More than 300 people in 41 countries, all volunteers, set to work to write a guide on climate. It's called the Carbon Almanac and it comes out in Italy on 13 July. We interviewed the creator of the project, Seth Godin.
We are in it together. "The chronic change in the climate of the entire planet will be the most significant driver of change over the next twenty years. For all of us, not just some of us." When this appeal appeared on the blog of Seth Godin — marketing guru and author of bestsellers such as Purple Cow — back in October 2021, it was a safe bet it would not go unnoticed. And so it proved. More than 300 people in 41 countries — writers, scientists, researchers, illustrators, entrepreneurs, artists, ordinary citizens — contributed to creating a book that would explain from A to Z, like an almanac, what climate change is, what it means for each of us, and what we can do to curb its consequences. The Carbon Almanac, precisely. The day after its release in the United States by Portfolio, on 13 July 2022 the volume comes out in bookshops around the world, including Italy, where it is published by Roi Edizioni.
You only need to leaf through the Carbon Almanac to realise just how dense it is with facts, infographics, maps, data, tables and definitions. A painstaking work of research, selection and paraphrasing that proved necessary to achieve its primary objective: explaining the causes and consequences of climate change. And doing so through a wealth of proven facts, told in language accessible to non-specialists.
And the project does not end with the book. The team has already published a guide for educators and teachers, a 70-page version for children, a free PDF featuring images of the impact of climate change, and four podcasts with 50 episodes each. All of this without earning a single euro, because their contribution is purely voluntary. Several companies — among them Amazon, LinkedIn, Getty Images, McCann Worldgroup — have also decided to do their part, through purchases and donations of copies. To offset the paper used to print the copies, more than 100,000 trees have been planted.
The date chosen to celebrate the book's release is 16 July, when contributors will take part in a large simultaneous book signing.
No one could tell the story of this project's origins and prospects better than its spokesperson, Seth Godin. We interviewed him.
Why did you decide to personally dedicate yourself to the issue of climate change by coordinating such an ambitious collective project?
This is the problem of our time. Not the most frantic or newsworthy, but the one that encompasses and eclipses all the others. Because it is chronic, systemic, and it affects all of us, regardless of our income, our status, or where we are.
Who is the ideal reader of this book?
We created the Almanac as a tool. It's a tool to help people who already care feel smart enough and confident enough to talk about it. A tool to help people see the systems that are at work and, in turn, share copies as they discuss what to do about it. We needed to simplify, organise and clarify what is already known.
A chapter of the Carbon Almanac is dedicated to water stress, a topic that is hugely topical in Italy right now. The book also offers some advice on how to adapt our lifestyle to situations like this: do you think it will be enough?
Personal habits matter, but they clearly aren't enough — they don't even come close. If you're on the Titanic, learning to swim isn't much help; first and foremost, you need to organise people to convince the captain not to crash into the iceberg.
There has also been a great deal of discussion lately about how to communicate climate change. Some argue that the words and images used so far have been far too "soft" (such as climate change instead of climate emergency), while others fear that highlighting the dramatic aspects drives people away. What approach did you choose for this book?
Our subtitle is "it's not too late." I don't think more panic will help us change our systems; it will simply lead to a short-term focus on personal actions.
What needs to happen is clear. And it turns out we don't need many people pushing consistently and persistently for change in order for it to come about.
As a marketing expert, what advice would you give to a consumer who wants to tell apart companies that are genuinely committed to transforming their processes from those that are merely engaging in greenwashing?
Greenwashing might seem better than doing nothing, but it sidesteps the real challenge. As long as we have large-scale industrial and profit-seeking organisations working to increase their numbers, the problem will get worse. The way forward is not to worry about this company's carbon footprint or that one's water consumption. Rather, it is to recognise and change the systems that are not accounting for the true cost of CO2 and water consumption. Once those costs are built in, we will make better decisions. The Almanac helps people understand the scale of the problem and, from there, begin to act systematically.
Once the book is out, how will the Carbon Almanac project continue?
We are now 1,900 people in 91 countries. This is not my project — it is OUR project. And, from its founding, my expectation is that there will continue to be many voices, many projects and many ideas.
