Book Review: Drawdown

This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.

Buy it here: Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken

Some days I despair. Our individual actions - recycling, reusable coffee cups, saying no to straws - aren’t going to go anywhere near solving the climate crisis. We need systemic overhauls. We need a shift in priorities. We need to think about the long game. 

But how to articulate solutions that will actually make an impact without getting caught into the weeds of changing hearts, minds and economic structures? Well, if you’re Paul Hawken you draw together some fellows and write a book. You detail the individual solutions and their impacts if adopted in a realistic fashion. No, we’re not going to replace all coal with wind farms. But, a combination of PV solar, wind, perhaps a bit of wave or nuclear (depending on if you’re feeling optimistic or pessimistic) ramped up at likely levels will result in changes.

It’s a dense book to get through. One minute it’s discussing refrigerants, the next silvopasture, the next wooden skyscrapers. It can give you a bit of whiplash as each solution is explained, reasoned and reflected on. But it also gives me hope. There are so many good things going on out there. There are farmers feeding their cows seaweed, architects redesigning homes and organisations educating the poorest girls across the world. 

We can’t be complacent. We can’t say no to a plastic straw and feel like we’ve done our bit. But we also don’t have to feel like no matter what we do it’s not going to be enough. Momentum is building in pockets that we can’t see. We need to all keep moving forward, encouraging the right business practice, voting for the right leaders and doing our bit. 

And maybe we can maintain our planets beautiful, human-friendly, equilibrium.

If you’re feeling a bit of despair and hopelessness, this book will help. It discusses actual solutions that are happening now. It also helps you compare the actions you’re taking and helps show where you could step up a bit more to have a real impact.