19 books every climate activist should read
![books book reading read environment renewable solar energy change transition friendly environment carbon footprint carbon emissions reduction change natural climate change global warming air pollution clean energy power renewables plastic plastics](https://assets.weforum.org/article/image/large_IVk8hs8rwZJFAK6LBM9VpGddXYQlaRW8ynsGzlHSlAk.jpg)
It's time to read up. Image: Unsplash/Ben White
![A hand holding a looking glass by a lake](/uplink.jpg)
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:
Book Club
- Literary authors including Ian McEwan and Margaret Atwood have written about the environment.
- The list also includes non-fiction from Greta Thunberg's No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.
The repercussions of climate change are far-reaching. It’s time to read up! Below are nonfiction and fiction essentials to prepare and motivate you to make a difference in the world we live in!
1. The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells
![The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/G8ThBDmlbCoSwWL9ZpmitqTB8pUGzTzljMwNH6FH5yA.jpg)
In his travelogue of our near future, David Wallace-Wells brings into stark relief the climate troubles that await—food shortages, refugee emergencies, and other crises that will reshape the globe. The Uninhabitable Earth is both a meditation on the devastation we have brought upon ourselves and an impassioned call to action.
2. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
![No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/ns1eiTSTjcSZTfgpiYfeEa2YEi0Xkqt8DkhpF3bLG9Y.jpg)
The groundbreaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, the young climate activist who has become the voice of a generation, including her historic address to the United Nations General Assembly.
3. An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power by Al Gore
![An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power by Al Gore](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/_ut8X5FJiPmpd4Rr6fAxXjZ4EMhZr2v8eqbwIy7qayQ.jpg)
Where Gore’s first documentary and book took us through the technical aspects of climate change, the second documentary is a gripping, narrative journey that leaves you filled with hope and the urge to take action immediately.
4. Global Weirdness by Climate Central
Global Weirdness enlarges our understanding of how climate change affects our daily lives, and arms us with the incontrovertible facts we need to make informed decisions about the future of the planet, and of humankind.
5. The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
![The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/jGLj0c_dpqkxU4wW4-ay5zd-cJ24VD9jvH53Ha6emy8.jpg)
In the near future, the Colorado River has dwindled to a trickle. Three individuals find themselves pawns in a game far bigger and more corrupt than they could have imagined, and when water is more valuable than gold, alliances shift like sand, and the only truth in the desert is that someone will have to bleed if anyone hopes to drink.
6. How Cycling Can Save the World by Peter Walker
![How Cycling Can Save the World by Peter Walker](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/9ODf0zUHkA0x9SqVTtII4JyimElfY_4AFpyLmR2iT-4.jpg)
A timely, eye-opening book about climate change and energy generation that focuses on the consequences of nuclear power production, from award-winning author William T. Vollmann.
7. No Immediate Danger by William T. Vollmann
![No Immediate Danger by William T. Vollmann](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/5MsqwOY3S6Ru_jGQAkXrRevnZR1J25c_jOp04XB0zrQ.jpg)
A timely, eye-opening book about climate change and energy generation that focuses on the consequences of nuclear power production, from award-winning author William T. Vollmann.
8. Green Earth by Kim Stanley Robinson
![Green Earth by Kim Stanley Robinson](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/vv-HAgDsfazzZu6foWme_E1FQg0QLezL1T4zq_WlvmY.jpg)
Discover the landmark trilogy of cutting-edge science, international politics, and the real-life ramifications of climate change—updated and abridged into a single novel.
9. Trespassing Across Americaby Ken Ilgunas
![Trespassing Across Americaby Ken Ilgunas](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/cYjEZcIh6FiHjwW8eM909iJM9bS6E-bOOCxNr8Inb8o.jpg)
Both a travel memoir and a reflection on climate change, Trespassing Across America is filled with colorful characters, harrowing physical trials, and strange encounters with the weather, terrain, and animals of America’s plains.
10. Six Degrees by Mark Lynas
![Six Degrees by Mark Lynas](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/X5WJf_2mwU8lyVzy9f5I4hEw6PPHtzY_GI_y619LhmI.jpg)
Based on authoritative scientific articles, the latest computer models, and information about past warm events in Earth history, Six Degreespromises to be an eye-opening warning that humanity will ignore at its peril.
