Books to Reduce Eco-Anxiety and Climate Grief

Rachel Bailleau
4 days ago
4 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

Feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world? You’re not alone. Climate grief and eco-anxiety are increasingly common responses to the alarming changes happening around our planet. Personally, I have become a lot more hopeful and inspired over the last few years. And as a result, I've had more energy to contribute to positive change at home and in my community.

There are some incredible books out there that address these feelings of despair while offering hope and practical solutions. Here, we’ll explore four life-changing reads that can help you navigate your emotions and inspire action: Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie, Drawdown by Paul Hawken, Wilding by Isabella Tree, and Factfulness by Hans Rosling.

These four books are an antidote to climate-grief and eco-anxiety!

Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie

In Not the End of the World, author Hannah Ritchie shows us some of the incredible profess that we've made towards a sustainable world. For the first time in history, babies have a good chance of reaching childhood. At the same time, we're starting to reverse many negative trends for the environment like deforestation and overfishing.

Ritchie is clear that there is still a lot of work to be done, and we need to speed up our progress. But rather than simply rehashing the doom-and-gloom scenarios, Ritchie offers a refreshing perspective that emphasizes the advancements and possibilities that lie ahead.

The book serves as a reminder that we still have the power to reshape our future, making it a comforting read for those experiencing eco-anxiety. Buy the book here.

This book put environmental issues into better perspective for me, so I knew which ones were the most important, and which ones I was probably stressing about too much.

Drawdown, curated by Paul Hawken

Drawdown is one of those must-reads if you’re looking for how we could realistically reverse climate change. The team at drawdown looked at which solutions already exist for climate change. The 100 solutions in this book could realistically be implemented in time to stabilise the climate. At it would cost less to implement them than to do nothing!

Each solution is carefully researched and presented in an easy-to-understand way. From renewable energy technologies to regenerative agriculture and changes in our daily lives, Drawdown offers hope by showing that we already have the tools to combat climate change. This book is ideal for readers seeking both inspiration and practical guidance during their journey through climate grief. Buy Drawdown here.

Drawdown helped me realise we don't need to wait for a miracle to solve climate change. We just need to find the political will to implement the solutions that already exist.

Wilding by Isabella Tree

I worked as a journalist in sustainable food production, so I've read a lot of books about farming in harmony with nature! Wilding is a beautiful example.

This book, by Isabella Tree, tells us about her family's journey to abandon intensive farming and let wild nature come back to the land. It is beautifully written and truly inspiring, even if farming isn't something that you're particularly interested in. You'll learn about why farming has become so unsustainable, and also witness how quickly nature can come back if given the chance. Buy the book here.

Wilding made me realise that restoring nature doesn't mean spending tonnes of money and waiting for centuries. If humans give nature a chance, incredible things can happen very quickly.

Factfulness by Hans Rosling

Factfulness by Hans Rosling explains that we get so much wrong about the world. The world is so much better than most people think! A global health expert, Rosling combines real life experience and compassion with pragmatism and data to show us the world is getting better, not worse! Though not strictly about the environment, my eco-anxiety was always linked to fear of violence, suffering, and limited resources. This book opened my eyes.

Extreme poverty, child mortality, and illiteracy have all declined at a crazy speed over the last couple of centuries. But instead of celebrating millions of small sucesses, we tend to only see violent and horrible stories on the news.

Rosling is honest about the world being imperfect, but shows us what incredible progress has been made since the time of our great grandparents. What a time to be alive! Buy the book here.

Factfulness shows all the progress people have made — Factfulness made me realise that today is the best time my daughter could ever have been born. Even if the world seems scary, we have made enormous progress in the last 200 years with healthcare, poverty rates, education, and global safety.

Conclusion

Navigating climate grief and eco-anxiety is no easy task, but these four life-changing books can provide comfort, inspiration, and practical solutions.

You can explore our progress towards sustainability in Not the End of the World, discover actionable solutions in Drawdown, reconnect with nature through Wilding, or reflect on how much human quality of life has improved with Factfulness by Hans Rosling.

Remember, feeling overwhelmed is natural, but there are so many reasons to be hopeful. It is hope, not climate grief or eco-anxiety, which will inspire you to contribute to a better world. So grab a cup of tea, settle in, and let these authors guide you toward hope in a changing world.

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