From Crisis to Action

‘From Crisis to Action takes you straight to the front line of the climate crisis. It brings home in vivid detail the impact climate change is already having on people and communities around the world and paints a picture of what is at stake across seventy climate vulnerable countries. It’s also a call to action: to remind us that we have an opportunity to avert the worst impacts and build a resilient world for everyone. This is not just their crisis, but a shared challenge for the entire world that requires our collective action.’ Steve Howard, Vice Chair of Sustainability Temasek; Founding Chair of the We Mean Business Coalition; Founder of the Climate Group‘Ultimately, climate disasters morph into economic disasters, impoverishing our planet as each new natural disaster hits us. In depth examples in the book - from different countries on the frontline of climate change - prove that austerity measures caused by the ‘mounting debt in climate-vulnerable developing countries’ exacerbate the challenges of dealing with climate change. The authors challenge the mindset of wealthy nations to change from seeing climate financing as an ‘aid for poverty reduction’, to instead seeing it as an investment into climate adaptation and resilience measures: suddenly opening up whole new avenues of action, including leveraging debt innovatively. This book is an excellent and essential read for all, giving us real routes to real action to deal with climate change, in collaboration with the very people who can take the action to mitigate its impact, if resourced well.’ Minni Jain, author of The Language of Water and Director, The Flow Partnership UK‘From Crisis to Action is a much-needed call for active hope in the face of the growing impacts of climate change. The authors repeatedly shatter lazy paradigms and always put people at the heart of their narrative, filling the book with specific examples of communities already suffering from climate impacts and illustrating a positive response with specific examples of adaptive innovations … the authors make the case for rejecting any sense of victim narrative, instead promoting the idea of climate positive development … Voices from the front line remind us that the countries most vulnerable to climate impacts do not require a transition from high to low carbon, but a human development pathway centred on access to energy, more equitable global financial dynamics and the acknowledgement that developed countries will not be immune from their own climate damages and from the implications of economic and human shocks around the world …’ Nigel Topping, UN Climate Change High Level Climate Champion, COP26

Abena Takyiwaa Asamoah-Okyere is a Technical Advisor (Sustainability) to the finance minister in Ghana. She leads SDG and climate finance initiatives. She has served as a Climate Finance Advisor supporting the V20 Secretariat and advocates for development-positive climate resilient growth for developing countries. Abena coordinated the development of Ghana’s Climate Prosperity Plan.

Christina Natalia Widjaja is a dedicated researcher focused on climate change impacts at United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security. She is working on various international projects to provide in-depth qualitative and quantitative analysis and insights on climate-related disaster risks and ways to adapt/mitigate the impacts. Christina is passionate about translating science into accessible narratives to inspire action.

Tim Smedley is a book author, journalist, and ghostwriter, writing about environmental and social justice. His first book Clearing The Air: The Beginning and the End of Air Pollution (2019, Bloomsbury) was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize. His second book The Last Drop: Solving the World’s Water Crisis (2023, Pan Macmillan) was a Times Book of the Year.