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Book: The Ministry for the Future
Author: Kim Stanley Robinson
Review by: Penelope Prime, retired professor of business and economics and founder and director of Atlanta’s China Research Center
The Ministry for the Future, a novel, opens with a deadly heat wave in India that kills everyone in a village except one foreign aid worker.
As I was finishing the book this April, India experienced its worst heat disaster yet. Robinson nailed it.
In the novel, the Ministry is set up in Zurich in 2025, right before the heat event in India. We follow the one man standing in that Indian village and the head of the new Ministry throughout the story. They eventually come into contact, initially with animosity and later with a mutual vision.
Robinson describes pockets of policy and leadership dealing with climate in various countries, but each country has its national interests. Conflicts abound, with much despair. The Ministry is not powerful or richly resourced. Nevertheless, it nobly tries to coordinate efforts across the globe to thwart the worst of climate change.
The characters discuss what policy options might make a difference, with experimentation scattered around the world. For example, countries try economic incentives such as carbon coins paid to anyone who can capture carbon. The carbon coin system allows even small farmers to work on the problem while supplementing their incomes.
Like the coins, there are pieces of progress here and there that start to improve the climate numbers, leading to a slight perception of optimism due to resilience and innovation.
The complexity of dealing with climate change can seem overwhelming. After 563 pages, this book does nothing to dispel that feeling. However, Robinson’s vision resembles iterations of millions of actors who ultimately do have a common goal. I found this book fascinating and surprisingly positive.
Editor’s notes: Global Atlanta will receive a 10 percent commission on any purchase of this book through the links on this page.
Each year, Global Atlanta asks influential readers and community leaders to review the most impactful book they read during the course of the year. This endeavor has continued annually since 2010.
See last year’s full list of books on BookShop here, and all 2021 reader picks here.
All books were chosen and reviews written independently, with only mild editing from our staff.