Resources to learn about Effective Environmentalism

Resources to learn more about effective environmentalism

We highlight some great books, websites, podcasts, and videos about effective altruism and using evidence-based approaches for tackling environmental challenges.

Not the End of the World

Hannah Ritchie

In this radically hopeful book, data scientist Hannah Ritchie zooms out from the doomsday headlines, and a more hopeful picture emerges. We have made some incredible progress on environmental problems, and are well in reach of building a sustainable society. Not the End of the World gives readers the tools to understand the planetary crises by outlining what works, what doesn't, and what we urgently need to focus on to leave a sustainable planet for future generations.

Doing Good Better

William MacAskill

Most of us want to make a difference. We donate to charity, buy Fairtrade coffee, or try to reduce our carbon footprint. Rarely to we know if we're really helping. Confronting this problem, MacAskill shows how, using data and evidence, it is possible to do an astonishing amount of good. By examining the charities we give to and the careers we pursue, you can create a radically better world. Many of the ideas of Doing Good Better are also applicable to climate change and the environment.

80,000 Hours

Benjamin Todd et al.

How do you find a fulfilling career that tackles the world's most pressing problems? You have about 80,000 Hours in your career. This means that you choice of career is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make. Make the right choices, and you can help solve some of the world's most pressing problems. 80,000 Hours covers topics like comparing global problems, understanding and developing your strengths, and finding a fulfilling career. Also available for free on the 80,000 Hours website.

The High-Impact Professional's Playbook

Devon Fritz

The High-Impact Professional's Playbook shows you how to turn your career, charitable donations, and network into measurable good. Drawing on over a decade of work with hundreds of professionals, Devon Fritz distills what drives results into practical frameworks for aligning your skills and resources to help with the world's most pressing problems. You'll learn to design a personal impact plan, choose high-leverage causes, and take meaningful action.

Drawdown

Paul Hawken (ed.)

Drawdown has become a seminal text on climate solutions. A coalition of researchers, scientists, and policymakers has come together to offer a set of realistic and bold solutions to climate change. Some of these are well-known - others you'll have never heard about. From revolutionising how we produce food to educating girls in lower-income countries, we can slow the Earth's warming reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases. Also available for free as a website.

Other resources

Articles

80,000 Hours: Climate change problem profile
The 80,000 Hours problem profile discusses how climate change affects the long-term future, reasons (not) to work on climate change in your career, and the best ways of working to solve climate change. 80,000 Hours recommends people to work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, carbon removal, and researching extreme risks.
Founders Pledge: Climate Change Cause Area Report
Founders Pledge covers the causes, costs, and possible interventions for climate change and uses a transparent methodology for finding the most cost-effective interventions.
Clean Air Task Force: Four lessons from effective altruism that we can apply to climate change
A short article about why it is important to spread risk, think about additionally, consider future emissions, and advocate for policy change.

Websites and data

Our World in Data
Our World in Data provides reliable and comprehensive interactive charts and datasets about large global problems, including ones related to climate change, air pollution, the ozone layer, energy, biodiversity, and agriculture, often on a per-country basis.
Drawdown Climate Solutions Library
Accompanying the recommended book with the same name, the Project Drawdown website reviews climate change solutions that are available, scalable, financially viable, net-positive and quantifiable. Solutions can be filtered by sectors and ordered by mitigation potential.

Podcasts

The 80,000 Hours, Vox Future Perfect, and Future of Life Institute podcasts have recorded several episodes on tackling climate change and environmental degradation cost-effectively.

Effective Environmentalism Spotify playlist
A Spotify playlist with a compilation of podcast episodes related to effective environmentalism or promising solutions.
The Future of Life Institute's Not Cool series
Not Cool features climate scientists and experts about the causes and impacts of climate change and what is necessary to effectively mitigate and adapt. The 27 episodes includes themes such as dealing with uncertainty, policy, conflict, extreme weather, health, nature-based solutions, finance, equity, machine learning, and geoengineering. (web | Spotify)

Some notable episodes to start with:

Data and environment: Hannah Ritchie on why it makes sense to be optimistic about the environment
80,000 Hours (web | Apple | YouTube | Spotify)
Climate change: Johannes Ackva on unfashionable climate interventions that work, and fashionable ones that don't
80,000 Hours (web | Apple | YouTube | Spotify)
Air pollution: Santosh Harish on how air pollution is responsible for ~12% of global deaths — and how to get that number down
80,000 Hours (web | Apple | YouTube | Spotify)

Videos

Effective Environmentalism webinars
You can re-watch or listen to previous webinars facilitated by Effective Environmentalism on our YouTube Channel. These webinars covers topics such as expected climate change impact, repowering coal power plants, finding effective charities, carbon removal, and decarbonisation.
Conference talks recordings
You can find environment-related talks at Effective Altruism Global (EAG) and EAGx conferences on YouTube.