What We Need To Do Now

"So this is quite a different book to all the others, because it pretty much says, ‘right, these are the problems, here are my solutions.’ It’s very clear, and gives you ten areas for action. It’s a manifesto for change and how to do it. Again, it’s readable, it doesn’t feel like a lecture. Not everyone is going to agree with all the solutions that Chris thinks we should all do, but he does break it down in a way that makes all the challenges doable, rather that making us feel that it’s all so dreadful that there’s nothing we can do. This book is like, ‘no, we can do this, this, this.’ Even if you disagree, it shows there is a way through. “if you say to people, ‘you’ve got to read this book because it’s good for you,’…I’d be the first one leading the charge out the door ” I think it’s interesting that one of his priorities in the book is insulating houses, which was part of the British government’s green recovery plan, announced just a few weeks ago. It gave me massive boasting rights because I knew everything, having just read this chapter. It’s really interesting and it’s nice to have something that says, ‘this is how we should make it work.’ Again, even if there’s disagreement, you’ll have a conversation. Well, Chris Goodall would say that we definitely do know, and we just need to get on with it. That’s what Chris Goodall would like. For many of the rest of us, it’s just: ‘show me what I need to do, and I’ll do it.’ But as someone who wants to learn… You know, one of the reasons I wanted to judge this prize was that I thought the books would teach me things I didn’t know. And they really have. I think reading them has made me change some of my views. It has certainly changed me and inspired me, reading these books."