@marklynas.bsky.social
Environmental writer, speaker and activist. Head of Policy at WePlanet. Science advisor with the Climate Vulnerable Forum. New book: 'Six Minutes to Winter: Nuclear War and How to Avoid it' out now. My weekly podcast: Saving the World from Bad Ideas.
Have you ever heard anyone say that there's not enough land for renewables? That solar farms will compromise food production? Bad idea! And 'Saving the World from Bad Ideas' is what we're about, so I was delighted to host the BBC's Tom Heap this week to discuss land issues.
youtu.be/hJPDtR_7XK0
Delighted to see that 'Six Minutes to Winter' is published in Poland today... wydawnictwoport.pl/ksiazki/za-s...
02.03.2026 09:51 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Is industrial food actually the villain — or one of humanity's greatest achievements?
This week @marklynas.bsky.social is joined by @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social co-author of Feed the People: Why Industrial Food is Good and How to Make it Even Better.
🎙️Ep available now: link below.
Cultivated meat, where is it now?
This week @marklynas.bsky.social is joined by @brucefriedrich.bsky.social founder and President of @gfi.org to discuss his new book called Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food and Our Future.
🎙️Ep linked below
New episode 🎙️
Bad Idea #35: ‘THIS is the Future’
@marklynas.bsky.social is joined by David Wallace-Wells, New York Times columnist and author of The Uninhabitable Earth, to tackle a deceptively simple bad idea: the belief that we can predict the future with confidence.
🎧 weplanet.org/podcast
Is it over for nuclear? As the renewables + batteries electro-tech clean energy revolution gathers pace, do we still need those hugely expensive giant reactors? Join me and Bryony Worthington for our Season 2 ender podcast episode... we went out with a bang!
www.weplanet.org/podcast/epis...
EU politicians will decide on Wednesday whether to go ahead with the ban on words like burger and sausage for plant-based foods.
That means we have one last chance to show how unpopular – and absurd – this policy is.
Act now and see what you can do on savetheburger.org
Is the food industry slowly killing us? In this week's episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas sits down with Professor Sarah Berry to take on Bad Idea #33: “Ultra Processed Foods are killing us”
Listen to it to wherever you get your podcasts!
This weekend, WePlanet coordinated a protest against the closure of Doel-2 near Antwerp. The owner, French energy company Engie, wants to get rid of their nuclear assets as they'll be more profitable selling gas for the foreseeable future, to burn when renewables don't deliver.
Don't stop me now!
Is nuclear power too expensive? Exhibit A is the UK's Hinkley C, over budget and overdue... will copy Sizewell C suffer the same problems? As some project a financing cost of £100bn for Sizewell, MD Julia Pyke tells me that it will actually save consumers £2bn/yr.
www.weplanet.org/podcast/epis...
If you're in London on the evening of 3 December, there's only one place you need to be - in a pub having drinks with me to discuss the future of environmentalism in the UK! RSVP here:
act.weplanet.org/p/drinks-wit...
"It can't happen here" - or can it? I talk to Professor Susan Stokes about the playbook that elected leaders use to quietly erode democracy from within — the same tactics that have turned Hungary, Turkey, and now the United States into hybrid autocracies. www.weplanet.org/podcast/epis...
14.11.2025 11:26 — 👍 4 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0This was my favourite episode for a long time - Zuzu is such a star, and her energy is just infectious. Sharks are lucky to have someone like her on their side! Please do listen...
30.10.2025 11:40 — 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
“There’s no hope for humanity.”
This week on Saving the World from Bad Ideas, I talk with Dr SJ Beard about why doom thinking can paralyse us — and how existential hope might just save us.
🎧 Listen: www.weplanet.org/podcast/epis...
New episode 🎙️
Bad Idea #27 “There’s no hope for humanity”
@marklynas.bsky.social is joined by existential risk researcher Dr SJ Beard, who argues that we need to look beyond fear and fatalism to build a future worth surviving for.
🎧 weplanet.org/podcast
New episode 🎙️
Bad Idea #26: “Facts will beat Misinformation.”
From fake news to populism, pandemics to AI, this one digs into how misinformation spreads, why it sticks, and what we can do about it... with Cambridge psychologist Sander van der Linden.
🎧 weplanet.org/podcast
It’s a provocative chat about fear, facts + the future — pushing back against both denialism and doomerism. Do join us!
09.10.2025 11:28 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
We dig into:
- Why emissions may peak soon
- Why warming >3°C is unlikely
- Why deaths from disasters are at record lows
- Collapse myths, biodiversity, + nuclear war (the real existential threat)
Is climate catastrophism actually a bad idea? 🌍
In my latest podcast, I talk with Ted Nordhaus (@Breakthrough Institute) about why apocalyptic climate narratives backfire — and how tech + prosperity can drive decarbonisation.
Don't miss it!
www.weplanet.org/podcast/epis...
That was a different case, raised by a member state, France. I'm not sure whether this will reconcile or not.
08.10.2025 12:53 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
WOW! The European Parliament just voted to BAN the words 'burger' and 'sausage' when used in sustainable plant-based alternatives. HUGE win for the meat and dairy lobby in the EU, and lots more confusion for consumers if this goes through. Insane!
www.euroveg.eu/european-par...
Please sign and share this, particularly if you're a European citizen. What Brussels is proposing is both damaging and incredibly dumb, and the European Parliament is about to vote (on 8 October) on an amendment to make it even worse! Please do sign 🙏
weplanet.yourmovement.org/p/noconfusio...
New Saving the World from Bad Ideas 🎙️
With @mliebreich.bsky.social
I tackle Bad Idea #24: “We’ll just use Hydrogen!” 💧
Hydrogen hype ≠ climate strategy. We break down why it’s overblown, where it might fit, and why pragmatism wins.
🎧 savingtheworldfrombadideas.substack.com/p/bad-idea-2...
Is green hydrogen the silver bullet for decarbonisation — or a trillion-dollar distraction?
@marklynas.bsky.social is joined by energy analyst, investor, and podcaster @mliebreich.bsky.social to unpack Bad Idea #24: “We’ll just use Hydrogen!”
Hydrogen is the worst 'bad idea' yet - and Michael has immense fun taking it apart...
02.10.2025 09:06 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
The EU wants to ban words like “burger” + “sausage” from plant-based foods. So get ready for “protein tubes” + “alternative discs.” 🙃 Nobody’s confused — except Brussels. Consumers + the planet deserve better. #NoConfusion
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Xi Jinping announced China's new climate targets personally, a positive gesture, but the targets brought little clarity on China’s future emission pathway. Targeting a 7-10% emission reduction by 2035 from an undefined "peak level" undersells China's current clean energy boom.
24.09.2025 20:09 — 👍 147 🔁 46 💬 5 📌 11
Important leaders declaration just released by the heads of the most climate vulnerable countries here in New York:
cvfv20.org/as-world-hur...
I know I'll take flak for this, but the principle - if not the execution - is sound. Modular reactors can enable the decarbonisation of parts of the economy that are otherwise hard to reach. But tying their development to the US? That's less sound. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
15.09.2025 06:13 — 👍 642 🔁 92 💬 112 📌 11
