Regeneration

Paul Hawken, the environmentalist behind Drawdown, argues in Regeneration that climate change cannot be solved by treating carbon alone. His approach ties together justice, biodiversity, equity, human dignity and the climate itself, and presents them as one body of action, policy and cultural change. He contends that this combined effort could end the climate crisis within a single generation.

The book is the first to describe and define the regeneration movement, which is growing quickly around the world. Hawken makes the case that an inclusive movement can draw in most of humanity, and that its solutions should serve the people who are most often overlooked: children, the poor and those who have been excluded. That means meeting present human needs rather than concentrating only on distant existential threats, serious as those are.

The ideas go well beyond solar panels, electric vehicles and tree planting. Hawken explores the fifteen-minute city, bioregions, the azolla fern, food localization, fire ecology, decommodification and forests as farms. He also names what he considers the top solution for the world: electrifying everything.

Hawken and the nonprofit Regeneration Organization are launching companion projects alongside the book, including a streaming video series, a curriculum, podcasts, teaching videos and climate action software.