Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
The Future We Choose summary
Christiana Figueres
Tom Rivett-Carnac
Surviving the Climate Crisis
27 mins
Brief summary
The Future We Choose by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac is a motivational book that emphasizes the importance of individuals taking action to combat climate change by outlining practical steps towards a sustainable future.
Topics
Table of Contents
The Future We Choose
Summary of 9 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 9
Unless we act now, we are on the path to an unlivable world.
Picture this. It’s morning, and you wake up and check your phone. You do this every day, not to respond to your text messages, but to read the air quality report and see if it’s safe to go outside. Through the window, you can see it’s a clear, sunny day, but your app tells you that air pollution and ozone levels are high. You will have to wear your specially designed face mask at all times.
You’ll also have to cope with the intense heat. The world is much hotter now than it was when you were young, and there’s no longer anything that can be done to change that.
The year is 2050. In another 50 years, many areas of the planet are likely to be uninhabitable.
The key message here is: Unless we act now, we are on the path to an unlivable world.
We’ll end up living in this hypothetical world even if we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius. In other words, this is our future, regardless of whether we achieve the main target of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. And once we reach a point where we can no longer control the warming, other tipping points follow.
The melting of the Arctic ice sheets is one of the most critical. Since this white ice is responsible for reflecting large amounts of the sun’s heat away from earth, its melting proves utterly disastrous. Sea levels rise, and without the ice, we are now even more defenseless against hotter and hotter temperatures.
The rising seas also bring major flooding. Coastal cities across the globe have their infrastructure devastated, and while they flood, inland areas dry up. Heatwaves create deserts out of once-lush areas, and many places can no longer support any form of life.
Extreme weather events, like hurricanes and tropical storms, are also more common than ever. The resulting destruction kills or displaces millions of people and creates a massive refugee crisis.
Even the surviving cities aren’t exactly pleasant places to live now. In Paris, summer temperatures regularly hit 44 degrees Celsius or 111 Fahrenheit. And that’s nothing. In central India, temperatures reach 60 degrees Celsius (that’s 140 Fahrenheit) for 45 days of the year.
It’s fair to say that everyone is suffering deeply, enraged at the politicians and citizens of the past who refused to act in the face of the climate crisis.
Want to see all full key ideas from The Future We Choose?
Key ideas in The Future We Choose
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is The Future We Choose about?
The Future We Choose (2020) presents us with two potential visions of life on earth: one of sweltering heat, diminishing biodiversity, and severely declining quality of life, and one where the planet’s temperature has stabilized, life flourishes, and humanity prospers. The world we choose will depend on the actions we take now, in what is a critical decade in the fight against climate change. While the prospect may seem daunting, it’s time to rise to the challenge and determine our future.
The Future We Choose Review
The Future We Choose (2020) by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac is an essential book that explores the urgent need for global action to combat climate change. Here's why this book is worth reading:
- With a powerful call to action and concrete solutions, it empowers readers to contribute to a sustainable future and make a positive impact on the planet.
- By sharing personal stories and experiences from their work in international climate negotiations, the authors make complex scientific concepts accessible and relatable.
- The book's optimistic and hopeful tone motivates readers to take action, emphasizing the possibility of a better future if we choose to act now.
Who should read The Future We Choose?
- Climate crusaders feeling hopeless about their cause
- Anyone who wants to know how they can contribute to a sustainable world
- Those worried about the future
Categories with The Future We Choose
Book summaries like The Future We Choose
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked these summaries
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
35 Million
Downloads on all platforms
10+ years
Experience igniting personal growth
The Future We Choose FAQs
What is the main message of The Future We Choose?
The main message of The Future We Choose is that we all have the power to shape a better future for our planet.
How long does it take to read The Future We Choose?
The reading time for The Future We Choose varies depending on the reader, but it typically takes several hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.
Is The Future We Choose a good book? Is it worth reading?
The Future We Choose is worth reading for its inspiring perspective on climate action and its practical approach to creating a sustainable future.
Who is the author of The Future We Choose?
The authors of The Future We Choose are Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac.
What to read after The Future We Choose?
If you're wondering what to read next after The Future We Choose, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- How Bad Are Bananas? by Mike Berners-Lee
- The Necessary Revolution by Peter Senge
- A Life on Our Planet by David Attenborough
- Drawdown by Paul Hawken (ed.)
- We Are the Weather by Jonathan Safran Foer
- Earth for All by Sandrine Dixson-Decleve
- Time Travel by James Gleick
- Who Rules the World? by Noam Chomsky
- You Weren’t Supposed To See That by Joshua Brown
- The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides