Climate Wayfinding - Katharine Wilkinson **

It's a truism that we now live in a 'me' world, where many people have a toxic inward-looking attitude that is all about self-fulfilment and 'my truth' rather rather than worrying to much about facts, reality and making things happen.

Climate books come in a wide range of types, some of which, like Bill McGuire's excellent The Fate of the World, explore the scientific reality and help us to work through its implications. But the environmental lobby has always had a branch that had no time for science and was, instead about how the environment makes us feel. And this book fits comfortably into that world.

In itself, this isn't a problem if all you want to do is appreciate the joys of nature. But if, as this book's publicity suggests, you want to 'transform the deep ache and overwhelm many feel into a journey of purposeful action' we need both guidance on that action and a scientific basis to underpin that action.

Unfortunately, there is not an iota of climate science in this book. It's all about dealing with your feelings about climate change and organising groups to help each other deal with those feelings. We even get poetry, journalling prompts and recommended playlists to get into the climatey frame of mind.

You could take the climate entirely out of this book and replace it with anything from teen anxiety to gender identity without changing much else. The subtitle is 'Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home', but this all about ourselves with scant regard for what will heal the planet for human occupation. (The planet itself will be fine, incidentally, whatever we do - it's the 'human occupation' part that's key.)

I'm afraid I found it a very frustrating read. I'm sure it will delight some - but it wasn't for me.

Hardback:

Kindle:
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