of inequality.

Writer and author David Wallace-Wells reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic, during which climate change progressed, causing death and destruction that went largely ignored. Rather than taking a global perspective during the pandemic, the Global North hoarded vaccines. Both the pandemic and climate change demonstrate that nature is powerful and that humans are bound by nature. The public response to COVID-19 was drastic, inciting behavioral and governmental change; however, governments have not similarly invested in climate change. Experts estimate that transitioning to renewable energy would cost half the amount spent on the 2020 COVID-19 stimulus, yet governments are unwilling to transition, despite leaders discussing the need to act. COVID-19 taught humanity negative lessons, including that crises don’t solve prejudice or rivalries, that waiting to act is damaging, that the actions of one nation are not sufficient, and that people and nations will hoard resources.

Thunberg reflects on Swedish graves in a Minnesotan graveyard and on her visit to Tokata Iron Eyes on the impoverished Pine Ridge Reservation. Thunberg toured the reservation and Wounded Knee memorial, where hundreds of Indigenous Americans were killed in 1890 and buried in a mass grave. That the Swedes were buried in individual plots while the Indigenous individuals were buried in a mass grave reflects American racism.

Approximately one-fourth of Swede’s migrated to the US between 1850 and 1920, and they were encouraged to forcibly take lands from Indigenous Americans. Sweden also colonized Sápmi, pushing the Indigenous Sámi off their homelands. Despite this, Sweden isn’t recognized as a colonizing country, perhaps because the country has the power to tell and obscure its history. Thunberg then claims that climate change is a result of colonialism and the pervading notion that some people are more deserving. The only way to solve climate change and inequality is for those who caused these issues to take responsibility for their actions.

Journalist and author Naomi Klein remarks that political issues are often turned into “silos;” that is, they are compartmentalized, resulting in competing political organizations mirroring corporate competition. Silos obscure the connections between political topics and prevent efficient, holistic solutions. Society has recognized this issue, Klein writes, and has begun a “just transition,” or integrated approach. A just transition recognizes that prioritizing profits causes unhappiness and environmental degradation and that the economy, inequality, and climate change should be addressed simultaneously.

Klein delineates multiple principles of a just transition, including “energy democracy,” “front lines first,” “care work is climate work,” “no worker left behind,” and “polluter pays” (392-93). While some posit that humanity should solve individual problems, Klein argues that this approach has failed and should be replaced with a holistic approach. She calls for reduced consumption, guaranteed income, immigrant rights, the separation corporations and climate negotiations, and a transition to a repair rather than replace mindset.

Activists Nicki Becker, Disha A. Ravi, Hilda Flavia Nakabuye, Laura Verónica Muñoz, Ina Maria Shikongo, Ayisha Siddiqa, and Mitzi Jonelle Tan discuss equality. Becker reflects on her realization that climate and equality activists have similar goals, inspiring her to become a climate justice activist. Ravi notes that catastrophic events are often discussed in terms of economic, rather than human, costs, and she argues that the relationship between humans and the Earth should be reevaluated through a lens of responsibility instead of ownership.

Nakabuye discusses how colonialism has caused and continues to perpetuate injustice throughout Africa. Resolving this injustice requires holding big polluters accountable. Muñoz argues that climate justice requires diverse social cooperation. Shikongo writes that ReconAfrica, a Canadian Oil company, threatens her homeland Namibia. She was born in a refugee camp, and her father and four siblings died in a war against colonialism and apartheid. Modern developments are still operating on colonialism, she says. Despite death threats, Shikongo is actively fighting against ReconAfrica.

Siddiqua argues climate action deals with emissions in the Global North but deals with “hunger, homelessness, helplessness, and indescribable suffering” for people in her home country Pakistan (396). She calls for socioeconomic change and for the recognition that kindness and peacefulness are strengths. Tan writes that for those on the front lines of injustice and climate change, activism is not a choice but a requirement. While climate activism is dangerous in her homeland of the Philippines, many are speaking out against the oppressive systems. Such cooperation drives equity, justice, and liberation.

Kenyan activist Wanjira Mathai discusses the importance of women. Africa is vulnerable to climate change because it depends on rain-fed agriculture, and women compose around 43% of the agricultural labor force. Rural women are also particularly vulnerable as they are responsible for the household, food and water supplies, and farms, and they are socially oppressed.

The Green Belt Movement, started by Wangari Maathai, empowers Kenyan women by teaching them how to preserve the environment by planting beneficial trees. The trees enhance the environment and provide food and shade. The Green Belt Movement has grown, showing women will work together and adapt.

Economists Lucan Chancel and Thomas Piketty write that, although people view climate change as an emergency, little is being done to mitigate it, largely because of inequality. The top 1% of emitter produce 110 tonnes of CO₂ annually, while the bottom 50% produce 1.6 tonnes.

To rectify inequality, governments must publish accurate emissions reports and the wealthy must greatly reduce carbon use. While the poor should limit emissions, they are often constrained and unable to make cuts. In some areas, low-income families have been harmed by policies and taxation while the wealthy receive tax breaks. Most low-income individuals meet the emissions threshold for 2030, but the middle and upper classes do not. Implementing a carbon-rights program, similar to water rights that limit water usage during shortages, may balance carbon emissions. Carbon taxes must be egalitarian, while wealth and pollution taxes may reduce inequality and emissions.

Philosophy professor Olúfé mi O. Táíwò argues that racial injustice laid the foundations for climate change, and amending both issues requires a global perspective. He compares society to waterways, saying that, instead of water, society moves social capital. The distribution of social capital has arisen from decisions like colonialism and slavery, which paved the way for the Industrial Revolution, climate change, and global inequality.

These injustices must be addressed, not merely acknowledged, to change the global social structure. Reparations can be made by supplying money to oppressed people and nations, by redistributing power and challenging policies, and by building just and practical infrastructures. Numerous communities are banding together to mitigate climate change, demonstrating that world-building practices are effective.

Botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer describes holding an oriole nest that was blown out of a tree during an unseasonable December thunderstorm. Thirty million people were displaced by climate change in 2020, and Kimmerer questions how many other species have been impacted. Her people, the Anishinaabe, have “One Bowl, One Spoon” agreements with the neighboring Haudenosaunee in which the bowl represents Earth’s bounty and the spoon a means of dividing equal portions.

Kimmerer fosters a natural environment on her acreage. Natural spaces provide safe havens for native species and act as carbon sinks. Such areas overlap with Indigenous people’s lands because of their remote locations and because of Indigenous land management traditions. Western culture is slowly recognizing and adopting Indigenous methods. Kimmerer says that Indigenous land rights need protection, everyone needs to live as if they are native, and natural climate solutions are necessary. It is critical to transform how humanity views nature and to recognize that not enough climate action has been taken. Kimmerer writes that her actions are guided by love, and she asks the reader how love calls them.

Thunberg asserts humanity must create hope by acting. People decide what is politically possible, and, thanks to technology, people are connected throughout the world. Thunberg suggests that crossing social tipping points will catalyze climate action, and she argues humans are not evil but are lacking the democratic rights, like education, that would empower them to act. She does not offer words of inspiration but encourages all people to fight climate change.