Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Climate: A New Story” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Climate: A New Story

Charles Eisenstein

4.54 · Rating details · 209 ratings · 37 reviews

Flipping the script on climate change, Eisenstein makes a case for a wholesale reimagining of the framing, tactics, and goals we employ in our journey to heal from ecological destruction

With research and insight, Charles Eisenstein details how the quantification of the natural world leads to a lack of integration and our “fight” mentality. With an entire chapter ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 320 pages

Published September 18th 2018 by North Atlantic Books

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Climate, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about Climate

Lists with This Book

LitHub's 365 Books for Your Climate Change Library (Part 4)

101 books — 7 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.54 ·

Rating details

· 209 ratings · 37 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Climate: A New Story

Dec 22, 2018 Doug Della pietra rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: next-reads

This has been both one of the most challenging and disturbing books and the most visionary, compassionate, and holistic writings on climate, environment, Humanity and our Species that I have ever read.

Having previously adopted a mechanistic and quantitative approach to climate change and global warming, Charles Eisenstein’s invitation to consider our world and relationships through a different narrative — one of Interbeing instead of Separation — challenged the very place from which I had found This has been both one of the most challenging and disturbing books and the most visionary, compassionate, and holistic writings on climate, environment, Humanity and our Species that I have ever read.

Having previously adopted a mechanistic and quantitative approach to climate change and global warming, Charles Eisenstein’s invitation to consider our world and relationships through a different narrative — one of Interbeing instead of Separation — challenged the very place from which I had found and believed there was hope of reversing global warming and saving our Planet and Species.

Eisenstein outlined many examples of climate change solutions and environmental action that perhaps we once believed were good for us and the world that later revealed unintended and harmful consequences. In other words, Eisenstein’s perspective reminds me of Newton’s third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, without knowing the full extent and consequences of our actions, we can do something intended for positive outcomes but be completely unaware that this action has even more harmful and detrimental effects that make the very situation we are attempting to improve even worse.

The mindset of Interbeing requires us to understand that nature is alive and a subject, not an object. “It means asking ‘What does the land want?’ ‘What does the river want?’ ‘What does the planet want?’ — questions that seem crazy from the perspective of nature-as-thing.” (Page 258)

Eisenstein goes on: “In that understanding, we can no longer cut down forests and drain the swamps, dam rivers and fragment ecosystems with roads, dig pit mines and drill gas wells, with impunity....To do so damages the whole body of nature, just as if you cut off a person’s limb or removed an organ. The well-being of all depends on the well-being of each. We cannot cut down one forest here and plant another there, assuring ourselves through the calculus of net CO2 that we have done no damage. How do we know we have not removed an organ?....Until we can know it, we’d best refrain from committing further ecocide on any scale. Each intact estuary, river, forest, and wetlands that remains to us, we must treat as sacred, while restoring whatever we can.” (Pages 258-259)

In the final pages of this book, Eisenstein lists almost 20 practical, bold, and far-reaching policy changes to promote and change our current system Story from one of Separation to a New Story of Interbeing.

He concludes: “The vision of a Green World is not fantasy; nor, however, is realistic. What it is, is possible. It requires each one of us to dedicate ourselves, unreasonably and with no guarantee of success, to our unique form of service. It requires that we trust our knowing that a healed world, a green world, a more beautiful world is truly possible.” (Page 278)

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is dreaming of and wants to participate in the transformation of our current society and world to the society and world of our highest future possibilities and potential. ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Dec 15, 2018 Bryan Winchell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

In my opinion, if you are concerned about the converging crises of the ecology and the economy, and the social and political ills that trouble the modern world, Charles Eisenstein is one of the most important voices out there.

In this book, he dares to expand the conversation around climate change from one that is increasingly ineffective because it is based on motivating us to act by using our fear of mortality and a horrible, climate-damaged world to one that recognizes that climate change is ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Nov 25, 2018 Noah Skocilich rated it it was amazing

Eisenstein’s greatest work to date.

Completely reframed my understanding of climate change.

So grateful for this book, and Charles’ work writing it.

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Dec 04, 2018 Paul rated it it was amazing

“If we want a living world, we have to act from the place where the world is alive.”

