Renewables rise, nature recovers: Pearce’s hopeful blueprint for a climate solution

In a keynote interview, Fred Pearce argues in his book Despite It All that the climate challenge is solvable: renewables are overtaking fossil fuels and getting cheaper, driven largely by China, while nature can rebound if given space. He urges thoughtful rewilding, acknowledges grid and energy-transition challenges, and notes that the population bomb has been defused as fertility falls globally. The bigger hurdle now is unequal consumption, but even energy-hungry AI data centers can be powered with green energy if policy and investment keep pace, offering a hopeful, multi-pronged path forward.