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Hannah Ritchie

What Hannah Ritchie thinks about sustainability

@hannah-ritchie · 40 positions · On ppll ↗

Data scientist at Our World in Data and author of Not the End of the World. Writes Sustainability by Numbers, working through energy and climate questions with the numbers in front of her, and revises in public when they say something she did not expect.

Hannah Ritchie did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

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Only Hannah Ritchie on sustainability. See everyone on sustainability

5 dated positions, 2023 to 2025, in their own words. Our reading of what Hannah Ritchie has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingFor the first time in history it is possible to improve human wellbeing and reduce environmental impact at the same time.

    Their wordsMy argument is simple: for the first time in history, we can improve human wellbeing while reducing our environmental impact.

    ↗Can we break the human development-environment trade-off?sustainabilitybynumbers.com 1st of 4 in this piece

  3. Our readingHumans have never been sustainable: earlier generations had a lower environmental impact and lives that were much worse.

    Their wordsBy this broader definition, humans have never been truly sustainable.

    ↗Can we break the human development-environment trade-off?sustainabilitybynumbers.com 2nd of 4 in this piece

  5. Our readingCheap clean energy has broken the old trade-off between raising living standards and cutting environmental harm.

    energybatteries

    Their wordsThe rapid drop in renewable energy costs in the last decade (alongside huge improvements in battery technologies) has started to break this deadlock.

    ↗Can we break the human development-environment trade-off?sustainabilitybynumbers.com 3rd of 4 in this piece

  7. Our readingBreaking the trade-off between prosperity and the environment is an opportunity rather than something that will happen on its own.

    Their wordsHere, I always emphasise that it is an opportunity, not an inevitability. There’s no law that says this will happen.

    ↗Can we break the human development-environment trade-off?sustainabilitybynumbers.com 4th of 4 in this piece

  8. 2 years earlier

  9. Our readingGrowing food to put in cars is a mistake at a moment when the world should be farming less land, not more.

    Their wordsThe world’s croplands are still expanding. At a time when we should be using less land for farming, allocating high-quality farmland to grow food that we then put into cars is a mistake.

    ↗Biofuels: the US could switch to electric cars and solar power on just a fraction of the landhannahritchie.substack.com 5th of 5 in this piece