8 Important Books about Climate Activists

Indigenous people have been on the frontlines of climate activism for many years, but their work has frequently been overlooked by both mainstream media and much of the climate movement itself. In As Long as Grass Grows, Dina Gilio-Whitaker looks at the work of many Indigenous climate activists and movements throughout history, celebrating their legacies of resistance and outlining ways that other climate activists can learn from their work by following the lessons of indigenized environmental justice—a crucial approach for building a truly just climate movement.

Greta Thunberg is one of the most famous activists currently working for climate justice. Thunberg began by carrying out a school strike, but has taken many other actions since then: sailing across the ocean; calling out politicians, corporations, and certain toxic influencers online; participating in protests and actions; and making many thought-provoking speeches. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference collects several of Thunberg’s speeches in one volume. If you want to be inspired or charge up your own climate activism, No One is Too Small to Make a Difference is a great read.

In A Bigger Picture, Vanessa Nakate draws on her personal experiences to call out the problems within the climate justice movement, as well as the impact of climate change on the world. In 2020, Nakate was cropped out of a press photo in a story on climate activism, while the four white activists she was standing with remained in the picture. As she points out in A Bigger Picture, the bigoted framing of this photo encapsulates a major problem with the climate movement, namely that it centres white European activists while ignoring Black African activists (and other activists of colour) who are directly affected by the impact of climate change. In her book, Nakate discusses her fight not only to counter climate change, but to challenge the racism and other bigotries that impact the climate justice movement.

In this fascinating memoir, Nemonte Nenquimo talks about her lifetime of climate activism in her homeland of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest. Nenquimo has been working for climate justice for over twenty years, centring her connection with her ancestors and her people in her work. She uses this connection and the lessons she has learned as part of her cultural heritage to create alliances with other Indigenous nations, take on oil and logging companies, and protect the rainforest. Writing with her husband, also a climate activist, Nenquimo’s memoir is crucial for anyone interested in learning more about frontline figures in the fight for our world.

Your Wild and Precious Life is both memoir and memorial, written by author and mother Liz Jensen about her son, Raphaël, a climate activist who died suddenly of heart failure at the age of just twenty-five. In this book, Jensen celebrates her son’s short but impactful life, explores her own grief at his death, and takes a frank look at the horrors of climate change and the work that her son and other activists like him have done as part of the fight to save the environment.

Fighting for climate justice, or for other justice movements, can often be overwhelming. Protecting your mental health can be a significant challenge for activists, particularly when the news and social media present us with bad news on a constant loop. In It’s Not Just You, Tori Tsui draws on her own experiences to discuss “eco-anxiety”, looking at how climate injustice is negatively impacting everyone’s mental health, while also emphasising that people facing the terrifying, immediate effects of climate change—people from the Global South—are experiencing the most harm. Discussing her work in the fight for climate justice, Tsui explores the intersections between climate injustice, racism, sexism, ableism, and other forms of prejudice, and looks at how we can build a better future.

Mikaela Loach’s second book makes the world of climate justice more accessible to younger readers, bringing a message of hope to kids and teens who may feel that they can’t do anything to stop the climate crisis. Loach writes about her own experiences as an activist, telling the stories of actions she has taken, from participating in protests to taking the UK government to court; she also brings in the stories of other climate activists, showing young readers the work done by others and inspiring them to take action themselves.

Wangarĩ Maathai was a lifelong activist: as a child, she fought to access education, and as an adult, she became a formidable force for political and environmental good. Matthai was best known for creating the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, which centred on conservation and women’s rights, including paying women to plant trees to restore forests. In her autobiography, Maathai’s voice can still be heard, and readers can learn how her drive and tenacity led to her becoming a key figure in the fight for climate and social justice.