Hannah Ritchie
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.
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31 Aug 2026
Our framing
Desalination for drinking and household water is cheap and uses less energy than commonly assumed.
Their wordsSupplying drinking and household water through desalination is really quite cheap, and uses far less energy than I’d have guessed.
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31 Aug 2026
Our framing
Reservoirs are not inherently cheaper to build than desalination plants.
Their wordsReservoirs are not automatically cheaper than desalination plants.
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31 Aug 2026
Our framing
Reserving desalination plants only for emergency drought use does not work well.
Their wordsThe problem is that reserving desalination for emergency situations does not seem to work well.
- 13 days earlier
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18 Aug 2026
Our framing
The UK will need to build more reservoirs to cope with future water-starved summers
Their wordsIf the UK is to survive water-starved summers in the future, it will need to build more reservoirs and plug holes in our existing pipelines at the same time.
↗The UK needs to build more reservoirshannahritchie.substack.com
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18 Aug 2026
Our framing
Britain has a systemic problem building large infrastructure projects, including reservoirs
Their wordsI think Britain has a real problem with building almost anything, from train lines to houses, and reservoirs to energy infrastructure.
↗The UK needs to build more reservoirshannahritchie.substack.com
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18 Aug 2026
Our framing
Privatisation of the water industry created a disincentive for building new reservoirs
Their wordsThere is also a clear rationale for why privatisation would lead to a drought in reservoir-building.
↗The UK needs to build more reservoirshannahritchie.substack.com