GREAT ADAPTATIONS - In the shadow of a climate crisis

These are the lesser-told stories of good, bad, ugly and very ugly adaptation to climate change – they will be the inspirations for the positive adaptations of the future; and the forewarnings of the mal-adaptations that must be avoided.

"The writing may be on the wall about the speed and scale of the rapid transition needed to cut pollution and adapt to an increasingly volatile climate, but it takes someone truly able to see to be able to read it. Morgan Phillips has accomplished that admirably in Great Adaptations. He vividly brings to life the immediate threats and opportunities for how we must change to all thrive within the boundaries of the biosphere. Here is a twin wind of reality and hope."
Andrew Simms, Rapid Transition Alliance

Across twelve captivating and beautifully illustrated chapters, Morgan Phillips recounts stories of adaptation from the air-conditioned pavements of Doha and the feral camels of Australia, to the ‘cool rooms’ of Paris and the ‘fog catchers’ of Morocco.

Great Adaptations examines how adaptation is framed, unpicks the contested notion of Deep Adaptation, explores the potential of Transformative Adaptation, and questions the legitimacy of the ‘reassuring stories’ that still dominate mainstream climate discourse.

It is conversational, provocative, engaging and visually arresting – a tactile, pocket-sized and very shareable object.

“In the climate action camp we so often have to tick either the “adaptation” or the “mitigation” box – whether at workshops, for grants, or speaking topics. In Great Adaptations this unhelpful dichotomy is laid bare through provocative analogies and powerful real life examples. Morgan’s story telling is urgent and matter of fact, yet kind and hopeful. It serves as a huge challenge to us all to strive for radical change as fast as “humanely” – not just “humanly” – possible.”
Sonja Graham, CEO Global Action Plan

We stand on the edge of climate catastrophe that threatens billions around the world and is unpicking the very life systems we rely on. With the time for tinkering around the edges long past, what is needed now is bold and visionary thinking - this is an important contribution to imagining a different future.
Asad Rehman, Director, War on Want

“Great Adaptations is a revelation in terms of unravelling novel conversations and contentions on the topic of climate adaptation and is a remarkable attempt to forge a mutually reinforcing relation with climate mitigation. It forays into diverse sub-topics within the broader spectrum, including topics such as deep adaptation, as well as an introspection of maladaptive strategies, framing arguments on the need to channel more climate finance into adaptation projects and reiteration of the importance of creating a befitting conception of adaptation within the public minds. The author has managed to pen an intriguing combination of confluences and dichotomies, thus creating pathways for further contemplation.”
Prof. Dr. Saleemul Huq, Director, ICCAD; Chair, Expert Advisory Group, CVF

Great Adaptations is a call to action, it presses home the need for adaptations that are ecologically restorative and socially just.

“It is only by embracing adaptation that will we be able to build the solidarity and belonging that can bring us out of the crisis. And, as Great Adaptations shows it has to be adaptation from below, not passive feed-down from techno-fixes and bureaucratic intervention.”
Dr. Wolfgang Knorr, Lund University

“My earnest hope is that this book will be a turning of the tide; and that, with the silence broken, the world can finally begin the painful process of awakening properly to climate reality... including to the reality of how we must now adapt transformatively, if we are to have any chance of heading off eco-induced collapses.”
Prof. Rupert Read, University of East Anglia

Dr. Morgan Phillips FRSA, is Co-Director of The Glacier Trust, a UK charity that enables climate change adaptation in Nepal. He is also Head of Insight at environmental charity Global Action Plan, Trustee at National Association for Environmental Education, and Associate Director at Green Schools Project.

I know Morgan to be an impressive thinker – someone who follows where the climate science leads, rather than bending to what is politically feasible. Someone who understands that any proportionate response to climate change must flow from searching questions about who we are and what we value.
Tom Crompton, Ph.D. Director, Common Cause Foundation

“In 200+ episodes, recorded over six and a half years, not once have we talked meaningfully about climate adaptation. Morgan is too polite to put it this way, but his powerful book asks “why the hell not?”. Great Adaptations is a wake up call to gobby podcasters, and - more importantly - to a sector that, in the rich world at least, talks lazily of “fixing” or “stopping" climate change while the fires burn hotter and the hurricanes blow harder.”
Ollie Hayes, co-host Sustainababble podcast