Atmosphere of Hope: Solutions to the Climate Crisis by Tim Flannery; The Planet Remade by Oliver Morton review

In the run-up to the Paris climate talks, two books argue for drastic action to be taken to avoid a global calamity

In a few weeks, world leaders will gather in Paris in an attempt to reach a deal that will have critical implications for our species. At the COP21 climate talks, they will try to find a formula for reducing the world’s carbon emissions and give humanity an evens chance of holding global warming to a 2C rise above pre-industrial levels.

Past efforts to negotiate such deals have been riddled with frustration and failures, in particular the 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, which ended in disarray. However, there is a sense of guarded optimism in the air these days. Australian and Canadian premiers Tony Abbott and Stephen Harper – who led two of the planet’s worst fossil-fuel burning administrations – have recently been replaced by leaders who seem to understand our current plight. President Obama has begun to show some enthusiasm for the cause of climate-change action, while China and India, scheduled to become vast carbon emitters in coming decades, have made some promising pledges.

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