Reviews Post

“Terrific! I can’t remember the last time I read a book that was more fascinating and useful and enjoyable all at the same time.”

Bill Bryson

“Mike Berners-Lee knows more about carbon footprints than anyone else in the UK. His book is a triumph – enjoyable, fun to read and scientifically robust.”

Chris Goodall, author of What we need to do now and How to live a low-carbon life

“If we’re serious about really addressing climate change, we need to become energy and carbon literate, and get to grips with the implications not only of our choices but also the bigger infrastructures which underpin the things we consume. How can we educate our desires unless we know what we’re choosing between? Mike Berners-Lee, to my complete delight, has provided just the wonderful foundation we need – a book that somehow made me laugh while telling me deeply serious things”

Peter Lipman, Director of SUSTRANS

“An engaging book that manages to present serious science without preaching. It offers tools that any reader will be able to use and make informed choices, and even seasoned eco-enthusiasts will be in for plenty of surprises.”

New Scientist

“This book is amazing. I was either going “wow” or snorting with laughter.”

Rachel Nunn, Director, Carbon Neutral Stirling

The Author Post

Mike Berners-Lee consults, thinks, writes and researches on sustainability and responses to 21st century challenges.

Mike is the founder of Small World Consulting, an associate company of Lancaster University, which works with organisations from tech giants to supermarkets. Small World is a leader in the field of carbon metrics and their use.

He is a professor at Lancaster University’s Lancaster Environment Centre, where his research includes sustainable food systems and carbon metrics. He co-ordinates the Global Futures event series which are freely open to all and explore big global challenges in multidisciplinary ways.

He has made numerous speaking, radio and TV appearances to promote public awareness of sustainability and climate change issues, including on David Attenborough’s Climate Change: the Facts. He is the author of There Is No Planet B, and co-author (with Duncan Clark) of The Burning Question.

Other Books Post

There Is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break Years

Feeding the world, climate change, biodiversity, antibiotics, plastics – the list of concerns seems endless. But what is most pressing, what are the knock-on effects of our actions, and what should we do first? Do we all need to become vegetarian? How can we fly in a low-carbon world? Should we frack? How can we take control of technology? Does it all come down to population? And, given the global nature of the challenges we now face, what on Earth can any of us do?

Fortunately, Mike Berners-Lee has crunched the numbers and plotted a course of action that is practical and even enjoyable.

There is No Planet B maps it out in an accessible and entertaining way, filled with astonishing facts and analysis. For the first time you’ll find big-picture perspective on the environmental and economic challenges of the day laid out in one place, and traced through to the underlying roots – questions of how we live and think. This book will shock you, surprise you – and then make you laugh.

And you’ll find practical and even inspiring ideas for what you can actually do to help humanity thrive on this – our only – planet.

https://theresnoplanetb.net/

The Burning Question (co-author Duncan Clark)

The Burning Question reveals climate change to be the most fascinating scientific, political and social puzzle in history. It shows that carbon emissions are still accelerating upwards, following an exponential curve that goes back centuries. One reason is that saving energy is like squeezing a balloon: reductions in one place lead to increases elsewhere. Another reason is that clean energy sources don’t in themselves slow the rate of fossil fuel extraction.

Tackling global warming will mean persuading the world to abandon oil, coal and gas reserves worth many trillions of dollars – at least until we have the means to put carbon back in the ground. The burning question is whether that can be done. What mix of politics, psychology, economics and technology might be required? Are the energy companies massively overvalued, and how will carbon-cuts affect the global economy? Will we wake up to the threat in time? And who can do what to make it all happen?