The Future We Choose - Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

We met on Zoom to discuss The Future We Chose by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac. The authors both played key roles in the process which led to the Paris Agreement in 2015.

Overall it was felt this was an optimistic book, balanced with a good amount of realism. It provides many suggestions for what can, and indeed should, be done; many suggestions are practical in nature but some more spiritual and linked to maintaining good mental health whilst contemplating such difficult matters. The book makes the point that lobbying politicians is critical and needs to be done alongside any actions we take as individuals. We need to think of ourselves more as ‘citizens’ than as ‘consumers’.

Thinking about this book whilst in this pandemic has brought into focus how we have learned to truly value many members of our society, our ‘key workers’, many of whom are not well rewarded for their efforts. The best of ‘citizens’ are not necessarily those who we might have seen as the most successful, based on their pay packet!

The following extract particularly resonated with the group. ‘When you are faced with the hard realities, look at them with clarity, but also know that you are incredibly lucky to be alive at a time when you can make a transformative difference to the future of all life on Earth. You are not powerless. In fact, your every action is suffused with meaning, and you are part of the greatest chapter of human achievement in history.’