A King, a climate change book for kids, and Cambridge Zero
Cambridge Zero Director Professor Emily Shuckburgh, King Charles and Natural England Chair Tony Juniper have co-authored a new book on climate change written for children.
"A Ladybird Book: Climate Change" includes an Afterword in which The Prince Charles, the former Prince of Wales sets out a personal message to readers. (The Afterword was written last year, when His Majesty The King was still The Prince of Wales.)
"Ever since I was a young teenager I have been deeply worried about the way we have shaped our world.’ ‘I am pleased to see that children across the world […] are now raising the alarm and calling for big changes to happen," wrote the former Prince of Wales. "Their efforts have emphasised the importance of caring about what life will be like in the future – there is a lesson in this for us all."
A Ladybird Book: Climate Change is adapted from the Ladybird Expert title first written and published by the three authors in 2017. This new edition has been updated with new climate data, an additional spread on the youth climate change movement, new illustrations and artwork as well as the new Afterword from the former Prince of Wales.
Professor Emily Shuckburgh, a climate scientist for decades and director of the University's Cambridge Zero climate change initiative said the book was written for today's children who have only known a planet ravaged by climate change.
"This book explains what is happening, why it is happening and what we can all do about it," Shuckburgh said.
"Children are our future, and this book is about their future. As a scientist who has studied the climate from pole-to-pole, and as a parent with two young daughters, I believe there is no more important issue to inform and educate young people about."
When the first edition of the Ladybird Expert book on Climate Change was published in 2017, CO2 levels in the atmosphere were 405 parts per million (ppm), now they are 420 ppm. As a consequence, the impacts of climate change are becoming worse and we saw temperatures reach an incredible 40C in the UK last summer.
"This year is expected to be the 10th year in succession where global temperatures have reached at least 1°C above pre-industrial levels, further emphasising the urgent need for action."
Dr Tony Juniper said it is vital that the world takes action now to avoid the worst consequences of global heating, and part of any plan must include empowering young people.
"This is not about passing the problem to them, but helping to ensure they are armed with the facts and thus in a stronger position to urge that changes are made to protect their future," Juniper said.
"There has been no more effective or committed champion of this cause than the former Prince of Wales and I am sure this book and his words will help to keep things moving in the right direction.”
This latest title in the heritage non-fiction series for Ladybird and has been newly illustrated by up-and-coming talent Aleesha Nandhra.
Libby Walden, Commissioning Editor for Ladybird said the Ladybird title has a long history of making non-fiction accessible for children.
"When the team were thinking about new titles and what topics children might be interested in, climate change and the importance of protecting our world was something we really wanted to explore," Walden said.
"We are incredibly proud to be publishing A Ladybird Book: Climate Change and hope that it informs, engages and empowers young people.”
His Majesty The King has been an environmental leader for over fifty years, working with businesses, charities, governments and others to help promote sustainable ways of living and working. The former Prince made his first speech on the environment in December 1968 and has long warned of the irreversible effects of climate change. His Majesty as The Prince of Wales, launched the Sustainable Markets Initiative at The World Economic Forum’s 2020 Annual Meeting in Davos. The SMI’s mission is to build a coordinated global effort that enables the private sector to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future. The Former Prince of Wales has also sought to address climate change challenges through his support of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and its Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change.
Professor Emily Shuckburgh, OBE, is Director of Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge's major climate change initiative. She is also Professor of Environmental Data Science at the Department of Computer Science and Technology. She is a mathematician and climate scientist and a Fellow of Darwin College, a Fellow of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Science and Policy, a Fellow of the British Antarctic Survey and a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society.
His Majesty King Charles and Professor Shuckburgh are both alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Dr Tony Juniper CBE is an environmentalist and writer. He is Chair of the official Nature recovery agency Natural England, a fellow of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and Chair of Cool Earth. He was formerly Director of Friends of the Earth, Executive Director at WWF, President of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and Special Advisor to the Prince of Wales’s International Sustainability Unit.
Aleesha Nandhra is an Illustrator and sometimes Printmaker from London. She has created work for the likes of Google, The LA Times, The Barbican and been shortlisted for The World Illustration Awards. Thematically she is drawn to work that deals with: Nature, culture, mental health, and everyday life. Narratives and visual storytelling play a huge part in her creative practice. Aleesha also co-runs ‘Mil Ke Chai’ an artist-led cafe which aims to create spaces that nurture friendship and enterprise across class, caste and religion.
Ladybird is one of the biggest children’s publishers globally and is an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Published 9 March 2023
The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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