From fatal heatwaves and cruel droughts to devastating floods and fast-depleting water tables, climate change is the greatest disruptor of our time – and it can no longer be ignored.

For most of us the odds seem overwhelming and solutions seem out of reach. Yet, in this forcefully argued book, climate change practitioner, teacher and investor Mridula Ramesh emphasizes that while the situation is grim, it is not without hope.

Drawing on her extensive practical and investing experience, she explores myriad facets of this raging issue: why women are peculiarly affected by a warming climate; how climate change poses a security threat to the Indian state; why just focussing on green sources of power is an incomplete solution for India; how managing waste can create hundreds of thousands of urban jobs and how households can cope in a ‘Day Zero’ water situation.

In doing so, she shows how climate warriors, from the cotton fields of Punjab and thriving eco start-ups in Bengaluru, to a forest guardian in Assam and the johads of Rajasthan, have employed ingenuity and initiative to adapt to the changing conditions – and sometimes reverse their shattering effects.

Timely, urgent and thought-provoking, this book is an urgent call to action – and an essential manifesto for every Indian citizen to follow.