Sustainability read of the month: ‘Hope in hell’ makes justice to its title

Those who don’t believe in the hellish changes our climate is undergoing are not looking closely enough.

Or rather, maybe they have looked too close for too long, and become desensitised to chaos.

This is the message of this month’s sustainability read by Jonathon Porritt, a British environmentalist, writer and co-founder of Forum for the Future.

His background is wide-ranging – from being an early campaigner on sustainable development, as well as director of Friends of the Earth and trustee of World Wildlife Fund UK.

For our latest sustainability read of the month, I chose Hope in Hell as a balm after the shock The Uninhabitable Earth left me with.

In the book, Porritt confronts the climate change dilemma head on, believing we have time to do what needs to be done, but only if we move now and move together.

Hope in Hell makes justice to its title, starting by breaking the good news: reasons to be cheerful.

From new technology and the power of innovation to the mobilisation of young people – and a sense of intergenerational solidarity, Porritt makes the case for the power of hope, writing “there’s a strong body of work that demonstrates that people who feel optimistic about the future are more likely to take action and help improve it.”

Inspired by the millions of young people who took to the streets in 2019 to campaign for our #climate, author @jonathonporritt set about writing his new book, #HopeInHell. Here he acknowledges the efforts of young activists and the critical work they do.https://t.co/msDvzdQnTA pic.twitter.com/PZbVfL04e7

— HopeinHell2020 (@HopeinHell2020) August 19, 2020

He cautiously explores the power of technology, and the tools it equips us with to confront the climate emergency.

About a less discussed topic within the mainstream climate coverage, including geoengineering, he writes: “The deliberate large-scale manipulation of an environmental process that affects the Earth’s climate in an attempt to counteract the effects of global warming.”

With this, the author designs a comprehensive list of the methods and tools that have been developed within the geoengineering realm, with promising results. However, he also warns about the ones that have greater side effects than actual benefits to the environment.

The biggest takeaway from Hope in Hell surpasses how its information, but rather how it’s delivered, which is in a comprehensive and accessible way.

To me, the book is a call to arms, to civil rebellion.

Hope is only built by the actions we take, it’s not only a spiritual resource in the face of existential hardship but the cumulative effect of the timely and collective initiative.

“Who knows what lies beyond this decade? But if we haven’t dramatically changed our ways by then, genuine hope will have become the scarcest resource on Earth”, the writer warns unflinchingly.

Porritt extends hope through his work, but it’s on us make use of it.

This piece of independent journalism is supported by NatWest and the Bristol24/7 public and business membership

Main photo: Valentina Hernández Gómez 

Read next:

• ‘We strongly believe in using the power of art as a force for good’ 
• £95,000 awarded to Bristol organisations for taking climate and nature action
• Using poetry and art to confront the climate crisis 
• Could ‘living roofs’ on bus stops boost Bristol’s biodiversity?

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