Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie — A Book Review

Check out the book from the author’s website: Hannah Ritchie.com (screen clipping from author’s website)

Hannah Ritchie’s brand new book Not the End of the World. How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet provides a positive outlook on building a sustainable planet. Its key promise: “Our problems are big. But they are solvable” (Ritchie, 2024: back cover).

Why you should read this book

Three aspects make this book special and a refreshing read:

• The book applies a data-driven approach showing apocalyptic doomsday thinking is unnecessary and “damaging” (Ritchie, 2024:6).
• It debunks popular but erroneous myths and two ecological ideas that “won’t fix our problems”, namely Depopulation and Degrowth (Ritchie, 24: 31ff), based on her consideration of available quantitative data.
• It provides clear recommendations on actions to take and actions not to bet on key aspects of sustainable development: air pollution, climate change, deforestation, food, biodiversity loss, ocean plastics and overfishing.
• It helps sustainability professionals and policy makers to maintain a clear focus on strategic choices that can bring a sustainable planet within reach.

About the author