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CC

Climate change and sustainability

Environment and Energy

Books on climate science and policy, carbon markets, limits to growth and sustainable business.

51 books on Climate change and sustainability, 3 of them tier 1, recommended by 20 people including Bill Gates and Mohnish Pabrai.

51 books · 22 experts

Start here

  1. The Ecology of CommercePaul Hawken, 1993
  2. Cradle to CradleWilliam McDonough, Michael Braungart, 2002
  3. The Climate CasinoWilliam Nordhaus, 2013
  4. The Limits to GrowthDonella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jorgen Randers, 1972
  5. Cannibals with ForksJohn Elkington, 1997

The best books on Climate change and sustainability 51

The Ecology of CommerceThe Ecology of Commerce
T1 The Ecology of Commerce
Paul Hawken · 1993
The book that converted a generation of executives to the restorative-economy case.
Open Library
Cradle to CradleCradle to Cradle
T1 Cradle to Cradle
William McDonough, Michael Braungart · 2002
The circular-design argument against efficiency-only environmentalism.
Open Library
Recommended byJoe Gebbia
The Climate CasinoThe Climate Casino
T1 The Climate Casino
William Nordhaus · 2013
The Nobel case for pricing carbon and what a price should be.
Open Library
The Limits to GrowthThe Limits to Growth
T2 The Limits to Growth
Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jorgen Randers · 1972
Open Library
Cannibals with ForksCannibals with Forks
T2 Cannibals with Forks
John Elkington · 1997
Where the triple bottom line comes from.
Open Library
Markets for Clean AirMarkets for Clean Air
T2 Markets for Clean Air
A. Denny Ellerman, Paul L. Joskow, Richard Schmalensee, Juan-Pablo Montero, Elizabeth M. Bailey · 2000
The acid-rain programme: the one emissions market with a clean verdict.
Open Library
CollapseCollapse
T2 Collapse
Jared Diamond · 2005
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish PabraiBill GatesStewart Brand
How to Avoid a Climate DisasterHow to Avoid a Climate Disaster
T2 How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
Bill Gates · 2021
Green premiums as a way of ranking where capital is actually needed.
Open Library
“Gates wrote this after years of reading widely on climate and finding no single book that combined the emissions science, the economics of green premiums, and a sector-by-sector decarbonization roadmap. It appears on his GatesNotes recommended lists as the book he kept wishing existed before he decided to write it himself.”Bill Gates
Recommended byBill Gates
Speed and ScaleSpeed and Scale
T2 Speed and Scale
John Doerr · 2021
A venture capitalist's objectives-and-key-results framing of the same problem.
Open Library
Whole Earth DisciplineWhole Earth Discipline
T3 Whole Earth Discipline
Stewart Brand · 2009
Environmentalist case for nuclear power, dense cities and genetic engineering
Open Library
“on why even environmentalists should be pro building, pro cities, pro nuclear, and pro genetic engineering”Marc Andreessen
Recommended byMarc AndreessenJack DorseyPatrick CollisonStewart Brand
The Carbon CrunchThe Carbon Crunch
T3 The Carbon Crunch
Dieter Helm · 2012
Why European carbon policy delivered so little; a sceptic's audit.
Open Library
Green SwansGreen Swans
T3 Green Swans
John Elkington · 2020
The author's own recall of the triple bottom line.
Open Library
Net PositiveNet Positive
T3 Net Positive
Paul Polman, Andrew Winston · 2021
Insider account: Polman on the Sustainable Living Plan years.
Open Library
Clearing the Air
T3 Clearing the Air
Hannah Ritchie · 2025
Data-driven look at emissions and what actually reduces them
Open Library
Recommended byBill Gates
A World Without IceA World Without Ice
T3 A World Without Ice
Henry Pollack
Geologist Henry Pollack uses the paleo-climate record — ice cores, ancient shorelines, fossil pollen — to show that today's changes are fast by any geological standard. Gives the reader a baseline that is otherwise missing from contemporary climate debate.
