20 Inspiring Climate Change Books To Read in 2025

In Earth.Org’s best climate change books to read this year, we see a world that is ambitious about humanity’s prospects but humble about our place in nature. Extremely hopeful for our future, while realistic about what we might have to endure.

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Books are some of the best tools to unpack this difficult information and make climate science accessible to all. They offer a platform for experts to share their knowledge, enabling readers to develop a well-rounded understanding of the current state of the environment and the urgent need for collective action.

It is precisely for this reason that Earth.Org recently revamped and significantly expanded its book reviews to include literary genres like climate fiction and poetry. From award-winning writers, world-leading climate scientists, and thought leaders paving the way toward humanity’s brighter future, here is our list of the best books on climate change to read this year. 

Best Climate Change Books To Read in 2025

1. The Joyful Environmentalist, by Isabel Losada (2025)

A thought-provoking and inspiring book, The Joyful Environmentalist ((Revised and Updated 2nd Edition) chronicles the author’s personal journey towards becoming a more environmentally conscious individual. Through a series of engaging anecdotes, Losada explores various aspects of sustainability, climate change, and environmental activism with a refreshing and optimistic perspective. She delves into practical solutions, innovative ideas, and the power of individual actions in creating a more sustainable world.

The book not only educates readers on pressing environmental issues but also encourages them to embrace a more joyful and positive approach to environmentalism. The Joyful Environmentalist is a compelling read that empowers readers to make a difference and find hope in the face of global environmental challenges.

Read our review of The Joyful Environmentalist.

2. Birch and Jay, by Allister Thompson (2025)

Birch and Jay is a captivating novel that follows the intertwined lives of two protagonists, Birch and Jay, as they navigate through the complexities of love, loss, and self-discovery in a small rural town. The story delves into their deep-rooted connection, their individual struggles, and the profound impact they have on each other’s lives. Set against the backdrop of nature and human emotions, the novel explores themes of resilience, friendship, and the enduring power of human connection.

Thompson’s lyrical prose and intricate character development make the book a compelling read that resonates with readers long after they have turned the final page.

Read our review of Birch and Jay.

3. Defying Futility, by Jan Lee and Steve Willis (2025)

At first glance, this intriguing collection appears to have more in common with mainstream historical fiction than with climate science. But these stories, grounded in historical reality, hold deeper environmental lessons. Each of the sixteen episodes in Defying Futility is a “counterfactual” or “alternate history” view of a real-life disaster, reimagined as if it had been averted or the impact reduced. From this basis, the authors – Jan Lee and Steve Willis – draw lessons to help us understand how to tackle today’s looming climate crisis. They pose questions about the role of the individual, offer advice about working within complex systems, and explore how individual decisions can create global consequences.

From the sinking of the Titanic in the North Atlantic to the collapse of a coal mine in South Africa, from the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle to the eruption of Mount Merapi in Indonesia, the book showcases a diverse range of unheard voices. It aims not only to inspire but to catalyze action that will help us address the biggest disaster of them all.

4. Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, by Paul Hawken (2017)

Drawdown gathers the 100 most effective solutions to halt global warming from leading scientists and policymakers, which if adopted, could even reduce the overall greenhouse gasses currently present in the atmosphere . Already firmly anchored in the New York Times bestseller list, Hawken ranks optimal solutions – like moderating the use of air-conditioners and refrigerators, or adopting a plant-rich diet – by the amount of potential greenhouse gases they can avoid or remove.

5. Landing the Paris Agreement: How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes Next, by Todd Stern (2024)

Landing the Paris Agreement is a timely and insightful book that delves into the intricate negotiations and events surrounding the historic Paris Agreement on climate change. Storn, the former US Special Envoy for Climate Change, provides a detailed account of the key players, political dynamics, and challenges that shaped the agreement, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the intense efforts to secure a global consensus on climate action.

Through compelling narrative and analysis, the book highlights the significance of the Paris Agreement as a pivotal moment in international efforts to combat climate change and emphasizes the importance of collective action in addressing this urgent global issue.

Landing the Paris Agreement is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of international climate diplomacy and the ongoing quest for a sustainable future.

Read our review of Landing the Paris Agreement.

6. Supercharge Me: Net Zero Faster, by Eric Lonergan and Corinne Sawers (2022)

Supercharge Me takes a look at how governments, businesses and individuals behave and discuss what has (and hasn’t) worked so far in transitioning the global economy to net zero. Fund manager Eric Lonergan and sustainability adviser Corinne Sawers introduce practical ideas for change that will embolden people to reframe the climate crisis as an opportunity and suggest augmenting traditional economic solutions, such as carbon pricing, with EPICs: extreme, positive incentives for change that “supercharge” behavioural change.

6. Old-Growth Forest Walks, by Michael Henry (2024)

In times of turmoil, the long view offers great comfort. Whether we examine ancient structures and ecosystems or simply observe the torpid progression of geological time, we know that this era, too, shall pass. A visit to an old-growth forest demonstrates this phenomenon by offering solace and wonder to the traveller who makes the effort to make the voyage.

