Bonnier triumphs in nine-way auction for 'defining' book on climate crisis

Bonnier Books UK has triumphed in a nine-way auction for Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac’s “defining” book on the climate crisis.

The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis will be the first non-fiction title for new literary imprint Manilla Press. The publisher will join with Riot Communications for a “major, high-impact” publicity drive.

UK and Commonwealth rights were bought by publisher Margaret Stead from Doug Abrams at Idea Architects via Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein in a nine-way auction. Erroll MacDonald pre-empted for Knopf, Penguin Random House in the US. The Future We Choose will be published in the UK on 25th February 2020.

Described as a “passionate call to arms” the book is written by Figueres, the former executive secretary for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Rivett-Carnac, who was her political strategist at the UN, and worked with her in leading the negotiations for the Paris Agreement of 2015.

The synopsis explains: “Together, they outline for us two possible scenarios for our future: how life on Earth will be by 2050 if we fail to meet the Paris climate targets; or, how it will look and feel to live in a carbon neutral, regenerative world. They ask each of us to confront the crisis head on, with determination and optimism. Practical as well as empowering, the book will feature the ten things each of us can do today, to make a difference. The Future We Choose will be a book for everyone: from teenagers to adults, for all of us who know there is an emergency looming but feel powerless to stop it.”

Figueres and Rivett-Carnac said: “We know that climate change destruction is every day more evident. What we have not yet realized is that we still have the opportunity to not only protect ourselves and our children, but actually create a much better world for all. This book shows how we can do that.”

Stead added: “The team at Bonnier Books UK are immensely proud to be the publishers of this defining book on the most important issue of our times. The Future We Choose is the book on the climate emergency that all of us have been waiting for. It shows us that all is not lost, and what each of us can do to secure the future world for ourselves and for generations to come. As Christiana and Tom say, this could be our final hour – but it can also be our finest hour.”