The Short List of Climate Actions That Will Actually Work

Michael Barnard is one of my favourite energy analysts, and he’s just published this list, which is a great resource. As Ayana Elizabeth Johnson says… ‘f**k hope, what’s the strategy?”

• Electrify everything. Cut wasted heat and wasted energy by switching from combustion to renewables and storage.

• Overbuild renewables. Curtailment is a feature, not a bug. A bit of excess capacity makes the whole system cheaper and more stable.

• Build continent-scale grids and markets. HVDC supergrids allow wind and solar to flow across borders, balancing supply and demand.

• Build lots of storage. Batteries for hours, pumped hydro for days, biomethane for strategic reserves, and thermal storage for seasons.

• Restore nature. Reforest, rebuild wetlands, and repair the ecosystems that stabilize climate over centuries.

• Fix agriculture. Cut ammonia fertilizer use with low-tillage agriculture, precision agriculture including with drones, and switch to nitrogen-fixing microbes.

• Decarbonize industry. Electrify steel and cement, deploy mass timber, use biomethane DRI and electric arc furnaces.

• Price carbon. Europe’s carbon border adjustment is pushing the world toward fairness and accountability.

• Stop subsidizing fossil fuels. Ending public financial support for oil and gas is one of the fastest ways to accelerate the transition.

• Address refrigerants and methane. Implement the Kigali Amendment and eliminate these easier to address greenhouse gases quickly.

  Then there are the distractions: hydrogen for energy, most carbon capture and storage, nuclear including small modular reactors, and other schemes that look good on paper but don’t scale or deliver.