FT Business Book of the Year

Best business books

All the books longlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award

Five Times Faster by Simon Sharpe

Five Times Faster

Five Times Faster [is] an insider’s account of government efforts to cut emissions by former British civil servant Simon Sharpe… whose work in the energy department and foreign office convinced him it was too simplistic to blame oil companies or short-termist politicians alone for slow progress. — Read the complete FT review

Synopsis

We need to act five times faster to avoid dangerous climate change. As Greenland melts, Australia burns, and greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, we think we know who the villains are: oil companies, consumerism, weak political leaders. But what if the real blocks to progress are the ideas and institutions that are supposed to be helping us? Five Times Faster is an inside story from Simon Sharpe, who has spent ten years at the forefront of climate change policy and diplomacy. In our fight to avoid dangerous climate change, science is pulling its punches, diplomacy is picking the wrong battles, and economics has been fighting for the other side. This provocative and engaging book sets out how we should rethink our strategies and reorganise our efforts in the fields of science, economics, and diplomacy, so that we can act fast enough to stay safe.