The Future We Choose Surviving the Climate Crisis
by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac (Bonnier Publishing, 2020) I guess that many of us are realising that the Covid-19 crisis is having an impact on our planet’s environment. It is predicted that global carbon emissions will drop by between 5.5% and 8% due to the shutdowns around the world. Yes, this is good, but we know it will come back up, and the shock it is causing to economics and people’s livelihoods is not desirable. There are better sustainable paths that can be taken to limit the temperature rise this century. This is all spelt out in the book The Future We Choose. It tells us that we have two alternative paths to follow over the next 30 years. We can continue along our present path of burning fossil fuels, sending greenhouse gases into the atmosphere or we can make the changes that will limit the temperature rise and stave off the worst effects of climate change The authors were both instrumental in achieving the UN Paris climate change agreement in December 2015 and all the work leading up to it, Christiana Figueres at the highest level. They paint a vivid picture of the two possible scenarios:
time for us to make changes, not just for our survival but also for a fairer world This review is coming from a member of MEG (Minster Environment Group), so you can expect me to enthuse about this book, but at the risk of being thought of as beating the same old drum, I think that EVERYBODY should read it – and so do others, including Ban Ki Moon! Alison Francis You can also watch Christiana Figueres’ TED talk ‘How we can turn the tide on climate’ at https://www.ted.com/talks/
1. The year is 2050. The world is on fire. The air is suffocating and deadly. Entire countries are under water’ 2. The year is 2050. The world is breathing. The air is fresh. Nature is thriving. Entire populations have a better life.’ The book maps out how we can follow the second path through tree planting on a huge scale, greening our cities, harnessing the power of renewable energy, strengthening communities, making changes to agriculture, reducing the need for travel and changing to electric cars for those who need them. The authors list 10 actions which we can all take to bring this about. I found some of these slightly surprising, but they are designed to make us see what is possible for us as individuals. A strong optimism runs through the book, but also an urgency that now is the
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