2024 Sustainable Business Reading List: Our Essential Picks
Each year, we curate a list of the top books that sustainable business professionals absolutely *must* pop onto their bookshelves. Welcome to our sixth annual Sustainable Business Reading List!
This year, we sourced our picks with help from the Change Hub, Reconsidered’s membership community for busy sustainable business professionals. You’ll find a diverse range of titles that won’t just bring back the spark that first got you hooked on sustainable business, but will also help you learn tangible skills for making an even bigger impact.
If you’d like to dig deeper, we’re starting a virtual Book Club in the Change Hub to unpack several of the reads on this list. We’d love for you to join us!
Our Top Sustainable Business Books for 2024
Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life (Dacher Keltner)
“This book is for everyone needing to be reminded of WHY they are working in sustainability. With burnout, fatigue and cynicism facing sustainability professionals, Dacher helps remind us that the often-neglected emotion “awe” can help motivate and spur us on in the fight to conserve our Earth and steward our resources responsibly.”
— Melanie Copple, Executive Director, The Biophilic Institute
Birnam Wood (Eleanor Catton)
“Birnam Wood is a must-read novel that contemplates the connection between nature, politics, money, ethics and philanthropy. It explores trust, capitalism, socialism, greed, public interest and so much more. I was on the edge of my seat reading this book and haunted by it (in the best way) for weeks after I finished it.”
— Lis Best, Executive Coach and Founder, Girls Club Collective
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (Isabel Wilkerson)
“Although originally released and making waves in 2020, the launch of the new film Origins this past December reminded us that Caste is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the roots of many of today's social problems.”
— Valerie Kramis, Co-Founder, Agenda28
Collaborate or Die: The Co-Creation Book for Change Makers (James Veenhoff and Martijn Pater)
“This take on how we need to expand our way of collaborating is an interesting one. We are facing bigger problems so we need different ways of tackling these, creating more diversity within teams. This is why I was triggered to buy the book — to find out if there is hands-on knowledge that is applicable to starting new projects.”
— Nazli Parlayan, Freelancer and Head of Partnerships Marketing, Stichting Jong Ondernemen
Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World (Alison Taylor)
“In this must-read release, Alison Taylor unpacks the current state of corporate social responsibility efforts and shines a critical spotlight on ‘best practice’ approaches that continue to service the status quo. Confronting at times, inspiring at others, the book is a much-needed wake-up call for sustainability professionals and a rallying cry to recenter ethics as a core part of the corporate responsibility conversation.”
— Jessica Marati Radparvar, Founder, Reconsidered
Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanity's Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism (Vanessa Machado de Olivera)
“This is a necessarily unsettling book that centers Indigenous approaches to roadmap the bigger-picture challenge ahead: “hospicing modernity”, aka showing me how the often-ambitious ways I was doing sustainability were actually reinforcing the system I said I wanted to change.”
— Julia Sherbakov, Founder and Host, Impact Journey Podcast
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need (Bill Gates)
“This book focuses on the opportunities we have to solve the challenging problem of climate change with a broad array of tools, including government policies, current technology, new inventions and the ability of private markets to deliver products to huge numbers of people. It also reminds us that beyond taking personal action, we all have influence as citizens, consumers and employees or employers to bring about the systemic change we need to address this critical issue.”
— Nabha Rege, Sustainability Strategy Consultant, Your Carbon Steps, LLC
Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now (John Doerr)
“I found John Doerr's OKR-centered approach to driving corporate sustainability refreshing. Unlike most books that tend to focus on the why, this one delves into the practical how. I believe it is relevant to the current zeitgeist and has assisted me in effectively speaking to business-minded stakeholders about our ESG initiatives and goals.”
— Tony Wu, DEI and Social Impact Program Manager, Sweetgreen
The Future of the Responsible Company: What We've Learned from Patagonia's First 50 Years (Vincent Stanley and Yvon Chouinard)
“This book offers valuable insights into Patagonia’s pioneering success in sustainable business practices, providing replicable strategies for other companies to adopt. It looks at future trends and serves as inspiration for those looking to make a positive impact while running/operating a profitable business.”
— Rachel Taplinger, Head of Sustainability, Maybelline New York
Thinking In Systems (Donella Meadows)
“Meadows' classic primer on systems thinking helps us see our societal challenges in new ways, and find solutions through the interconnected nature of everything. After reading this book, the world will make more sense to you.”
— Chris Gaither, Co-Founder, Regenerous
Well At Work: Creating Wellbeing in Any Workspace (Esther Sternberg)
“Dr. Sternberg is a renowned researcher and medical doctor who studies the impact of the environment on stress. Given the challenges in our work and the high burnout rates we are seeing, this book can provide us with small, impactful changes to boost our resilience.”
— Gayathri Unnikrishnan, Founder, Liveable
Looking for more great reads? Check out our past editions for even more impact-focused recommendations.