On August 9, 2021, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), led by the United Nations, released its report on the climate crisis. The report was grim and abundantly clear—climate change is here, it’s a crisis, and it’s caused by fossil fuels. We can still act, but we are running out of time. Called a “code red for humanity” the report calls for immediate action. Bold action from all levels of government and leaders from every region of the world.

The first step to becoming a climate activist (and ANYONE can be one) is to understand how the climate crisis impacts us all right now. Once you know more, you can better understand how you can help, and no, I’m not talking about switching light bulbs and using reusable shopping bags. Those individual actions are incredibly important too—to help us feel like we’re contributing in some small way every day. It truly adds up.

However, at this point in the crisis, we need real systemic change. That means using your voice and talents to challenge the status quo and systems of oppression right in your own communities and regions. Demand action from your governments. Most importantly, when it comes to the movement, know you are not alone and real change will come when working together. Check out local organizations that are doing the work near you and get involved.

Women, particularly BIPOC women, have been doing this work for decades; but are often silenced. The future of climate activism is intersectional. That’s why we have rounded up a list of books that are written by leading women climate activists and brilliant minds who are navigating climate change through dismantling systems of oppression and fighting for social justice and the planet. Plus, additional titles that we appreciate for making the message more accessible and cross-disciplinary.

Which books are you reading about the climate crisis to help you better understand the current moment? We would love to hear your recommendations.

All We Can Save - Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson

There is a renaissance blooming in the climate movement: leadership that is more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. While it’s clear that women and girls are vital voices and agents of change for this planet, they are too often missing from the proverbial table. More than a problem of bias, it’s a dynamic that sets us up for failure. To change everything, we need everyone.

All We Can Save illuminates the expertise and insights of dozens of diverse women leading on climate in the United States—scientists, journalists, farmers, lawyers, teachers, activists, innovators, wonks, and designers, across generations, geographies, and race—and aims to advance a more representative, nuanced, and solution-oriented public conversation on the climate crisis. These women offer a spectrum of ideas and insights for how we can rapidly, radically reshape society.

The Intersectional Environmentalist - Leah Thomas

The Intersectional Environmentalist is an introduction to the intersection between environmentalism, racism, and privilege, and an acknowledgment of the fundamental truth that we cannot save the planet without uplifting the voices of its people -- especially those most often unheard. Written by Leah Thomas, a prominent voice in the field and the activist who coined the term "Intersectional Environmentalism," this book is simultaneously a call to action, a guide to instigating change for all, and a pledge to work towards the empowerment of all people and the betterment of the planet.

Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer

Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings—asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass—offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. Only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

On Fire - Naomi Klein

For more than a decade, Naomi Klein has tracked the evolution of the environmental crisis and the staggeringly high stakes of what we choose to do next. In this era of rising seas and rising discord, Klein makes the case for the Green New Deal as a practical framework that offers us a politically viable, just, sustainable path forward for tackling climate collapse and growing economic inequality at once.

In a collection that pairs key past essays with bold new pieces, she captures the urgency of the moment and the energy of movements mobilizing to turn humanity's greatest disaster into our greatest opportunity. On Fire is a hopeful, inspiring call to action for a planet on the brink.

Invisible Women - Caroline Criado Perez

Data is fundamental to the modern world. From economic development to healthcare, to education and public policy, we rely on numbers to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay tremendous costs for this bias, in time, money, and often with their lives.

Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates the shocking root cause of gender inequality and research in Invisible Women?, diving into women’s lives at home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor’s office, and more. Built on hundreds of studies in the US, the UK, and around the world, and written with energy, wit, and sparkling intelligence, this is a groundbreaking, unforgettable exposé that will change the way you look at the world.

Doughnut Economics - Kate Raworth

Economics is the mother tongue of public policy. It dominates our decision-making for the future, guides multi-billion-dollar investments, and shapes our responses to climate change, inequality, and other environmental and social challenges that define our times.

Pity then, or more like disaster, that its fundamental ideas are centuries out of date yet are still taught in college courses worldwide and still used to address critical issues in government and business alike.

That’s why it is time, says renegade economist Kate Raworth, to revise our economic thinking for the 21st century. In Doughnut Economics, she sets out seven key ways to fundamentally reframe our understanding of what economics is and does. Along the way, she points out how we can break our addiction to growth; redesign money, finance, and business to be in service to people; and create economies that are regenerative and distributive by design.

The Futures we Choose - Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

In 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—who led negotiations for the United Nations during the historic Paris Agreement of 2015—have written a cautionary but optimistic book about the world’s changing climate and the fate of humanity.

The authors 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.

Drawdown - Paul Hawken

In the face of widespread fear and apathy, an international coalition of researchers, professionals, and scientists have come together to offer a set of realistic and bold solutions to climate change. One hundred techniques and practices are described here—some are well known; some you may have never heard of. They range from clean energy to educating girls in lower-income countries to land use practices that pull carbon out of the air. The solutions exist, are economically viable, and communities throughout the world are currently enacting them with skill and determination. If deployed collectively on a global scale over the next thirty years, they represent a credible path forward, not just to slow the earth’s warming but to reach drawdown, that point in time when greenhouse gases in the atmosphere peak and begin to decline. These measures promise cascading benefits to human health, security, prosperity, and well-being—giving us every reason to see this planetary crisis as an opportunity to create a just and livable world.

8 Books About The Climate Crisis You Can Read Right Now