42 Books to help better understand the climate crisis and what you can do about it

Tom Connor
10x Curiosity
Published in
5 min readJul 3, 2022

A list of great reads to get you up to speed on the history, issues and solutions relating to the climate crisis

Must Reads

  • Lovins, Amory — Reinventing Fire
  • Krumdiec, Susan — Transition Engineering
  • Mazzucato, Mariana — Mission economy
  • Wall_Kimmerer Robin_- Braiding Sweetgrass- Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
  • Gaurnaut_Ross — Superpower Australia’s Low-Carbon Opportunity
  • Griffith, Saul — The Big Switch
  • McDonough, William & Braungart, Michael — The Upcycle
  • Stanley Robinson Kim — The Ministry for the Future

Historical Context — How did we get here?

  • Azeem Azhar — Exponential How Accelerating Technology Is Leaving Us Behind and What to Do About It
  • Alice Bell- Our Biggest Experiment
  • Carson_Rachel — Silent Spring
  • Higginbotham_Adam_ — Midnight in Chernobyl- The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster

Fiction

  • Millet, Lydia — A Children’s Bible
  • Stanley Robinson Kim — The Ministry for the Future

Australian context

  • Flannery Tim — Sunlight and Seaweed
  • Gammage_Bill -The Biggest Estate on Earth How — Aborigines Made Australia
  • Gaurnaut_Ross — Superpower Australia’s Low-Carbon Opportunity
  • Griffith, Saul — Electrify
  • Griffith, Saul — The Big Switch
  • Hamilton, Scott — Sold Down the River
  • Joshi, Keton — Windfall
  • Massy_Charles — Call of the Reed Warbler — A New Agriculture — A New Earth
  • Molesworth, Anika — Our Sunburnt Country

Environmental Economics and Politics

  • Booth_Jeff- The Price of Tomorrow — Why Deflation is the Key to an Abundant Future
  • Chouinard_Yvon — Let My People Go Surfing — The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
  • Figueres Christiaa — Future We Choose Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres Tom Rivett-Carnac
  • Godelnik Raz — Rethinking corporate sustainability in the era of climate Crisis
  • Hawken_Paul — The Ecology of Commerce
  • Hickel, Jason — Less is More
  • MacAskill, William — Doing Good Better How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference
  • Kolbert Elizabeth- Under a White Sky — The Nature of the Future
  • Malm_Andreas — How to Blow Up a Pipeline
  • Mann_Michael E — The New Climate War
  • Mazzucato, Mariana — Mission economy
  • Mazzucato_Mariana_ — The Value of Everything. Making and Taking in the Global Economy
  • Raworth, Kate — Doughnut economics
  • Sanford Carol — The Regenerative Business Redesign Work, Cultivate Human Potential, Achieve Extraordinary Outcomes

Technical background and Solutions

  • Benyus, Janine — Biomimicry Innovation Inspired by Nature
  • Gates_Bill — How to Avoid a Climate Disaster The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
  • Lovins, Amory — Reinventing fire
  • Krumdiec, Susan — Transition Engineering
  • MacKay_David — Sustainable Energy — without the hot air
  • McDonough, William & Braungart, Michael — Cradle to Cradle
  • McDonough, William & Braungart, Michael — The Upcycle
  • Nicholas_ Kimberly — Under the Sky we Make — How to Be Human in a Warming World
  • Nussey, Bill — Freeing Energy
  • O’Brien, Dan — Buffalo for the Broken Heart restoring life to a Black Hills ranch
  • Sharpe, Bill — Three Horizons — the patterning of hope
  • Smil_Vaclav — Energy and Civilization A History
  • Sweeney_Linda_Booth_,_Dennis_Meadows — The Systems Thinking Playbook
  • Wall_Kimmerer Robin_- Braiding Sweetgrass- Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

Full List in Alphabetical order

  • Azeem Azhar — Exponential — How Accelerating Technology Is Leaving Us Behind and What to Do About It
  • Alice Bell- Our Biggest Experiment
  • Benyus, Janine — Biomimicry Innovation Inspired by Nature
  • Booth_Jeff- The Price of Tomorrow Why Deflation is the Key to an Abundant Future
  • Carson_Rachel — Silent Spring
  • Chouinard_Yvon — Let My People Go Surfing The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
  • Figueres Christiaa — Future We Choose Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres Tom Rivett-Carnac
  • Flannery Tim — Sunlight and Seaweed
  • Gammage_Bill -The Biggest Estate on Earth How — Aborigines Made Australia
  • Gates_Bill — How to Avoid a Climate Disaster The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
  • Gaurnaut_Ross — Superpower Australia’s Low-Carbon Opportunity
  • Griffith, Saul — Electrify & The Big Switch
  • Godelnik Raz — Rethinking corporate sustainability in the era of climate Crisis
  • Hamilton, Scott — Sold down the river
  • Hawken_Paul — The Ecology of Commerce
  • Hickel, Jason — Less is More
  • Higginbotham_Adam_ — Midnight in Chernobyl- The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster
  • Joshi, Keton — Windfall
  • Krumdiec, Susan — Transition Engineering —
  • Kolbert Elizabeth- Under a White Sky The Nature of the Future by
  • Lovins, Amory — Reinventing fire
  • MacAskill, William — Doing Good Better How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference
  • MacKay_David — Sustainable Energy — without the hot air
  • Malm_Andreas — How to Blow Up a Pipeline
  • Mann_Michael E — The New Climate War
  • Massy_Charles — Call of the Reed Warbler A New Agriculture â A New Earth
  • Mazzucato, Mariana — Mission economy -
  • Mazzucato_Mariana_ — The Value of Everything. Making and Taking in the Global Economy
  • McDonough, William & Braungart, Michael — Cradle to Cradle
  • McDonough, William & Braungart, Michael — The Upcycle
  • Millet, Lydia — A Children’s Bible
  • Molesworth, Anika — Our Sunburnt Country
  • Nicholas_ Kimberly — Under the Sky we Make How to Be Human in a Warming World PhD
  • Nussey, Bill — Freeing Energy —
  • OBrien, Dan — Buffalo for the Broken Heart restoring life to a Black Hills ranch
  • Raworth, Kate — Doughnut economics
  • Sanford Carol — The Regenerative Business Redesign Work, Cultivate Human Potential, Achieve Extraordinary Outcomes
  • Sharpe, Bill — Three Horizons — the patterning of hope —
  • Smil_Vaclav — Energy and Civilization A History
  • Stanley Robinson Kim — The ministry for the future -
  • Sweeney_Linda_Booth_,_Dennis_Meadows — The Systems Thinking Playbook
  • Wall_Kimmerer Robin_- Braiding Sweetgrass- Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

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Get in touch… — https://tomconnor.me/

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Tom Connor
10x Curiosity

Always curious - curating knowledge to solve problems and create change