Books can educate and inspire people to make a difference. On Environment Day, we have complied a list of some of our favorite books on the environment and hope it gives some knowledge on the urgent need to take climate action!
1) Everyone Loves a Good Drought - P Sainath
Sainath’s account of the lives in our poorest villages in “Everybody Loves a Good Drought”, where a large percentage of Indians live, is as alive today as it was two decades back. It contains 84 articles that he had written from 1990 to 1992, while residing in the poorest villages in the interiors of India. The book talks about how various policies and projects by the government do and do not work at the ground level, and whether they actually deliver any of their promised results in reality. The book is acclaimed for being one of the most authentic readable studies of rural India in 1980.
2) The Greater Common Good - Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy’s writing highlighted why the issue of big dams is an issue of national concern. It also throws light into the political background of environmental destruction. It emphasises on the human cost, and lives displaced in the post colonial era. In this essay, she makes her position clear by stating that she is not against development projects but rather the politics of development.
3) The Great Derangement - Amitav Ghosh
The climate crisis has been overly simplified throughout history. The history of the carbon economy is a tangled global story with many contradictory and counterintuitive elements. The extremities of today’s climate calamities make them resistant to the exiting thinking and imagination. He urges everyone to rethink politics, economics and our daily life to change how we think of treating this emergency.
His book is a reminder to confront the greatest challenge of our lifetime – the climate crisis.
4) No One is Too Small To Make A Difference
No One is Too Small to Make a Difference is a collection of Greta Thunberg’s speeches against climate change. Her journey as an activist started when she decided to go on a school strike by sitting in front of the Swedish parliament house in 2018.She repeats the essential points that climate change is real and the urgent need for collective action. She uses simple but powerful language to drive her message.
5) Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Indigenous communities make up 5 percent of the global population but protect 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity. In this book, the author talks about the importance of why we respect indigenous wisdom and knowledge. This books reminds us to go back to our roots and learn from the plants and animals around us and live in harmony with nature.
1 Comment
Narayana Rao P
Good articles and features