Surviving climate change

The struggle to avert global catastrophe

David Cromwell and Mark Levene (eds), Pluto Press, 292 pages, paperback, £15.99

This collection of articles on climate change is a cut above many of the books coming out on the issue in two respects. Firstly, the writers are long-time researchers and activists on the issue, and their voices deserve to be heard. Secondly, the book is more radical than the mainstream neoliberal solutions that are increasingly being served up to tackle the crisis; it seeks to investigate the extent to which we need to rethink the social, economic, cultural and political elements of our lives in order to have an impact on climate change.

In particular, the book includes an important contribution on “contraction and convergence” by Aubrey Meyer. This proposal seeks to distribute the reduction in carbon emissions more equitably across different countries, depending on the level of development. In short, it means the richest countries of the world should make the deepest cuts now, giving other nations the opportunity to develop further before they too reduce their carbon footprints.

The book also contains a useful glossary and list of activist groups. Its main weakness is the lack of focus on union action, reflecting the great hiatus in almost all strategies on climate change at present.