— Charles Eisenstein

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Sep 06, 2019 Erik rated it it was ok

I wasn't going to review this book, because I like Charles Eisenstein and I appreciate what he's trying to do in general with his career, to integrate humans better with the natural world. With a spiritual bent, Eisenstein has also inspired people around the world to think more creatively, to open their hearts and to make positive changes in their personal lives. For that, he should be encouraged and applauded.

So, when I found his book on climate change frustrating, I was just going to let it ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Sep 22, 2019 Tammie rated it liked it

The climate crisis isn't new and there isn't a one-fits-all cure or a miraculous technological solution (if not there wouldn't be a crisis). But Eisenstein's holistic perspectives in this book serve as urgent reminders of why every facet of society has to work towards the same goal. A lot of drive has to start organically from ground up, and I'm appreciative of his views on the commercial aspects.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 26, 2019 Dave rated it liked it

I've been listening to Charles Eisenstein for a long time. I've read most of his books and feel pretty much the same way about this one as I do about all the others. Some of it is great and some is just really terrible. I honestly love about half of what he says. He really does get a lot of the things that everyone else is missing. Unfortunately, I can't stand the other half. And from my experience, it's the bad half that his readers seem to be most influenced by. I've been recommending Sacred I've been listening to Charles Eisenstein for a long time. I've read most of his books and feel pretty much the same way about this one as I do about all the others. Some of it is great and some is just really terrible. I honestly love about half of what he says. He really does get a lot of the things that everyone else is missing. Unfortunately, I can't stand the other half. And from my experience, it's the bad half that his readers seem to be most influenced by. I've been recommending Sacred Economics to people for the last 5 or 6 years, considering a lot of the ideas in there to be really important. I thought that people had enough common sense to ignore the dumber things in there, especially since I tend to share it with caveats about which parts of it I consider useful and which parts I consider ridiculous. I also tend to recommend reading counter-arguments from people like Derrick Jensen before making any big decisions. From my experience though, people that do decide to read his stuff just come to think of themselves as spiritually enlightened and never bother looking into the alternative explanations. This is making it really difficult for me to keep recommending his books.

On the good side, his ideas on regenerative agriculture, ecosystem restoration, the benefits of indigenous cultures and transitioning the global economic system away from infinite growth are all great. These are really important concepts and he does do a good job explaining them. On the bad side, he gets really carried away with these naive New Age ideas about the divine "purpose" of human existence and the supposed teleology of technological development. All people are good at heart, the universe loves us all, climate change deniers have just as many reasons to believe the things they believe as we do, those in positions of power sincerely believe that they're all doing what's best for the world, etc.

I can understand the argument that the mainstream scientific establishment has given people a lot of reasons to distrust them. We were told that cannabis is dangerous and that opioids are just safe pharmaceutical medicines. They told us not to worry about nuclear power plants. "DDT is good for me-e-e", etc. Clearly we should be a little skeptical. But people that listen to Fox News and who voted for Donald Trump are just making honest mistakes? Really!? They couldn't possibly be any more blatant with their lies. They literally contradict themselves within the same sentence sometimes! At some point you have to admit that there are people out there who can't be reached with rational arguments. A lot of them, in fact. They won't be persuaded or guilted into changing their minds no matter what you say. A big theme of this book is that there are other things to argue about than whether or not carbon in the atmosphere is going to kill us, and that's fine. There are a lot of other things killing us that are harder to deny than long-term global warming. Is there any reason to expect the Right to be moved by these other arguments though? And is Eisenstein even a good candidate to try reaching these people? I mean, even Left wingers with hippie leanings can get annoyed with the way he words things. Frankly, I can't think of anyone worse for that job than Eisenstein. Therefore, every word of this book spent on that subject is kind of a waste of time in my opinion. And there is a lot of that in here.

All that said, I still do kind of like this book. I wish I could just recommend certain chapters of it but even the better chapters have a lot of stupid ideas mixed in with them, which makes every part of this kind of hard to take seriously. It's unfortunate that he can't seem to restrain himself from trying to cram in every cute little cleverly-worded idea he thinks of when he writes. If he just took the best ideas from all his books and put them together without the annoying stuff he really could make something pretty great. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 30, 2019 C.J. Shane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nature-environment, culture

Charles Eisenstein’s book Climate: A New Story is full of compassion and insight about human alienation from the natural world that has led to our current climate crisis. His is fundamentally a book of philosophy that challenges readers to reevaluate many widely-held cultural beliefs and assumptions that could very well end up killing us and everything on the planet. Philosophy books are not easy to read. Readers must be willing to read carefully and to do some serious self-reflection to fully Charles Eisenstein’s book Climate: A New Story is full of compassion and insight about human alienation from the natural world that has led to our current climate crisis. His is fundamentally a book of philosophy that challenges readers to reevaluate many widely-held cultural beliefs and assumptions that could very well end up killing us and everything on the planet. Philosophy books are not easy to read. Readers must be willing to read carefully and to do some serious self-reflection to fully understand this book. Only then can we begin to make the changes that must be made.

