Climate change: Fear and hope

Book review of Hope in Hell: A Decade to Confront the Climate Emergency

The problem with books by environmentalists is that they tend to be very bleak. But this one, fortunately, devotes substantial space to the solutions. Jonathon Porritt is a well-known environmentalist, author, and thought-leader. His facts are put together to strike fear and energise action. With apologies to the author, let me try and summarise his arguments in a paragraph.

Human activity has been causing a massive increase in greenhouse gases (primarily CO2) for a while now and the earth’s average temperatures have been rising. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere today was last observed somewhere between 3 to 5 million years ago when both the average temperature levels were 2-3 degrees centigrade higher. We are nowhere near that temperature now but we’re getting there. All hell will break loose with a 2 degrees centigrade rise and at three degrees it’s “game over”. But there are opportunities in the form of new technologies, accelerating innovation, youth who are far more concerned about their planet, and many among the older generation who would like to leave a better legacy. And, therefore, there is an opportunity to save the planet if we act now, or else the lives of our children and grandchildren will be hellish.

Most readers will be aware of all this.  So what sets this volume apart? First, the facts the author has used. This reviewer has been following environment-related research for some time, and there is always the risk of quoting from some fairly poorly done studies. Not so this one. The second is a sense of urgency. The book focuses less on criticising inaction and more on motivating action and it uses urgency as its primary tool. The third is the emphasis on solutions.

I must confess, however, the urgency part of it did get me a bit bored and might put off the otherwise interested reader. I found that the volume gathers momentum from the third chapter onwards, and therefore if you have already read up a lot on the emergency that awaits us, you may skip the first couple of chapters. The third chapter crisply lays out what we can expect and also has a part devoted to explaining the jargon used in environmental science for the layperson.  

The fourth chapter focuses on the technologies, renewable energy and electric vehicles as also the criticality of improving energy efficiency. The fifth chapter works with the possibilities ahead and discusses the improved awareness and “awakenings” across a wide section of society ranging from schoolchildren to industry to investors.  This ends the first part of the book that identifies the problem and then shows that there is hope.  

Chapter six looks deceptive, it started with how we need to know the truth, and then threw in a fact that got to me; India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and some parts of China are expected to have the highest rise in temperatures. Dr Porritt does not say so, but studies coming out of India estimated the rise could be as much as four degrees centigrade). Chapter seven describes how the snow is melting and oceans rising — by an expected one meter by 2100. I believe this is an under-estimate as estimates have not built in permafrost and Himalayan glaciers melting adequately.  

Hope in Hell: A Decade to Confront the Climate Emergency 

Author: Jonathan Porritt

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Pages: 315

Price: Rs 551

Chapter eight discusses the feedback loop — how warming will create its own warming, and melting snow will melt more snow and so on.  Few people appreciate this problem. What it means is that the pace of climate change will keep on increasing as we go forward.  And there is a fear of a tipping point when things will move so rapidly that humanity will not be able to undo anything, even if it stops all carbon release and captures all that it had released historically. If all this has got you scared, chapter nine takes the reader to where there is hope. It makes the point that we are out of time but there is that chance that we can at least partially correct this mess.

The third part of the book focuses on where the opportunities lie. Chapter 10 once again focuses on building a narrative of hope that Dr Porritt does quite well.  Chapter 11 on addressing the hard problems, chapter 12 on the great potential of geoengineering, chapter 13 on how meat-eating needs to be addressed, and chapter 14 on China’s role. I was expecting but did not find another chapter on how India and the subcontinent will be the greatest potential contributor to climate change as it becomes the world’s most populated area.

The word limit fails me so I can only describe the fourth (three chapters) and fifth (four chapters) sections briefly.  They focus on political-economic issues and, in keeping with the general tenor, a discussion of the challenges ahead is followed by a direction on the way forward.

The volume is easy to read and takes a wide, almost all-encompassing look at the climate change challenges and opportunities ahead. It is a very good read that provokes thought, and hopefully even action, for all those who are vaguely aware of the problem and would like a wider and deeper perspective. 

The reviewer is director, Indicus Foundation and senior fellow Centre for Social and Economic Progress