In What If We Get It Right? (One World, Sept.), marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson gathers insights from experts to argue that a sustainable future would be possible if we deployed the climate solution that we already have.
What inspired you to write this book?
As someone who’s been involved in climate communication for years, the thing that I kept wanting was some sense of what the future could hold if we actually deployed all these climate solutions that we already have. And sometimes I had this feeling that one of the things holding us back was people just lacking a sense that it was worth the effort. I realized that I needed to talk directly to experts and ask this big question of ‘What if we get it right?’ and let people hear the wisdom in their words.
What prompted you to include AI as a potential solution?
It just seemed like the book would be incomplete without addressing that topic with some amount of rigor. AI is arguably the largest new force shaping society: it’s changing the way we use energy, it’s changing the way we receive information. It’s going to influence our ability to address the climate crisis. And as much as I want to just ignore it, it doesn’t seem to be going away.
I will never be a billionaire. There are many things I can’t relate to about being able to move through the world with that many resources. But we have a bunch of billionaires in the world and a bunch of them want to help solve climate change. So, what does that look like? Even though there are things that I don’t know about personally or can’t really relate to, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be considered as part of the solution. The overall goal is to build the biggest, strongest team.
What was your takeaway from talking with youth climate activists?
That the movement has to be intergenerational. A lot of people are putting pressure on these young climate leaders, expecting them to already be taking over. But they do not control the majority of the wealth on this planet, they do not have relationships with people in power. So while they are leading the way forward, we can'’t just say the young people are on top of it. We need to figure out how to collaborate across generations.
Talk about the diagram you included to help readers find their role in the climate movement.
For years I’ve been getting asked, ‘What can I do to help?’ But people are kind of like, ‘What's the one quick, easy thing I can do to help?’—which doesn't exist. Every action matters, but what really matters is sustained action, being part of a broader initiative. So the answer really depends on who you are, what resources and networks and skills you have, and what you find gratifying. The diagram is a simple method to help people remap their way to what they should be doing.