At root, Eisenstein is asking us to recognize the different stories we tell ourselves and how these stories are not working. The Story of Separation from the natural world is leading to disaster. We focus on fear rather than on what we love. He takes to task the global warming narrative that is yet another us vs. them narrative. He makes a strong argument that fear won’t work in the end. Only love works. “We work to save what we love,” and that’s why protecting local ecosystems usually work much better than abstract larger-scale projects. He calls for a Story of Interbeing.

Everything is connected. It makes no sense to worry only about the death of kelp forests which suck up CO2 if we don’t also be concerned about the threats to sea otters which keep sea urchins under control which wipe out kelp forests. Instead of a love of nature and the recognition that all living things are connected, he says we focus on fear of our survival. He takes on at length our very dysfunctional economic system which measures quantity to the detriment of living things. He asks us instead to measure quality.

This is not a book of only what doesn’t work. Eisenstein has plenty of great examples of Interbeing, a recognition of how to live within and love the natural world and how to act on that. He points out the many ways in which the planet is suffering that has nothing to do with the climate crisis. Our overuse and misuse of plastics is one example. Another is our methods of agriculture which involve deforestation, monocropping, pesticide use, and a resulting insect holocaust. He gives us ways out of this human-caused disaster through regenerative agriculture methods.

“Human well-being and planetary health are inextricably connected.” That’s why we have to stop thinking of ourselves as separate from nature. “The world is a living being,” and we are a part of that living being. “The earth is still alive,” he tells us. “Now is the time to choose life. It’s not too late.”

...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

May 12, 2019 Narayan Silva rated it it was amazing

This is a visionary work and very different from most of what I’ve been reading on climate change and sustainability in the last years.

Without trying to adjust to any mainstream view on how to deal with the incredibly complex issues we have created as a society, he invites us to totally change the questions we’ve been asking ourselves in order to get to the root of the problem.

While walking through the different views and nuances around our current state of unsustainability, we are invited to ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Sep 20, 2019 Camia Young rated it it was amazing

After reading 'The Uninhabitable Earth' I needed some way to see a way forward. 'Climate: A New Story' is the antidote to the overwhelming crisis we face. I appreciate it is not a silver bullet but a shift in our world view and consciousness. Charles Eisenstein taps into our innate intuition and draws out the essence of life as a way to heal our past and create a path where all life flourishes in an abundant matrix of inter related ecosystems. A must read if you are looking for answers and ways ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Feb 01, 2019 Abilasha Bhohi rated it it was amazing

This book gives a really interesting and insightful perspective on how we should look and tackle climate change. Eisenstein has such an awe and a love for the earth and it’s ecology which is hugely inspiring for the reader. Despite the challenges we face with global warming it’s his optimism in providing and focussing on solutions which makes this book one worth reading!

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Mar 18, 2019 Rachel Greenberger rated it it was amazing

Climate has taken me six months (and I consume books). Dense with interwoven ideas on densely interconnected subjects, it required many pauses.

Charles Eisenstein points to so many doors and windows that I have long sensed might be there but could never really see. In relation to planetary doom, instead, I've grown accustomed to tightness, listlessness, and doubt. All his pointing in these pages has let some fresh air in.

