Not Too Late
Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility
Edited by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua, the essays of Not Too Late work to transform climate change-based concerns into activism.
Noting that climate change is wreaking havoc via catastrophes around the globe, and that these events can lead to despair, these essays take various approaches to the issue. Their common thread is optimism; they suggest that collective action is humanity’s best hope. To support this perspective, their contributors include some of the world’s top climate scientists.
An entry from Joelle Gergis, one of the authors of a major report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, notes that Paris Agreement climate targets have far from been reached, but says that “the biggest social movement of our time” is forming to urge such action. Fellow IPCC lead author Edward R. Carr argues “we are not doomed to climate chaos”—while the incremental changes needed to prevent some catastrophes were not made, he says, there are ways to balance mitigation, adaptation, and sustainable development and find a way forward.
There are also essays from activists and organizers who work toward grassroots actions. Julian Aguon reports from the Pacific islands on the front lines of climate change, describing how people on Kiribati and Fiji have tried to find solutions. Nikayla Jefferson writes about the 2021 Hunger Strike for Climate Justice; another entry lists major environmental victories over the past few decades as a straightforward way to show how people have come together to affect change.
The essays in Not Too Late are realistic about what climate change is doing to the planet and humanity while also issuing a hopeful call to action so that people can avoid the worst outcomes.
Reviewed by
Jeff Fleischer
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