by Naomi Klein
More than two thirds of new and emerging human diseases leap from animals to humans. The coronavirus, for example, is believed to have existed harmlessly in bats. But activities such as cutting down forests and creating mines, roads, and farms in formerly wild areas are bringing people into ever more contact and conflict with other species. So does exploiting wildlife for food and pets. And once a disease jumps from an animal into a human host, our crowded cities and global air travel help it spread quickly and widely among human populations. Plans for rebuilding economies after the coronavirus pandemic, the scientists said, must include stronger environmental protections around the world.
When governments acted to slow the spread of the virus by ordering businesses to close and people to work from home whenever possible, vehicle traffic fell to a fraction of its normal level. So did air travel. These changes seemed to bring good news for the climate: cleaner air and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. But positive though they were, these were short-term changes. They were forced on people, many of whom were eager to return to pre-pandemic “life as usual.” These were not the long-term, thorough changes to our systems of energy and travel that are necessary to make cleaner air and lower emissions permanent.
Finally, the pandemic cast a cruel light on environmental injustice. Rates of serious illness and death were higher among people who lived in areas with high air pollution. Their bad environments had made them more vulnerable to the virus—and the people who lived in neighborhoods with the worst air pollution were often the poor and people of color. In this way, environmental injustice led to medical injustice.
After the crisis of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the United States found both the will and the money to transform society and lift up many suffering Americans. In times of crisis, ideas that once seemed impossible suddenly become possible—but which ideas? Sensible, fair ones designed to keep as many people as safe as possible, or predatory ideas designed to make the unimaginably rich even richer? Will the government spend billions of dollars to keep bailing out industries that are already wealthy, such as fossil fuels, cruise ships, and airlines? Or will that money instead be directed toward health care for all and toward a Green New Deal that will create jobs and fight climate change?
The biggest lesson I see from the coronavirus pandemic is that everyone, from individuals and families to government leaders, made difficult but necessary changes—changes none of us could have imagined before this. And many people rose to the challenge in creative and generous ways, making masks and equipment for health-care workers, checking on their elderly neighbors, doing what they could to help. Governments found funds to pump into their countries’ economies.
The pandemic tested us in every way. It also showed us once again that big, rapid changes in society’s direction are possible. It is possible, in fact, to Change Everything. Our challenge now is to use that creativity and energy, and those resources, not only against COVID-19 but also against climate change and injustice, and for a fairer future.
A Natural Solution to the Climate Disaster
(PUBLIC LETTER OF APRIL 2019)
The world faces two existential crises, developing with terrifying speed: climate breakdown and ecological breakdown. Neither is being addressed with the urgency needed to prevent our life-support systems from spiralling into collapse. We are writing to champion a thrilling but neglected approach to averting climate chaos while defending the living world: natural climate solutions. This means drawing carbon dioxide out of the air by protecting and restoring ecosystems.
By defending, restoring and re-establishing forests, peatlands, mangroves, salt marshes, natural seabeds and other crucial ecosystems, large amounts of carbon can be removed from the air and stored. At the same time, the protection and restoration of these ecosystems can help minimise a sixth great extinction, while enhancing local people’s resilience against climate disaster. Defending the living world and defending the climate are, in many cases, one and the same. This potential has so far been largely overlooked.
We call on governments to support natural climate solutions with an urgent programme of research, funding and political commitment. It is essential that they work with the guidance and free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous People and other local communities.
This approach should not be used as a substitute for the rapid and comprehensive decarbonisation of industrial economies. A committed and well-funded programme to address all the causes of climate chaos, including natural climate solutions, could help us hold the heating of the planet below 1.5C. We ask that they are deployed with the urgency these crises demand.
Greta Thunberg Activist
Margaret Atwood Author
Michael Mann Distinguished professor of atmospheric science
Naomi Klein Author and campaigner
Mohamed Nasheed Former president, the Maldives
Rowan Williams former Archbishop of Canterbury
Dia Mirza Actor and UN environment goodwill ambassador
Brian Eno Musician and artist
Philip Pullman Author
Bill McKibben Author and campaigner
Simon Lewis Professor of global change science
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Presenter and author
Charlotte Wheeler Forest restoration scientist
David Suzuki Scientist and author
Anohni Musician and artist
Asha de Vos Marine biologist
Yeb Saño Activist
Bittu Sahgal Founder, Sanctuary Nature Foundation
John Sauven Executive director, Greenpeace UK
Craig Bennett CEO, Friends of the Earth
Ruth Davis Deputy director of global programmes, RSPB
Rebecca Wrigley Chief executive, Rewilding Britain
George Monbiot Journalist
FIND OUT MORE
Books
Diavolo, Lucy, ed. No Planet B: A Teen Vogue Guide to the Climate Crisis. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2021.
