‘One of the most important books I've read this year. How Are We Going To Explain This? is a crystal clear treatise on where we are, and what we need to do right now. Especially recommended for those who feel hopeless.’ – Rutger Bregman
If climate change is the biggest threat humanity has ever faced, then why are we doing so little? Will the corona pandemic make it worse or better? And where do we go from here?
Drawing on the latest climate science, Jelmer Mommers helps you find hope in the midst of the climate crisis. He describes how we got here, what possible futures await us, and how you can help to truly make a difference.
‘At a time when despair, malign fabrication and partisanship are combining to prevent vital action, How Are We Going To Explain This? is a much-needed, joyful, clear and practical companion. Read this - it could save your planet. Give it to your friends and colleagues - it's their planet, too.’ – AL Kennedy, writer
‘Breezy, easy to read, perky, full of good stories and all done with a brisk summary of the history of ideas’ – The Sunday Times
Available in paperback/ebook/audiobook FROM THESE RETAILERS (USA) OR FROM WATERSTONES OR HIVE (UK), audible, APPLE OR GOOGLE
Listen to a sample FROM THE AUDIOBOOK
Narrated by Simon Darwen
About Jelmer
Jelmer Mommers is a climate journalist based in Amsterdam. He knows most people prefer not to talk or even think about climate change and that is exactly why he wrote this book. Denial and despair are not the only possible responses to the climate crisis.
Five years in the making, How Are We Going To Explain This? became a bestseller in The Netherlands. With this revised and updated translation, including responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mommers brings his characteristic blend of realism and hope to the wider world.
Get acquainted: Why democracy is both the hurdle and the key to climate action (on The Correspondent)
praise
FOR HOW ARE WE GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS?
‘We have to dream bigger, as Jelmer Mommers does. The likely warming of the next few decades can make the future look practically unlivable. But we will find ways to live in it, perhaps even thrive. Mommers helps us see how—how we might remake the world, secure that future, and above all stop seeing the present as a conceptual cage constricting our hopes rather than a husk to leave behind.’
– David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth
A great book on climate change: how we got here but most importantly how we get out of the mess we have created. Shines a light on the path forward with clarity and determination.’
– Christiana Figueres, Architect of the Paris climate agreement, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2010-2016
‘We are at a crossroads. As we recover from the corona-pandemic, we can choose to proceed towards an uninhabitable earth or take a turn towards sustainability. Jelmer Mommers shows us that the choice really is up to all of us - and that we still have time. Once you’ve read this book, you'll know how to play your part. The astonishing thing is: getting things right has never been so simple.’
– Jeremy Leggett, social entrepreneur and writer
‘As a journalist, Jelmer Mommers has broken important stories about how we got in our current climate mess; as a thinker, he shows us there may still be some ways out, if we move with grace and speed. A fine account of where we stand, and where we could go if we wanted to!’
– Bill McKibben, author, environmentalist, activist and founder of 350.org
‘How Are We Going to Explain This is an important contribution to the most existential threat of our day: climate change and environmental collapse. What sets this book apart from others is that the author combines hard science with the narratives necessary to save us. We are taken on a trip from gut bacteria and dancing bees to agricultural practices and CO2 sequestering – the micro and the macro beautifully linked to provide us with the big picture with all its hope and horror.’
– Joanna Pocock, writer
‘If there is a silver lining to the Covid crisis, it is that we have demonstrated that we can work together for the common good. Jelmer Mommers brilliantly captures the essence of this spirit and applies it to the climate crisis, for which we are rapidly reaching an inflection point. Mommers beautifully argues why we must all act together - and act now – dispelling feelings of lethargy and hopelessness along the way. A wonderful and prescient stimulus for those who yearn for a more equitable and sustainable future.’
– Simon Taylor, Co-Founder and Director, Global Witness
‘As more of humanity adjusts to living with crises - we need books like this, which tell us what we can do - from small steps to big ones - to find our way to a new normal.’
– May Boeve, Executive Director 350.org and 350 Action Fund
‘In this truly outstanding book, Jelmer Mommers exposes the complex ways in which climate change intersects with other environmental and social challenges facing humankind--from vanishing bees to oceanic dead zones to endless resource wars. And he explains with remarkable clarity and simplicity how the solutions to these problems are as interconnected as their causes. In so doing, he presents a compelling, workable vision for addressing climate change and creating a more just and livable world.’
– Carroll Muffett, President, Center for International Environmental Law
‘Climate change is a story so often told in the future tense. But Mommers roots it firmly in the present. The problem, the consequences and the solution - right here, right now.’
– Leo Hickman, editor of Carbon Brief
‘Clear-eyed and compelling, this book is a much-needed antidote to despair; an inspiration to create the narrative our (grand)children will tell about how we forged a genuinely sustainable world. Read it and make it so!’
– Peter C. Frumhoff PhD, Director of Science and Policy and Chief Climate Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists
‘I warmly recommend this book. Crystal clear, non-academic, realistic but positive and, most of all, political in its understanding of the climate crisis.’
– Maarten Hajer, director of the Urban Futures Studio, professor of Urban Futures, and Scientific Director of Pathways to Sustainability at Utrecht University
‘Jelmer Mommer’s “How Are We Going to Explain This?” provides a unique take on challenge to avert a climate crisis. It provides important insights into our dire situation, but it also sketches out a persuasive path forward. A must-read if you want to know where we stand and what we can and must still do!’
– Michael Mann, Distinguished Professor, Penn State University and author of The Hockey Stick, the Climate Wars. and The Madhouse Effect
"Mommers avoids hectoring or preaching to the choir, and he does turn up at least a flicker of hope in remaking the economy with an eye to sustainability ... A welcome reminder that there are things we can do to heal the planet that go beyond useless half-measures."
— Kirkus Reviews
“Explaining the climate story clearly and convincingly: Jelmer Mommers can do it like no other.”
—David Van Reybrouck, author of Congo