Dec 5, 2022
Trade Winds, by Christiaan De Beukelaer
*Our guest today is** Christiaan De Beukelaer**, a sailor, traveller, and a researcher at the University of Melbourne. *
*Christiaan and Kat discuss his book**Trade Winds, A voyage to a sustainable shipping.*
*In 2020, Christiaan De Beukelaer spent 150 days covering 14,000 nautical miles aboard the schooner Avontuur, a hundred-year-old sailing vessel that transports cargo across the Atlantic Ocean. Embarking in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, he wanted to understand the realities of a little-known alternative to the shipping industry on which our global economy relies, and which contributes more carbon emissions than aviation.*
*What started as a three-week stint of fieldwork aboard the ship turned into a five-month journey, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced all borders shut while crossing the ocean, preventing the crew from stepping ashore for months on end.*
*Trade winds **engagingly recounts De Beukelaer's life-changing personal odyssey and the complex journey the shipping industry is on to cut its carbon emissions. The **Avontuur**’s mission remains crucial as ever: the shipping industry urgently needs to stop using fossil fuels, starting today. If we can’t swiftly decarbonise shipping, we can’t solve the climate crisis.*
*Bill McKibben, author of **The End of Nature** describes Christiaan’s book as “a truly fascinating account of a voyage, but also of an idea that is counter-intuitive in a world based on speed, but revelatory for a planet that is going to have to start taking real care of itself. There's a bit of romance here, and a lot of reality."*
*Deborah Cowen, author of **The Deadly Life of Logistics**, in turn says that “This is a book that should change the world.”*
*It should indeed!*
*Trade Winds is** published by Manchester University Press; our listeners can order using the link below and get a 40% discount with the code GIFT40. *
*https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526163097/trade-winds/*