The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist's Guide to the Climate Crisis

A cautionary but optimistic book about the world’s changing climate and the fate of humanity, from two of the architects of the 2015 Paris Agreement. • "One of the most inspiring books I've ever read." —Yuval Harari

Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac outline two possible scenarios for our planet. In one, they describe what life on Earth will be like by 2050 if we fail to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate targets. In the other, they lay out what it will be like to live in a regenerative world that has net-zero emissions. They argue for confronting the climate crisis head-on, with determination and optimism. The Future We Choose presents our options and tells us what governments, corporations, and each of us can, and must, do to fend off disaster.

CHRISTIANA FIGUERES and TOM RIVETT-CARNAC are cohosts of the leading climate change podcast, Outrage + Optimism, and are cofounders of Global Optimism, an organization dedicated to changing narratives and beliefs and inspiring governments, companies, and citizens to protect what they love from the damages of the climate crisis. Figueres is the former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, where Rivett-Carnac served as her political strategist. They are known for a unique form of collaborative diplomacy, which led to the unanimous signing of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change by 195 countries.