What Can I Do?

My Path from Climate Despair to Action

By: Jane Fonda

Narrated by: Jane Fonda, Annie Leonard, George Newbern, Adenrele Ojo, Tantoo Cardinal

A call to action from Jane Fonda, one of the most inspiring activists of our time, urging us to wake up to the looming disaster of climate change and equipping us with the tools we need to join her in protest

"This is the last possible moment in history when changing course can mean saving lives and species on an unimaginable scale. It's too late for moderation."

In the fall of 2019, frustrated with the obvious inaction of politicians and inspired by Greta Thunberg, Naomi Klein, and student climate strikers, Jane Fonda moved to Washington, D.C., to lead weekly climate change demonstrations on Capitol Hill. On October 11, she launched Fire Drill Fridays, and has since led thousands of people in nonviolent civil disobedience, risking arrest to protest for action. In What Can I Do?, Fonda weaves her deeply personal journey as an activist alongside conversations with and speeches by leading climate scientists and inspiring community organizers, and dives deep into the issues, such as water, migration, and human rights, to emphasize what is at stake. Most significantly, Fonda equips us all with the tools we need to join her in protest, so that everyone can work to combat the climate crisis.

No stranger to protest, Fonda's life has been famously shaped by activism. And now she is once again galvanizing the public to take to the streets. Many are already aware of the looming disaster of climate change and realize that a moral responsibility rests on our shoulders. In 2019, we saw atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases hit the highest level ever recorded in human history, and our window of opportunity to act is quickly closing. We are facing a climate crisis, but we're also facing an empathy crisis and an inequality crisis; the surge of protests over police violence against black Americans has once again highlighted the links between racism and environmental degradation in our country. It isn't only earth's life-support systems that are unraveling. So too is our social fabric. This is going to take an all-out war on drilling and fracking and deregulation and racism and misogyny and colonialism and despair all at the same time.

As Annie Leonard, executive director of Greenpeace USA and Fonda's partner in developing Fire Drill Fridays, has declared, "Change is inevitable; by design, or by disaster." Together, we can commandeer change for the positive--but it will require collective actions taken by social movements on an unprecedented scale. The problems we face now require every one of us to join the fight. The fight for not only our immediate future, but for the future of generations to come.

*This audiobook program includes a PDF of photographs and graphs.

100% of the author's net proceeds from What Can I Do? have gone to Greenpeace

Critic reviews

"“What Can I Do?” isn’t a rhetorical question...The Oscar Award-winning actress and committed activist sounds the alarm on looming climate disaster, providing readers with actions they can take to create positive change in a world on the brink." —USA Today

"An informative guide to getting involved in the fight against climate change."— Publishers Weekly

Jane Fonda's focus, commitment and her ability to inspire others with her actions and voice 👏

Love this book❣️ Jane excels in writing as much as she does in everything she tickles. A visionary for the future who puts her actions where her words and beliefs are.

This is how we make a change

Enjoyed the action it shows we can take! Let’s heal our planet together. Fossil fuels are the real problem.

Excellent tools to help address the climate emergency

Jane Fonda gives an impassioned reading of her book, “What Can I Do?” As a climate activist practicing civil disobedience, she provides a guide for all of us to get involved to fight the existential threat of climate change. As an octogenarian, she saw the way the world was when there were only 2 billion people on the planet and how we have systematically degraded our environment. Excellent book and a wake up call for all of to get involved to save our planet.

I am impatient to hear Jane’s perspective on this urgent question.

Unfortunately thought I bought this title, the ap won’t allow it to play but instead keeps repeating the introduction. Troubleshooting suggestion say to delete and reinstall but there is no delete option. I want to hear this and I’m frustrated

Thank you Jane!

Thanks to everyone involved for educating us on climate change. Your recommendations to solutions help us to find our way through this crisis!! Lorraine 🙏🤩👍✌