Greta Thunberg Releases 'The Climate Book,' Featuring 100 Contributors: "Hope Is Taking Action"
Feb. 14 2023, Updated 3:48 p.m. ET
At just 19 years old, climate activist Greta Thunberg has already authored several books — and the latest is Greta Thunberg’s The Climate Book, which features contributions from over 100 experts in the climate space from around the world.
We can’t wait to get our hands on a copy of the book, which has finally hit shelves in the U.S. Keep reading for what we know about the book and its contributors so far.
‘The Climate Book’ by Greta Thunberg will focus on creating your own hope, sharing stories, and taking climate action.
On Oct. 19, 2022, Thunberg shared a video to Instagram to hype her audience up for her upcoming book.
“Right now, we are in desperate need for hope. But hope for whom?” Thunberg stated in the video, before exploring the ways hope will differently affect those who will be able to most easily adapt to the climate crisis and those “who will not be so fortunate.”
“To me, hope is not about pretending that everything will be fine,” she continued. “It is not about sticking your head in the sand or listening to fairy tales about non-existent technological solutions. It’s not about loopholes or clever accounting. Hope is not something that is given to you. It is something that you have to earn, to create.”
“Hope is taking action. It is stepping outside your comfort zone,” she added. “So instead of looking for hope, start creating it yourself.”
She then announced that she has spent the past 1.5 years compiling The Climate Book, for which more than 100 contributors shared their expertise and experiences.
“These crises are the biggest story in the world, and they must be spoken as far and wide as our voices can carry, and much further still,” she stated.
‘The Climate Book’ features impressive guest authors.
The Climate Book features passages written by scientists, philosophers, historians, meteorologists, engineers, economists, Indigenous leaders, and other experts. Each section of the book includes an essay by Thunberg as well, according to New Scientist.
You can read the full list of contributors in this Instagram post by Thunberg, but a few highlights include Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Bill McKibben, Margaret Atwood, Michael Mann, Naomi Klein, and Sônia Guajajara — all of whom we’ve written about on Green Matters before.
When is Greta Thunberg’s ‘The Climate Book’s’ release date?
The Climate Book was released on Oct. 27, 2022 in many other parts of the world, including the U.K.
In the U.S. and Canada, The Climate Book was published on Feb. 14, 2023 (the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for your eco-conscious bae!).
"I think what mainly motivated me was that it was so difficult to find a source where you could actually read and go in depth on these issues," Thunberg told NPR in a February 2023 interview, speaking about The Climate Book.
"Because people often ask me, like, 'Where can I read? What can I read? What can I watch? I want to get more engaged with the climate crisis. I want to become an activist. I want to learn. But I don't know where to start,'" she explained. "So this is a very good place to start. I think it covers a lot of issues concerning the climate crisis. So it's not just a one-sided story."
And just like with Thunberg’s other books, she will not be profiting from The Climate Book.
“I will not earn any money from this book as my copyright belongs to the Greta Thunberg Foundation. So all royalties go to charity,” she stated in an Instagram post.
And if you’re wondering about the cover of the book, which features stripes that fade from shades of blue to shades of red, these are known as “warming stripes,” which represent how average temperatures have changed over the past 100 years.
This article, originally published on Oct. 28, 2022, has been updated to reflect The Climate Book's U.S. release.