Changing stories - or even considering a new one - is no small task. It ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Mar 19, 2019 Susan rated it liked it

Eisenstein advocates for less focus on co2 and more focus on the heart center of environmental activism - protecting local ecosystems. There is a strong argument in here about framing, that unfortunately occasionally gets undermined by his enthusiasm for trendy, anti-scientific tangents. :-/

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Feb 13, 2019 Ganesh Ubuntu rated it it was amazing

There is a story of a drunk man who lost his keys in a middle of a night and decided to search under a street lamp because it was too dark in the place where he has actually dropped them. The main argument of 'Climate: A New Story' states that we are following the same pattern when we reduce the mind-boggling complexity of the environmental issues into a single metric - the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. In this book Charles argues that focusing on a single factor is not only reducing There is a story of a drunk man who lost his keys in a middle of a night and decided to search under a street lamp because it was too dark in the place where he has actually dropped them. The main argument of 'Climate: A New Story' states that we are following the same pattern when we reduce the mind-boggling complexity of the environmental issues into a single metric - the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. In this book Charles argues that focusing on a single factor is not only reducing our capacity to respond to the issue in any meaningful way, it actually makes our responses counter-productive and leads to further and more complicated problems.

Giving many examples Charles dissects multiple sides of the climate change debate exposing intellectual and emotional shortcuts that keep us believing one of the sides more than another, with all of them being essentially inadequate in trying to explain what's going on, where we are heading, and what can be done about it. The author argues that not only the climate models are hopelessly simple to be adequate but that any model we can possibly come up with is going to omit more than enough detail to make the model useless at best.

And then Charles offers a way for each of us to palpate our way towards an approach that can meaningfully contribute to the repair of the damage done by us and to cultivate more life around us. It's not going to be one-size-fits-all approach, it's not something that can be figured out, and it's going to be more tangible than fighting a gas that cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted. In a nutshell it is about making the place where one lives more liveable and Charles does a good job showing how a multitude of little actions from each one of us can bring a response to the current calamities that is beyond our imagination.

As usual with Charles Eisenstein, it's difficult to give any justice to his work in one little review. He goes deep and he covers a lot of ground. His books are of the kind that are worth rereading every now and then and 'Climate' is not an exception. ...more

flag Like · see review

Oct 27, 2018 Stephanie rated it liked it

This is a useful book for those just starting to understand climate change. Eisenstein does a good job of providing an overview of the systems issues that result in global warming: environmental degradation and mismanagement, and the role of modern capitalism in driving these changes. He wants to shift the focus of climate change discussions from the simplistic emphasis on reducing CO2 emissions, to a broader recognition of how modernity and notions of progress figure at the root of not just ...more

flag Like · see review

Jan 20, 2020 Jaron rated it it was ok

I wanted to like this book, I really did. But it's a very worrying read. It's so bad in fact, it's hard to know where to start writing a review.

It's just so full of exagerrated strawman arguments, misrepresentations of science and the scientific method, vague language (eg "war thinking" and "money thinking"), and excessive use of capitalisation (eg Story of Interbeing, Story of the World, Age of War, Age of Separation, Other, the mind that is steeped in Separation etc). Why do new age writers ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 12, 2019 Anton Autushka rated it really liked it

It’s a fresh new look on the climate change. What is climate change after all? Is it all about CO2, the Arctic methane monster, solar panels, sustainable development and Tesla’s mission to save the world through more consumption? Not really, the author claims. It’s all about us, humans, destroying our habitat, our forests and lakes and wetlands, the whole web of life. The book itself feels quite repetitive and meandering, if you have read the other books by the author you pretty much know what ...more

flag Like · see review

Oct 03, 2019 Lydia rated it really liked it

This is an extremely thought-provoking book, which radically challenges mainstream environmental narratives without dismissing the seriousness of the current ecological crisis - if anything Eisenstein takes it more seriously.

There were various parts of this book which I did not agree with, or on occasion, did not understand. However, I found Eisenstein's basic argument ultimately compelling. He suggests that we ought to focus as much on the protection and restoration of valuable ecosystems ...more

flag Like · see review

Oct 26, 2019 Joyce rated it it was amazing

Shelves: yoga-and-spiritual, biology-ecology-environmental

Charles Eisenstein expresses so many things that I have felt for so long.
My only thought is that there are many folks who have expressed similar philosophies before him - Joanna Macy, Thomas Barry, Wendell Berry, many Buddhists and so on. He is fabulous at pulling stats from scientists into his bibliography, but other than Thich Nhat Hahn, he doesn't reference any of the deep thinkers who have worked through much of this. But in the end though he struggles to articulate it in the beginning and ...more

flag Like · see review

Apr 01, 2019 Linda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction-reviewed

This may sound strange but if you are weary of reading books about climate change, Climate: A New Story by Charles Eisenstein could be just the book for you.

