The Is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break Years Updated Edition

  • 5h 54m
  • Mike Berners-Lee
  • Cambridge University Press
  • 2021

Feeding the world, climate change, biodiversity, antibiotics, plastics, pandemics - the list of concerns seems endless. But what is most pressing, and what should we do first? Do we all need to become vegetarian? How can we fly in a low-carbon world? How can we take control of technology? And, given the global nature of the challenges we now face, what on Earth can any of us do, as individuals? Mike Berners-Lee has crunched the numbers and plotted a course of action that is full of hope, practical, and enjoyable. This is the big-picture perspective on the environmental and economic challenges of our day, laid out in one place, and traced through to the underlying roots - questions of how we live and think. This updated edition has new material on protests, pandemics, wildfires, investments, carbon targets and of course, on the key question: given all this, what can I do?

About the Author

Mike Berners-Lee thinks, writes, researches and consults on sustainability and responses to the challenges of the twenty-first century. He is the founder of Small World Consulting (SWC), an associate company of Lancaster University, which works with organisations from small businesses to the biggest tech giants. SWC is a leader in the field of carbon metrics, targets and actions. About his first book – How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint Of Everything – Bill Bryson wrote 'I can't remember the last time I read a book that was more fascinating, useful and enjoy – able all at the same time'. His second book (co-written with Duncan Clark) – The Burning Question: We Can't Burn Half the World's Oil, Coal, and Gas. So How Do We Quit? – explores the big picture of climate change and the underlying global dynamics, asking what mix of politics, economics, psychology and technology are really required to deal with the problem. Al Gore described it as 'Fascinating, important and highly recommended'. Mike is a professor in the Institute for Social Futures at Lancaster University, where he develops practical tools for thinking about the future, and researches the global food system and carbon metrics.

In this Book

  • What’s New in this Updated Edition?
  • Introduction to the First Edition
  • Food
  • More on Climate and Environment
  • Energy
  • Travel and Transport
  • Growth, Money and Metrics
  • People and Work
  • Business and Technology
  • Values, Truth and Trust
  • Thinking Skills for Today’s World
  • Protest
  • Big-Picture Summary
  • What Can I Do?
  • Appendix— Climate Emergency Basics
  • Alphabetical Quick Tour
  • Notes on Units
  • Endnotes
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