The Climate Majority Project: Setting the Stage for a Mainstream, Urgent Climate Movement.
Edited by Rupert Read, Liam Kavanagh and Rosie Bell, and with a foreword by Lord Deben (former chair of the UK’s Climate Change Committee).
The Climate Majority Project: Setting the Stage for a Mainstream, Urgent Climate Movement. To order a copy (with free UK postage and packing), click here.
If climate action remains marginal at this late hour, it will fail. The rapid, system-level change that we need to escape catastrophe will take unprecedented public mobilization. A ‘silent majority’ of citizens is now concerned about human-made climate change – and as ever more people wake up to the crisis and ask ‘What can I do?’, the climate movement must answer them without insisting on conformity.
In dismay at the inaction of governments on climate, emerging citizen groups are showing how people can use their real power and authentic voice to drive change. In the workplace, in politics and in local communities, people are stepping forward both to demand transformation and to make it happen. At the same time, they’re regenerating community and directing the wasted energy of us-and-them polarization back towards solidarity and resilience. This wave will grow if concerned individuals recognize that they’re part of a climate majority: a formidable collective force for change.
All proceeds from the sale of this book will support work by the Climate Majority Project to catalyse urgent citizen climate action.
Praise for The Climate Majority Project: Setting the Stage for a Mainstream, Urgent Climate Movement
“The climate emergency is now well and truly upon us, and at some level we all know it. What this book shows is that accepting that truth is not nihilistic ‘doomism’, but a powerful path to deeper engagement with ourselves and our communities, as citizens alongside one another, not just consumers in isolation from one another. If you’re ready to walk that path, this is the book – and the movement – for you.”
— Jon Alexander, author of Citizens and co-founder of the New Citizenship Project
“Stopping the climate from breaking down has become a top priority for the UK public – yet many people still feel powerless and political action is far too slow. This brilliant book sets out how climate campaigners and ordinary citizens alike can build a mass movement that translates growing public alarm into a diverse and unstoppable force on the scale that’s needed.”
— Leo Barasi, author of The Climate Majority: Apathy and Action in an Age of Nationalism
“Resolving the climate crisis will require far greater commitment and action from ‘ordinary people’ than we have seen to date. This book is seeking to stimulate that action. We must all hope that it will be successful, so give it a read and find your route to playing your part in helping to address the greatest challenge of our time.”
— Professor Paul Ekins OBE, professor of resources and environment policy at University College London
“The ambition of the Climate Majority Project – everyone, everywhere, all at once, doing things that are actually effective – is as necessary as it is exciting. We will never get anywhere near climate justice until, as this book sets out, the full truth about our predicament is acknowledged, and widely acted upon. I commend this book to everyone looking to do the only thing that now really matters: acting as if our own lives, and those of our children and their children, and those of our kin across the planet, depend upon it. Which they do.”
— Professor Saleem Huq OBE, scientist and director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development
“This fascinating book is needed now more than ever before. We must do more, not only in the Global North but even more in the Global South, where the increasing ravages of ecocide are compelling millions into heightening their various modes of action and to defending their future. The climate majority must be a global majority. The contents of this book, in the context of the crisis that so many are finally waking up to, will justifiably fire people up more vibrantly in advancing our common cause.”
— Kofi Klu, co-founder of the Internationalist Solidarity Network
“The only realistic hope for a turnaround in our civilization’s disastrous trajectory is for a critical mass of ordinary citizens to push for the deep changes required. This important book offers a thought-provoking new strategy to engage segments of the population who would never normally consider themselves activists in the struggle for a positive future. Demonstrating multiple possible pathways to catalysing a commitment to climate action, it offers a creative alternative to reaching the “climate majority’ tipping point that we need.”
— Jeremy Lent, author of The Patterning Instinct and The Web of Meaning
“Our living world is under unprecedented threat. We must respond now, actively, thoughtfully and in a way that carries the majority with us. The Climate Majority Project is impressively willing to do just this, in a way which is as guided by evidence as it is inspirational, as civil as it is determined. We must rise to the challenge and face the future together. This book shows us how we could truly do this: practical, thoughtful and compassionate, it helps to dismantle the polarities that risk driving us apart. With our help, it really could bring humanity towards that wiser and more ‘eco-logical’ culture which we need if we are to survive.”
— Dr Iain McGilchrist, psychiatrist, neuroscience researcher and author of
The Master and His Emissary
“No initiative on planet earth is more important than the Climate Majority Project. The ongoing breakdown of our climate is affecting everyone, and everyone needs to do their bit to stop a precarious future becoming cataclysmic. More than anything else, the world needs a mainstream climate movement, and it needs it now. If you care about the future of our planet, and the world your children and grandchildren will inherit, then read this book and be part of the coming wave of citizen climate action. I can guarantee you won’t regret it.”
— Professor Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London and author of Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide
“Recent freakish floods woke millions up to the crisis facing nature. That awareness means ambitious action for change is inevitable and will become mainstream. Knowing we’re part of something wider, something essential, something that is coming through gives us the confidence to play our part. Drawing on both the inspirational and practical aspects of this book, we, the majority, can grow in depth, imagination and power – to become an irresistible force. That is why I strongly commend The Climate Majority Project to you.”
— Ann Pettifor, economist and author of The Coming First World Debt Crisis
“While there will always be a vital role for activism to lead and push the boundaries of what change is possible, now more than ever we need to open the doors to those who care but can never see themselves as activists. This book talks about how we might do that, and this is an important step forward in our collective thinking on how we can protect our home planet.”
— Beth Thoren, director of Environmental Action, Patagonia
Rupert Read is the author of several books on climate breakdown and a former spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion. He recently stepped down as associate professor of philosophy at the University of East Anglia to become full-time co-director of the Climate Majority Project.
Liam Kavanagh is a cognitive and social scientist devoted to using his understanding of human motivation, ideology and economics to aid more effective responses to the climate crisis. He is co-director of the Climate Majority Project.
Rosie Bell is a collaborative author and freelance writer, and a co-author of Reconnection: Meeting the Climate Crisis Inside Out (Mindfulness Initiative/LUCSUS, 2022).
The book includes contributions from Helena Farstadt, Jessica Townsend, Anthea Lawson, Ruth Allen, Joel Scott-Halkes, Joolz Thompson and Marc Lopatin and others.