Margolin, Jamie. Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It. New York: Hachette Go, 2020.
Nardo, Don. Planet Under Siege: Climate Change. San Diego: Reference Point Press, 2020.
New York Times Editorial. Climate Refugees. New York: New York Times Educational Publishing, 2018.
Thunberg, Greta. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference. New York: Penguin, 2019.
Online Resources to Help You Get Involved
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAJsdgTPJpU
From PBS Newshour, Greta Thunberg’s scorching speech at the United Nations on September 23, 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9uTH0iprVQ
A Message from the Future
A short animated film about life after the Green New Deal, narrated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, created by Molly Crabapple, Avi Lewis, and Naomi Klein.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m8YACFJlMg
A Message from the Future II: Years of Repair
This short animated film explores a future in which 2020’s global pandemic and uprisings against racism became the springboard for a building a better society and healing our planet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h1JbSBqZpQ
Autumn Peltier and Greta Thunberg
In this short film, Naomi Klein interviews young activists Autumn Peltier and Greta Thunberg, who were the subjects of documentaries at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020.
https://solutions.thischangeseverything.org/
Beautiful Solutions brings together the stories, ideas, and values of environmental and social justice, with many examples of activists—including young people—working toward these goals around the world.
https://stopthemoneypipeline.com/
Stop the Money Pipeline is a movement that holds the fossil fuel industry accountable for the damage it is doing to our world’s climate. Its works to educate people about the money behind fossil-fuel projects and to discourage banks and other institutions from investing in those projects.
h
ttps://leapmanifesto.org/en/the-leap-manifesto/
The Leap Manifesto is a call for energy democracy, social justice, and a public life “based on caring for the Earth and one another.” Although Indigenous representatives and activists from many movements created The Leap as a plan for Canada, its vision applies everywhere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP5nY8lzURQ
Sink or Swim is the 7.5-minute video of young activist Delaney Reynolds’s TEDxYouth talk about climate change.
https://naomiklein.org/
Naomi Klein’s website, with information about her journalism, books, and films.
https://www.sunrisemovement.org/
The website of the Sunrise Movement, where you can find online resources and information about groups in your area.
https://climatejusticealliance.org/workgroup/youth/
The webpage of the Youth Working Group of the Climate Justice Alliance.
https://www.earthguardians.org
Earth Guardians is committed to diversity and trains young people around the world to be leaders in the fight for environmental, climate, and social justice.
http://thisiszerohour.org
The website of Zero Hour, founded and led by activists of color.
https://strikewithus.org/
An anti-capitalist, working class, multiracial coalition of young people organizing for climate action.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8xwvq3/11-young-climate-justice-activists-you-need-to-pay-attention-to-beyond-greta-thunberg
An online article with short profiles of some of the activists highlighted in this book, and others as well.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Naomi:
What a joy it has been to find such a dedicated and talented collaborator in Rebecca Stefoff. Her vision and careful labor made this book possible, and she wrote many of the inspiring profiles of young climate activists found in its pages. Boundless thanks to Anthony Arnove for pairing us up and for making this project happen. Alexa Pastor created a wonderful publishing home for us and offered many helpful editorial insights. Rajiv Sicora lent his prodigious climate knowledge to the fact-check, Jackie Joiner conducted us all with unflagging focus and grace, and Avi Lewis is my partner in all things. This book draws on a decade and a half of research and writing, which means I have no hope of acknowledging all of the scientists, activists, fellow writers, editors, agents, and friends whose support makes my work possible. Instead, I would like to thank the young readers whose curiosity, morality and love for the natural world bring joy and inspiration to life: Zoe, Aaron, Theo, Zev, Yoav, Zimri, Yoshi, Mika, Tillie, Levi, Nate, Eve, Arlo, Georgia, Miriam, Beatrice, Mavis, Leo, Nick, Adam, and, of course, our beautiful ocean boy, Toma.
Rebecca:
I am deeply grateful to Naomi Klein and Anthony Arnove for making me a part of this book—and to Naomi for her inspiring work over many years. Many thanks are due also to the teams at Atheneum Books for Young Readers and elsewhere who helped hone the book and put it out into the world, and to my invariably supportive partner, Zachary Edmonson. Above all, I am immeasurably grateful for the passion of young activists everywhere: those who are already working to change everything, and those who are yet to come.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
NAOMI KLEIN is an award-winning journalist, columnist, documentary filmmaker, and author of the New York Times and international bestsellers The Shock Doctrine, No Logo, This Changes Everything, No Is Not Enough, and On Fire. Her writing has appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world, and she is senior correspondent for The Intercept. Klein is the inaugural Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University and cofounder of the climate justice organization The Leap (TheLeap.org).
