Humanity’s Moment: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope

A personal call to action from an Australian IPCC author

Acknowledging that the world as we know it is coming apart is an act of courage.

If I live to look back at this troubled time, I want to say that I did all that I could, that I was on the right side of history.

The question is, do you want to be part of the legacy that restores our faith in humanity?

When climate scientist Joelle Gergis set to work on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, the research she encountered kept her up at night. Through countless hours spent with the world’s top scientists to piece together the latest global assessment of climate change, she realised that the impacts were occurring faster than anyone had predicted.

In Humanity’s Moment, Joelle takes us through the science in the IPCC report with unflinching honesty, explaining what it means for our future, while sharing her personal reflections on bearing witness to the heartbreak of the climate emergency unfolding in real time. But this is not a lament for a lost world. It is an inspiring reminder that human history is an endless tug-of-war for social justice. We are each a part of an eternal evolutionary force that can transform our world.

Joelle shows us that the solutions we need to live sustainably already exist — we just need the social movement and political will to create a better world. This book is a climate scientist’s guide to rekindling hope, and a call to action to restore our relationship with ourselves, each other and our planet.

‘I am in awe of Joelle’s courage and clarity. This book is a gift to the world.’ -Jess Hill, author of See What You Made Me Do


‘I’ve been waiting for an IPCC scientist to write this book. Where does someone charged with delivering the globe the stark existential truths find their hope; how do they navigate a path forward? How wonderful that Joelle, a nature lover with a poet’s sensibility, has been the one to do it.’ -Sarah Wilson, author of This One Wild and Precious Life

‘Lucid, heartfelt, devastatingly clear-eyed but also inspiring in its passionate plea for change, Humanity’s Moment is necessary reading.’ -James Bradley

Shortlisted for the Small Publishers’ Non-Fiction Adult Book of the Year in the Australian Book Industry Awards

Shortlisted for the Non-Fiction Book Award in the Queensland Literary Awards

Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Imprint: Black Inc AU
Publication date: 30/08/2022