In Old-Growth Forest Walks: 26 Hikes in Ontario’s Greenbelt, photographer Michael Henry provides a mixture of stunning visuals, intriguing lessons in biology, and historical musings.

Read our review of Old-Growth Forest Walks.

8. The Climate Book, by Greta Thunberg (2022)

The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg – the world-famous Swedish climate activist and founder of the global movement Fridays for Future – features essays of over one hundred thinkers and experts, from oceanographers and meteorologists to economists and geophysicists, to raise awareness about the climate crisis and equip us with the knowledge to fight climate disasters and halt global warming. Thunberg also shares her own stories of demonstrating and uncovering greenwashing around the world, revealing how much we have been kept in the dark. 

9. Post Growth: Life After Capitalism, by Tim Jackson (2021)

For the economics-inclined, Post Growth is among the most accessible and inspiring technical environmental books published in recent years. Professor Tim Jackson, a highly influential ecological economist, first gained fame for his 2009 book, Prosperity Without Growth, a highly researched deep dive into the economics and models that can bring us into a more sustainable and prosperous future.

Jackson’s 2021 foray is a romantic, passionate and highly readable book that illuminates what a future after capitalism, competition and egregious self-interest really looks like, largely doing away with much of the jargon and economics’ parlance used in Prosperity. Grounded in a deep understanding of ecological economics, Post Growth presents one of the most compelling arguments yet that the economy is not at all separate from the natural world, but an intrinsically embedded subsidiary of it. Under this worldview, it becomes clear that constant economic growth is simply untenable.

Whether or not you agree with Jackson’s more fundamental assertions on the nature of capitalism and its role in a prosperous society, this is a book that sheds light on a version of the future where having outright winners does not necessarily translate to having outright losers, where prosperity is not only linked to material wealth but to wellbeing, health and safety for all members of society. Post Growth does not necessarily offer the solutions and technical means that Prosperity does, but it does provide a way of thinking about the future that is hopeful, bright and entirely achievable. 

10. Under A White Sky, by Elizabeth Kolbert (2021)

For the more scientifically and solutions-inclined, this is the book pick for you. On a world-hopping adventure from one solution to the next, journalist and author Elizabeth Kolbert guides readers through the sheer madness of ‘fixes’ that humans have attempted to dominate the natural world. The bottom line is this: we like to think of ourselves as ingenious problem solvers, and we certainly can be, but more often than not, our actions have unforeseen and reverberating effects on ecosystems and human populations.

Under A White Sky immensely readable, vividly describing everything from the flooding marshlands of Louisiana to the mind-bogglingly exciting developments in genetic engineering. In each new location, Kolbert dives into the latest technological fix that is being attempted, often to cover up the unintended consequences of the last techno-fix humans tried out. This is a hugely entertaining book that accurately describes some of the most cutting-edge and complex solutions to the environmental crisis that humans have come up with. But it is also a cautionary tale that puts into perspective just how far we’ve gone, and what that has already done to the world.

11. The Big Fix: 7 Practical Steps to Save Our Planet, by Hal Harvey an Justin Gillis (2022)

While being a conscious and greener consumer helps, this won’t be enough to bring our greenhouse gas emissions to zero and save our planet. As energy policy advisor Hal Harvey and longtime New York Times reporter Justin Gillis argue in their book The Big Fix: 7 Practical Steps to Save Our Planet, citizens must push for policies that can make a big difference in seven main areas: electricity production, transportation, buildings, industry, urbanisation, use of land, and investment in promising new green technologies.

12. The Uninhabitable Earth, by David Wallace-Wells (2019)

If you need to quickly get up to speed with the sheer scale of the climate emergency, journalist David Wallace-Wells’s succinct but brutal portrait of our future lives on earth may be for you. In 200 pages, it unpacks the different dimensions of our forecast future, from heat death to unbreathable air. As Wallace-Wells puts it in the book’s first line, “it is worse, much worse, than you think.” Even for those who feel they are well-versed on the issue, the endless stream of disasters that have or could be caused by global warming effectively shakes the reader out of any complacency. 

While the book does not offer solutions, it does make it clear that we already have all the tools we need to avoid the worst effects. But ultimately The Uninhabitable Earth seeks to make clear the horror of the emergency of the consequences before us. Unless we accept the urgency, how can we expect to get ourselves out of this mess?

13. Nursery Earth: The Wondrous Lives of Baby Animals and the Extraordinary Ways They Shape Our World, by Danna Staaf (2023)

Nursery Earth is a captivating novel that immerses readers in a world where Earth itself is portrayed as a nurturing and sentient entity. The story follows a diverse cast of characters who embark on a journey to protect and preserve the planet from imminent environmental threats and destruction. Through vivid storytelling and rich world-building, Staaf weaves together themes of interconnectedness, stewardship, and the resilience of nature. As the characters navigate through challenges and conflicts, they discover the profound beauty and fragility of the Earth, ultimately leading them to reevaluate their relationship with the natural world.

Nursery Earth serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of conservation and the need for collective action to safeguard our planet for future generations. This book is a compelling read that inspires readers to reflect on their role in preserving the Earth’s precious ecosystems.

Read our review of Nursery Earth.

14. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert (2014)

By 2050, the climate crisis will have driven the extinction of up to half the world’s species, according to this book that is written on the frontlines of environmental breakdown. We are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction event, which is set to be the fastest such event on record.

Kolbert outlines how humans have driven the extinction of biodiversity, or to the brink of extinction, from the Panamanian golden frog nearly completely wiped out in the wild by a fungal disease to the Maui, which is in peril due to deforestation. We are driving these species to extinction in many ways: some connected to the climate crisis through rising sea levels rising and deforestation, as well as by spreading disease-carrying species and poaching. By fundamentally altering earth’s delicately balanced ecosystems, we are risking our own future too. 

15. Net Zero: How We Stop Causing Climate Change, by Dieter Helm (2020)

Another entry by Helm, Net Zero addresses the action we all need to take, whether personal, local, national or global, if we really want to stop climate change.

This book is a measured, balanced view of how we stop causing climate change by adopting a net zero strategy of reducing carbon emissions and increasing carbon absorption. It is a rational look at why the past 30 years’ efforts have failed and why and how the next 30 years can succeed. Like the other books on this list, it is a vital read for anyone who hears ecological activists fighting against climate change, but wonders what they can actually do.

16. Our Final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency, by Mark Lynas (2020)

This book delivers an account of the future of our earth, and our civilisation, if current rates of global warming persist. But how much worse could it get? Are we already past the point of no return? Cataloguing the very latest climate science, Lynas explores the course we have set for Earth over the next century and beyond. Degree by degree, he charts the likely impacts of global heating and the consequent climate catastrophe.  

At one degree – the world we are already living in – vast wildfires scorch California and Australia, while monster hurricanes devastate coastal cities. At two degrees the Arctic ice cap melts away, and coral reefs disappear from the tropics. At three, the world begins to run out of food, threatening millions with starvation. At four, large areas of the globe are too hot for human habitation, erasing entire nations and turning billions into climate refugees. At five, the planet is warmer than for 55 million years, while at six degrees a mass extinction of unparalleled proportions sweeps the planet, threatening to end all life on Earth. 

These escalating consequences can still be avoided, but time is running out. We must stop burning fossil fuels within a decade. If we fail, then we risk crossing tipping points that could push global climate chaos out of humanity’s control. 

17. The New Climate War, by Michael Mann (2021)

Michael Mann is arguably one of the closest things we have to a climate superhero. His story is certainly reminiscent of some cinematic superhero adventures. After hitting the climate science stage hard in 1999 when co-authoring the now-famous ‘hockey stick graph’ that demonstrates how human activity has contributed to average temperature rise, Michael Mann was lambasted, criticised and dismissed by a system perpetrated by our story’s villains, principally the fossil fuel industry and other actors with vested interests But our hero did not back down, and continued to push for the emerging field of climate science to be recognised.

In The New Climate War, Mann explains how the fossil fuel industry has adjusted its tactics, from outright climate denialism to obstruction and shifting the burden of responsibility to individuals, thereby delaying necessary action to push through systemic changes. The book is a fascinating untangling of the intricate web of misinformation, misdirection and deflection perpetuated by the fossil fuel industry since climate change became an incontrovertible reality. Cautiously optimistic, Mann argues that the fundamental challenges we still face today are not tied to a technological or intellectual inability to achieve systemic change, but in the lack of political will required to do so.

18. On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal, by Naomi Klein (2019)

This book gathers more than a decade of Klein’s writing, pairing it with new material on the staggeringly high stakes of our immediate political and economic choices.

These long-form essays investigate the climate crisis not only as a political challenge but as a spiritual and imaginative one as well. With reports spanning from the ghostly Great Barrier Reef, the annual smoke-choked skies of the Pacific Northwest, post-hurricane Puerto Rico, to a Vatican attempting an unprecedented “ecological conversion,” Klein makes the case that we will rise to the existential challenge of climate change only if we are willing to transform the systems that produced this crisis.

An expansive, far-ranging exploration that sees the battle for a greener world as indistinguishable from the fight for our lives, On Fire captures the burning urgency of the climate crisis, as well as the fiery energy of a rising political movement demanding a catalytic Green New Deal.

19. Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet, by Noam Chomsky & Robert Pollin (2020)

Noam Chomsky, the world’s leading public intellectual, and Robert Pollin, a renowned progressive economist, map out the catastrophic consequences of unchecked climate change and present a realistic blueprint for change: the Green New Deal.

Chomsky and Pollin show the forecasts for a hotter planet: vast stretches of the Earth will become uninhabitable, plagued by extreme weather, drought, rising seas, and crop failure. Arguing against the fear of economic disaster and unemployment arising from the transition to a green economy, they show how this unfounded concern encourages climate denialism.

The authors show how ceasing to burn fossil fuels within the next 30 years is entirely feasible. Climate change is an emergency that cannot be ignored. This book shows how it can be overcome both politically and economically.

20. All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, edited by Ayana Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson (2020)

This book is a collection of essays and poetry by 60 leading women climate activists. It shows the power that women have in creating the solutions that we need to mitigate the climate crisis. 

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