unverified
The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking CiThe Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World
T3 The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World
Jeff Goodell
Goodell reports from Miami, Rotterdam, Lagos, and the Marshall Islands to show that sea-level rise is not a future threat but a present real-estate and insurance crisis. The best account of what 1–2 meters of rise means for specific places and specific people.
unverified
The Weather Machine: A Journey Inside the FoThe Weather Machine: A Journey Inside the Forecast
T3 The Weather Machine: A Journey Inside the Forecast
Andrew Blum
Blum's book is ostensibly about how weather forecasts are made, but it ends up being a precise account of how the global atmosphere is monitored — and how fragile that monitoring infrastructure actually is. Essential background for understanding what climate scientists are actually measuring.
unverified
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate
T3 This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate
Naomi Klein
Klein's central claim is that climate change is not a problem within capitalism but a problem of capitalism — that the logic of extraction and the logic of a stable climate are incompatible. Whether or not you accept the full argument, the diagnosis of why international negotiations keep failing is lucid and extensively documented.
unverified
There Is No Planet BThere Is No Planet B
T4 There Is No Planet B
Mike Berners-Lee · 1900
Open Library
Recommended byJan Losert
The Population BombThe Population Bomb
T4 The Population Bomb
Paul R. Ehrlich · 1968
Open Library
Recommended byPaul Graham
The Limits to GrowthThe Limits to Growth
T4 The Limits to Growth
Donella H. Meadows et al. · 1979
Open Library
Recommended byBill Gates
Living Within LimitsLiving Within Limits
T4 Living Within Limits
Garrett Hardin · 1993
By the author of the commons essay; population and carrying capacity
Open Library
Recommended byCharlie MungerMohnish PabraiShane Parrish
Global WarmingGlobal Warming
T4 Global Warming
John Theodore Houghton · 1994
Open Library
Recommended byBill Gates
Natural CapitalismNatural Capitalism
T4 Natural Capitalism
Paul Hawken · 1999
Resource productivity framed as an unpriced balance-sheet asset.
Open Library
Recommended byJoe Gebbia
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of aLet My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
T4 Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
Yvon Chouinard · 2005
Patagonia's founder on running a business against conventional growth logic
Open Library
Recommended byNat EliasonPatrick CollisonDavid CancelJackie VullinghsJordan HughesPatrick O'Shaughnessy
The Long SummerThe Long Summer
T4 The Long Summer
Brian Fagan · 2005
Open Library
Recommended byStewart Brand
The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth
T4 The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth
Tim Flannery · 2005
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish PabraiRichard Branson
An Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient Truth
T4 An Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore · 2006
Open Library
Recommended byRichard Branson
Field Notes from a CatastropheField Notes from a Catastrophe
T4 Field Notes from a Catastrophe
Elizabeth Kolbert · 2006
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish Pabrai
The Meaning of the 21st CenturyThe Meaning of the 21st Century
T4 The Meaning of the 21st Century
James Martin · 2006
Open Library
Recommended byRichard Branson
The Revenge of GaiaThe Revenge of Gaia
T4 The Revenge of Gaia
James Lovelock · 2006
Open Library
Recommended byStewart Brand
Global Catastrophes and TrendsGlobal Catastrophes and Trends
T4 Global Catastrophes and Trends
Vaclav Smil · 2008
Open Library
Recommended byBill Gates
Hot, Flat, and CrowdedHot, Flat, and Crowded