“Here is what I want everyone in the climate change movement to hear: People are not going to be frightened into caring.” —Charles Eisenstein

Read the whole review at https://greengroundswell.com/climate-...

flag Like · see review

Aug 15, 2019 Adam Johnson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a wonderfully compelling vision, tangible and pragmatic Nd inspiring all at once, of a world healed through humanity. It captures the hope and the logic of local, community building action.

Built around the concept of Interbeing, this vision calls for us to do what we can to nurture the world, to bring beauty and wholeness.

I will continue retuning to this book for insights.

flag Like · see review

May 20, 2019 Allison rated it it was amazing

I adore how this book thinks holistically about climate, and connects it directly to caring for other beings in all forms. It’s solution focused and didn’t make me want to cry in a pile on the floor, which I greatly appreciated.

flag Like · see review

Feb 01, 2019 Louise rated it it was amazing

Best book I read in 2018. Flips climate talk on its head and offers exactly what is in the title, a new story. Well researched and beautifully put together, a must read for every resident of this amazing planet we live on.

flag Like · see review

Oct 05, 2019 Joann Amidon rated it really liked it

This book will challenge you to look at everything through different lenses, considering the connection of all. It is an excellent book for a thoughtful, meaningful discussion on climate change.

flag Like · see review

Feb 11, 2019 Nic rated it it was ok

Shelves: abandoned

Eisenstein presents a novel framing of climate change and popular environmentalism; however, is long winded to the point I couldn't finish.

flag Like · see review

Jun 27, 2019 Robert Redecker rated it it was amazing

A very optimistic alternative view point.

flag Like · see review

Apr 26, 2019 Justin Sikkema rated it it was amazing

Must read for everyone concerned about the health of our planet

flag Like · see review

Nov 13, 2018 Marjorie Faulstich rated it it was amazing

I didn't love everything in this book but I think it makes a really important paradigm-shifting argument.

flag Like · see review

Jan 15, 2020 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Wonderful. Informative. Hopeful. Doable.

flag Like · see review

Mar 29, 2019 Kathleen Paterno rated it it was amazing

Inspiration drips from the pages!

flag Like · see review

« previous 1 2 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Goodreads Librari...: Please combine	6	21	Oct 03, 2018 07:39AM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Nonfiction

11 users

Environment

10 users

Environment > Climate Change

7 users

Environment > Nature

7 users

Biology > Ecology

7 users

Science

4 users

Philosophy

4 users

See top shelves…

About Charles Eisenstein

Charles Eisenstein

311 followers

Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker, and writer focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. His writings on the web magazine Reality Sandwich have generated a vast online following; he speaks frequently at conferences and other events, and gives numerous interviews on radio and podcasts. Writing in Ode magazine's "25 Intelligent Optimists" issue, ...more

Books by Charles Eisenstein

Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition

The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible

The Yoga of Eating: Transcending Diets and Dogma to Nourish the Natural Self

More…

Trivia About Climate: A New Story

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Climate: A New Story

“...one of the addictions--more fundamental than the addiction to fossil fuels--that we are going to have to give up is the addiction to fighting. Then we can examine the ground conditions that produce an endless supply of enemies to fight.
The addiction to fighting draws from a perception of the world as composed of enemies: indifferent forces of nature tending toward entropy, and hostile competitors seeking to further their reproductive or economic self-interest over our own. In a world of competitors, well-being comes through domination. In a world of random natural forces, well-being comes through control. War is the mentality of control in its most extreme form. Kill the enemy--the weeds, the pests, the terrorists, the germs--and the problem is solved once and for all.” — 1 likes

“We never were separate from nature and never will be, but the dominant culture on earth has long imagined itself to be apart from nature and destined one day to transcend it. We have lived in a mythology of separation.” — 1 likes

More quotes…

See a Problem?

Preview — Climate by Charles Eisenstein

Climate: A New Story

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Charles Eisenstein

Books by Charles Eisenstein

Trivia About Climate: A New Story

Quotes from Climate: A New Story

See a Problem?

Preview — Climate by Charles Eisenstein

Climate: A New Story

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Charles Eisenstein

Books by Charles Eisenstein

Trivia About Climate: A New Story

Quotes from Climate: A New Story

new topic
Discuss This Book