Drawdown: Most Comprehensive Guide to Climate Solutions Ever Written - Paul Hawken

What if solving climate change wasn't about stopping one big thing but starting a hundred proven ones?

Most climate books tell you what's wrong. Drawdown tells you exactly what works.

Published in 2017 and edited by environmentalist and entrepreneur Paul Hawken, Drawdown is the result of a years-long research project involving over 200 scientists, economists, and policy experts from across the world. Their mission was simple but unprecedented: identify, rank, and measure the 100 most substantive solutions to reverse global warming; not theoretically, but based on real-world data, existing technology, and proven results.

The outcome is arguably the most important climate book ever written.

What "Drawdown" Actually Means

The title refers to the point at which greenhouse gases in the atmosphere peak and begin to decline, the moment we turn the corner. The book's central argument is that we already have most of the tools we need to get there. Not someday. Not after some technological miracle. Now, with what exists today.

That reframe alone is worth the price of the book.

What's Actually Inside

The book is organized into sections by solution category: energy, food, women and girls, land use, transport, buildings, materials, and more. Each solution gets its own chapter with a clear explanation of how it works, where it's already being implemented, and a precise estimate of how much carbon reduction it can deliver if scaled.

Some of the rankings will genuinely surprise you. Reducing food waste comes in higher than solar panels. Educating girls and expanding access to family planning, not topics you typically hear about in climate discussions, rank in the top 10. Onshore wind, plant-rich diets, distributed solar, walkable cities, clean cooking; the list is as diverse as the planet itself.

This is one of the book's greatest strengths: it demolishes the idea that climate action is one thing done by one type of person in one part of the world. The solutions are everywhere. The opportunities are everywhere. And more and more of them are already happening at scale.

Why It Works for ClimateInvested.org Readers

The most common reason people disengage from climate action is the belief that nothing they do actually matters; that the problem is too big, too complex, and too far gone for individual or community-level action to make a dent.

Drawdown systematically dismantles that belief with data.

Every chapter is a proof point that progress is real, that solutions exist, and that the trajectory of the planet is not fixed. It doesn't ask you to be perfect or to sacrifice everything, it asks you to understand the landscape and find where you fit within it. That's exactly the kind of realistic optimism that drives everything we do at Climate Invested.

Whether you're an individual making household decisions, a business owner thinking about operations, a student choosing a career, or a policymaker looking for evidence-based direction, Drawdown has something specific and actionable for you.

The Updated Edition

In 2020, Hawken released Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation as a spiritual successor, broader in scope and even more solutions-focused. But Drawdown remains the foundational text. If you read one before the other, start here.

A free summary of all 100 solutions is also available at drawdown.org worth bookmarking regardless of whether you read the book.

The Bottom Line

Drawdown is the antidote to climate paralysis. It is the clearest, most data-backed argument that the tools to fix this already exist and that the only question left is how fast we choose to use them.

It doesn't promise to fix everything. It just shows you, clearly and precisely, how much is already being fixed.

🔗 Pick up your copy — Amazon.

Who It's Best For: Anyone who wants to move from climate anxiety to climate literacy. Ideal for readers who are solutions-minded, data-driven, or simply tired of doom-heavy content with no clear path forward. Also essential reading for students, educators, entrepreneurs, and anyone considering a career in climate.

Difficulty: Easy to Intermediate — each chapter is self-contained and accessible, no scientific background required

Read Time: Can be read cover to cover in a weekend or dipped into chapter by chapter over time

Pages: 240 (original edition)