11. The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann
![The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/tCwAgWLa5SHfHRjxetk4OTzyuKazQFPOxRLXcDYJU7o.jpg)
While everything appears to be collapsing around us – ecodamage, genetic engineering, virulent diseases, the end of cheap oil, water shortages, global famine, wars – we can still do something about it and create a world that will work for us and for our children’s children. The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlighthelps us understand – and heal – our relationship to the world, to each other, and to our natural resources.
12. Solar by Ian McEwan
![Solar by Ian McEwan](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/uhq9BmLp611xy1GJ9yYl8dMoFV9UNkLsXEFU2qHCbI8.jpg)
When Dr. Michael Beard’s professional and personal worlds collide in a freak accident, an opportunity presents itself for Michael to extricate himself from his marital problems, reinvigorate his career, and save the world from environmental disaster. But can a man who has made a mess of his life clean up the messes of humanity?
13. The Reducetarian Solution by Brian Kateman
![The Reducetarian Solution by Brian Kateman](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/o9qPMevCA5cKLhDGrHGE0cPyGJt0Yjt_XftdKQNUywA.jpg)
In this book, Kateman, the founder of the Reducetarian Foundation, presents more than 70 original essays from influential thinkers on how the simple act of cutting 10% or more of the meat from one’s diet can transform the life of the reader, animals, and the planet.
14. Drawdown by Paul Hawken
![Drawdown by Paul Hawken](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/npMoCOIeiKqyKII4LE9IQpvkwBd9kjGkzPd6n3Er400.jpg)
In the face of widespread fear and apathy, an international coalition of researchers, professionals, and scientists have come together to offer a set of realistic and bold solutions to climate change.
15. The End of Nature by Bill McKibben
![The End of Nature by Bill McKibben](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/dvDWKpF1Qz32rM583V2E5VhTRpWIorMwY8KLR6mltJ4.jpg)
More than simply a handbook for survival or a doomsday catalog of scientific prediction, this classic, soulful lament on Nature is required reading for nature enthusiasts, activists, and concerned citizens alike.
16. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
![The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/hdM7wz_Nd9i6rL2BNB4IKoZI7Cg11WxA6MUdDOHCJmY.jpg)
In this second book of the MaddAddam trilogy, the long-feared waterless flood has occurred, altering Earth as we know it and obliterating most human life except for a few survivors.
17. The Future of Ice by Gretel Ehrlich
![The Future of Ice by Gretel Ehrlich](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/V3oqHGv2lm-Wk9rfpnFBf_MLEa77Hoq3ia_uxlxjPBo.jpg)
Over the course of a year, Ehrlich experiences firsthand the myriad expressions of cold, giving us marvelous histories of wind, water, snow, and ice, of ocean currents and weather cycles. We share Ehrlich’s experience of the thrills of cold, but also her questions: What will happen to us if we are “deseasoned”? If winter ends, will we survive?
18. Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins
![Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/V6vH6EW0Y58s7i5to0rtqdgoq3zuot89r_Tm9UsUr0w.jpg)
Immensely moving, profoundly disquieting, and mind-blowingly original, Watkins’s novel explores the myths we believe about others and tell about ourselves, the double-edged power of our most cherished relationships, and the shape of hope in a precarious future that may be our own.
19. Climate Leviathan by Joel Wainwright and Geoff Mann
![Climate Leviathan by Joel Wainwright and Geoff Mann](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/8-EwjBwdiVruY_7MBRSRjB5XC4dZ7Nyj-nOCJl6KDHI.jpg)
Drawing on a wide range of political thought, Joel Wainwright and Geoff Mann argue that rapid climate change will transform the world’s political economy and the fundamental political arrangements most people take for granted. The result will be a capitalist planetary sovereignty, a terrifying eventuality that makes the construction of viable, radical alternatives truly imperative.
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Related topics:
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Arts and CultureSee all
Joseph Fowler
June 20, 2024
Andrea Willige
May 29, 2024
Robin Pomeroy and Linda Lacina
April 29, 2024
Robin Pomeroy
April 25, 2024
Joseph Fowler and Amilcar Vargas
April 18, 2024