World Environment Day

World Environment Day (5 June) is the biggest international day for the environment. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme, and held annually since 1973, it has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach. This year's theme focuses on land restoration, desertification and drought resilience, a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world.

Here is a list of environmental books written with passion, eloquence and strong grounding in science, reminding us of our connection to nature and of our responsibility to save and protect it.

Updated May 24, 2024
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The book of vanishing species : illustrated lives
Forshall, Beatrice
Paper Book
__________________Our Earth is more beautiful and more diverse than we can possibly conceive of. The Book of Vanishing Species is a stunning homage to the planet's most mysterious, bizarre and wondrous creatures and plants. Their stories are captivating,...
The book of hope : a survival guide for trying times
Goodall, Jane
Paper Book
**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** In a world that seems so troubled, how do we hold on to hope? Looking at the headlines--the worsening climate crisis, a global pandemic, loss of biodiversity, political upheaval--it can be hard to feel...
A life on our planet : my witness statement and a vision for the future
Attenborough, David
Paper Book
In this scientifically informed account of the changes in nature over the last century, award-winning broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough shares a lifetime of wisdom and a hopeful vision for the future.   *Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Best...
Unearthed : How to Feed Everyone Without Devouring the Planet
Monbiot, George.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2022 Orwell Prize for Journalism | A Sunday Times (London) Bestseller | Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Writing on Conservation "George Monbiot is one of the most fearless and important voices in the global climate movement today." --Greta Thunberg...
This is not a drill : an Extinction Rebellion handbook
Farrell, Clare
Paper Book
Extinction Rebellion are inspiring a whole generation to take action on climate breakdown. Now you can become part of the movement - and together, we can make history. It's time. This is our last chance to do anything about the global climate and ecological emergency. Our last...
39 ways to save the planet
Heap, Tom
Paper Book
We got ourselves into this. Here's how we can get ourselves out. We know the problem- the amount of biodiversity loss, the scale of waste and pollution, the amount of greenhouse gas we pump into the air... it's unsustainable. We have to do something. And we are...
Not the end of the world : how we can be the first generation to build a sustainable planet
Ritchie, Hannah
Paper Book
This "eye-opening and essential" book (Bill Gates) will transform how you see our biggest environmental problems--and explains how we can solve them. It's become common to tell kids that they're going to die from climate change. We are constantly bombarded by doomsday headlines...
The precipice : existential risk and the future of humanity
Ord, Toby
Paper Book
In this urgent and "thrillingly written" book, there is a case and solution for humanity's last shot at survival (Sunday Times). Humanity's future is at risk. We face existential catastrophes, climate change, nuclear war, and more. If we do not act...
What We Owe the Future
MacAskill, William.
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller "This book will change your sense of how grand the sweep of human history could be, where you fit into it, and how much you could do to change it for the better. It's as simple, and as ambitious, as that."
The treeline : the last forest and the future of life on Earth
Rawlence, Ben
Paper Book
Winner of the 2023 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism "Original and readable." ―Financial Times' Best Environmental Books of 2022 "Superb, inspiring." ―Winner, National Academies of Science Schmidt Awards for Excellence in...
No one is too small to make a difference
Thunberg, Greta
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller The history-making, ground-breaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, the young climate crisis activist who has become the voice of a generation. 'Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.' In August 2018 a fifteen...
How to avoid a climate disaster : the solutions we have and the breakthroughs we need
Gates, Bill
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical--and accessible--plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade...
On fire : the burning case for a green new deal
Klein, Naomi
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A MUST-READ book. Naomi Klein pairs a decade of her powerful writing on our acute environmental decline with new material on the staggeringly high stakes of what we choose to do next; and inspiringly offers here a politically viable, just, sustainable path forward...
The uninhabitable earth : life after warming
Wallace-Wells, David
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "The Uninhabitable Earth hits you like a comet, with an overflow of insanely lyrical prose about our pending Armageddon."--Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY...
Wilder : how rewilding is transforming conservation and changing the world
Kerr, Millie
Paper Book
FINALIST IN THE 2024 AAAS/SUBARU PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE WRITING - YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE A global rewilding journey, exploring innovative and eye-opening projects led by passionate conservationists. Rewilding is a radical new approach to wildlife...
The songs of trees : stories from nature's great connectors
Haskell, David George
Paper Book
In THE SONGS OF TREES, award-winning nature writer David Haskell repeatedly visits a dozen trees around the world, exploring the trees' connections with webs of fungi, bacterial communities, cooperative and destructive animals, and other plants. In doing this he shows that every living being is not...
Drawdown : the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming
Hawken, Paul
Paper Book
In Drawdown, renowned environmentalist Paul Hawken has assembled a team of over 200 scholars, scientists, policymakers, business leaders and activists to illustrate the hundred most substantive solutions to combat climate change that together will not only slow down the growth of carbon emissions,...

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