REBECCA STEFOFF published her first books when she was in college and has been writing ever since. She has written many nonfiction books for children and young adults, with an emphasis on science and history, including a young readers adaptation of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Through her books, teenage readers can explore topics as varied as ghosts, robots, bacteria, evolution, women pioneers, the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, forensic crime solving, and more. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Naomi-Klein
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Rebecca-Stefoff
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Simon & Schuster, New York
NOTESI
Chapter 1: Kids Take Action
On Fire by Naomi Klein
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/23/world-leaders-generation-climate-breakdown-greta-thunberg
https://time.com/collection-post/5584902/greta-thunberg-next-generation-leaders/
https://skepticalscience.com/animal-agriculture-meat-global-warming.htm
https://unfoundation.org/blog/post/5-things-to-know-about-greta-thunbergs-climate-lawsuit/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/09/26/meet-greta-thunberg-young-climate-activists-filed-complaint-united-nations/2440431001/
https://earthjustice.org/blog/2019-september/greta-thunberg-young-people-petition-UN-human-rights-climate-change/
CHAPTER 2: World Warmers
On Fire by Naomi Klein
This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein
https://www.newsweek.com/record-hit-ice-melt-antarctica-day-climate-emergency-1479326
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/29/moscow-resorts-to-fake-snow-in-warmest-december-since-1886
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/20/2019-has-been-a-year-of-climate-disaster-yet-still-our-leaders-procrastinate
https://www.vox.com/2019/12/30/21039298/40-celsius-australia-fires-2019-heatwave-climate-change
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31102018/jet-stream-climate-change-study-extreme-weather-arctic-amplification-temperature
https://350.org/press-release/1-4-million-students-across-the-globe-demand-climate-action/
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature
https://www.businessinsider.com/greenland-ice-melting-is-2070-worst-case-2019-8
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/what-paleoclimatology
https://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/features/201508_slushball
https://climate.nasa.gov/nasa_science/science/
https://nas-sites.org/americasclimatechoices/more-resources-on-climate-change/climate-change-lines-of-evidence-booklet/evidence-impacts-and-choices-figure-gallery/figure-9/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/27/climate-emergency-world-may-have-crossed-tipping-points
https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19022019/arctic-bogs-permafrost-thaw-methane-climate-change-feedback-loop
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-sea-level
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature
https://climateactiontracker.org/global/cat-thermometer/
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201911
https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/why-15-degrees-danger-line-global-warming
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palmoil-deforestation-study/palm-oil-to-blame-for-39-of-forest-loss-in-borneo-since-2000-study-idUSKBN1W41HD
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/acidification.html
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/06/19/616098095/as-carbon-dioxide-levels-rise-major-crops-are-losing-nutrients
https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0007.1
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/GlobalWarming/page3.php
https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=73&t=1
Chapter 3: Climate and Justice
The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
No Is Not Enough by Naomi Klein
This Chang
es Everything by Naomi Klein
“Only a Green New Deal Can Douse the Fires of Eco-Fascism” (https://theintercept.com/2019/09/16/climate-change-immigration-mass-shootings/) by Naomi Klein
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/black-history-month-young-climate-activists-in-africa/
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2004/maathai/biographical/
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-can-renewable-energy-power-the-world/
https://wagingnonviolence.org/2016/03/how-montanans-stopped-otter-creek-mine-coal-in-north-america/
https://theintercept.com/2019/09/16/climate-change-immigration-mass-shootings/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/naomi-klein-climate-green-new-deal_n_5e0f66e4e4b0b2520d20b7a5
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/against-climate-barbarism-a-conversation-with-naomi-klein/
https://theintercept.com/2019/09/16/climate-change-immigration-mass-shootings/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/naomi-klein-climate-green-new-deal_n_5e0f66e4e4b0b2520d20b7a5
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/against-climate-barbarism-a-conversation-with-naomi-klein/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/26/oil-drilling-underway-beneath-ecuadors-yasuni-national-park
https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/heart-of-ecuadors-yasuni-home-to-uncontacted-tribes-opens-for-oil-drilling/
Chapter 4: Burning the Past, Cooking the Future
This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein
https://www.egr.msu.edu/~lira/supp/steam/wattbio.html
http://ipod-ngsta.test.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/dec4/great-smog-1952/
https://www.history.com/news/the-killer-fog-that-blanketed-london-60-years-ago
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/12/13/scientists-say-theyve-solved-mystery-1952-london-killer-fog/95375738/
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/london-fog-the-biography/