T4 Hot, Flat, and Crowded
Thomas L. Friedman · 2008
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish PabraiBill GatesMeg Whitman
Carbon MarketsCarbon Markets
T4 Carbon Markets
Arnaud Brohé, Nicholas Eyre, Nicholas Howarth · 2009
International business guide to allowances, offsets and registries.
Open Library
Voluntary Carbon MarketsVoluntary Carbon Markets
T4 Voluntary Carbon Markets
Ricardo Bayon, Amanda Hawn, Katherine Hamilton · 2009
The offset side: how voluntary credits are created and sold.
Open Library
A Vast MachineA Vast Machine
T4 A Vast Machine
Paul N. Edwards · 2010
Open Library
Recommended byPatrick Collison
Beyond Smoke & Mirrors: Climate Change & EneBeyond Smoke & Mirrors: Climate Change & Energy in the 21st Century
T4 Beyond Smoke & Mirrors: Climate Change & Energy in the 21st Century
Burton Richter · 2010
Open Library
Recommended byMohnish Pabrai
The Coming Population CrashThe Coming Population Crash
T4 The Coming Population Crash
Fred Pearce · 2010
Open Library
Recommended byStewart Brand
Carbon CoalitionsCarbon Coalitions
T4 Carbon Coalitions
Jonas Meckling · 2011
How business lobbies built emissions trading as the chosen instrument.
Open Library
World on the EdgeWorld on the Edge
T4 World on the Edge
Lester R. Brown · 2011
Open Library
Recommended byBill Gates
The BetThe Bet
T4 The Bet
Paul Sabin · 2013
Open Library
Recommended byBill Gates
The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas onThe Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet
T4 The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet
Ramez Naam · 2013
Open Library
Recommended byPatrick Collison
Big World, Small PlanetBig World, Small Planet
T4 Big World, Small Planet
Johan Rockstrom · 2015
Open Library
Recommended byRichard Branson
The Planet RemadeThe Planet Remade
T4 The Planet Remade
Oliver Morton · 2015
Open Library
Recommended byPatrick Collison
Doughnut EconomicsDoughnut Economics
T4 Doughnut Economics
Kate Raworth · 2017
Open Library
Recommended byJackie Vullinghs
More from LessMore from Less
T4 More from Less
Andrew McAfee · 2019
Evidence that economic growth has decoupled from resource consumption
Open Library
“on how modern technological economies can build more outputs with less inputs”Marc Andreessen
Recommended byMarc Andreessen
We Are the WeatherWe Are the Weather
T4 We Are the Weather
Jonathan Safran Foer · 2019
Open Library
Recommended byJordan Hughes
Fire WeatherFire Weather
T4 Fire Weather
John Vaillant · 2023
Open Library
Recommended byAndrew Wilkinson
Not the End of the WorldNot the End of the World
T4 Not the End of the World
Hannah Ritchie
unverified
Recommended byBill Gates
The Ultimate ResourceThe Ultimate Resource
T4 The Ultimate Resource
Julian L. Simon
unverified
Recommended byKevin Kelly
Under a White SkyUnder a White Sky
T4 Under a White Sky
Elizabeth Kolbert
unverified
Recommended byBill Gates

Experts 22

The people who wrote this page's books, and the people who recommend them.

Authors 4

Vaclav Smilwrote 1 book hereJohn Doerrwrote 1 book hereBill Gateswrote 1 book hereStewart Brandwrote 1 book here

Recommenders 20

Bill Gatesrecommends 11 books here
MP
Mohnish Pabrairecommends 6 books herePatrick Collisonrecommends 5 books hereStewart Brandrecommends 5 books hereRichard Bransonrecommends 4 books hereMarc Andreessenrecommends 2 books here
JV
Jackie Vullinghsrecommends 2 books hereJoe Gebbiarecommends 2 books here
JH
Jordan Hughesrecommends 2 books hereCharlie Mungerrecommends 1 book herePaul Grahamrecommends 1 book here
KK
Kevin Kellyrecommends 1 book here
Show all 20
SP
Shane Parrishrecommends 1 book here
AW
Andrew Wilkinsonrecommends 1 book here
DC
David Cancelrecommends 1 book hereJack Dorseyrecommends 1 book here
JL
Jan Losertrecommends 1 book hereMeg Whitmanrecommends 1 book here
NE
Nat Eliasonrecommends 1 book here
PO
Patrick O'Shaughnessyrecommends 1 book here
See all 22 in the Experts tab →

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