Climate Action in 2026: What Does 'Getting it Right' Look Like?
- Forest Olson
- Jan 2
- 4 min read
CLIMATE NEWS MEDIA 53.002.1
There’s a moment when a problem stops being abstract and becomes personal. For a long time, climate change lived in that abstract space — charts, predictions, warnings, all pointing to a future that felt far away. But now its here. It’s in the smoke we breathe, the snow that never falls, the crops that don’t grow anymore. But we can still get it right.
I'll break down what we here at Climate News Media think, but first, here's my take.
MY TAKE
My opinion is that 2026 can be great (and I'm not even an optimist). We are seeing so many small initiatives rise and help fix the problems governments won't. That said, there are some governments working alongside scientists to implement solutions. However, here in the United States, the government is currently trying to deny the existence of climate change. This, for me is something I'm hopeful we can get past this new year, as blistering hot years and unpredictable weather, both effects of climate change, spread the country. This is becoming the baseline, no longer an irregularity. Climate change is becoming the norm, and at some point we have to realize that. Additionally, Climate News Media is going to be producing more than any previous year, and I am so excited to be making this content, and trying to make the world a better place with it.
Thanks for being here. Enjoy the show.
Forest Olson.
In 2026, climate change shouldn't be a debate. It’s a daily reality. It’s getting impossible to ignore. But here’s the thing: once something becomes impossible to ignore, it also becomes impossible not to imagine fixing. And that’s where we are now. As we face the reality of climate change, sometimes it feels like we will never solve it. But we really can.
So what does “getting it right” in 2026 actually look like?
1. It starts with accountability
For decades, the biggest polluters spent more time shaping public opinion than shaping solutions. They funded doubt, delayed action, and downplayed the risks. We can't change what Big Oil did in the past. But in 2026, accountability shouldn't just be a buzzword. It needs to be a requirement.
Getting it right means:
Holding companies responsible for the damage they knowingly caused.
Making sure the cost of cleanup doesn’t fall on everyday people.
Rewriting the rules so that truth matters more than PR.
Accountability is important. Even if Big Oil doesn't help, it is important to know what causes the problems we are facing.
2. It centers the people who’ve been hit first and worst
Climate change doesn’t hit everyone equally. Some communities have been living with polluted air, toxic water, and extreme heat for generations. For them, climate change is more than numbers, it is famine, extreme heat, and mass migration. They’ve been sounding the alarm long before the rest of the world started paying attention.
Getting it right means:
Listening to frontline communities.
Investing in neighborhoods that have been ignored.
Making sure solutions don’t leave anyone behind.
Creating solutions with the people who are most effected.
Climate justice can't be optional.
Support Independent Climate Journalism
Climate News Media exists to make climate reporting clear, accessible, and human. We’re not backed by corporations or ad networks — we rely almost entirely on reader donations to stay online and keep publishing. If you believe in independent media and want to help us continue covering the climate story with honesty and urgency, consider making a contribution. Every dollar helps us stay alive.
3. It moves fast — faster than we’re used to
We don’t have the luxury of slow progress anymore. The timeline isn’t set by politics or convenience. It’s set by physics.
Getting it right means:
Cutting emissions now, not later.
Ending subsidies for fossil fuels.
Scaling up clean energy like never before.
Building infrastructure that can handle the world we actually live in, and still be useful in the coming decades.
Speed doesn’t mean chaos. It means urgency with intention.
4. It tells the truth — especially to the next generation
Kids today are growing up with climate anxiety baked into their worldview. They deserve honesty, not sugarcoating. They deserve to understand how we got here — and how we get out.
Getting it right means:
Teaching climate science in every school.
Talking openly about the history of big oil and how they have manipulated the climate crisis.
Giving young people the tools to shape the future, not fear it.
Truth is empowering. It turns fear into action.
5. It imagines something better, not just “less bad”
This is the part people forget: climate action isn’t just about preventing disaster. It’s about building a world that actually works better for everyone.
Getting it right means:
Cities designed for people, not traffic.
Clean air as a given, not a privilege.
Energy that’s affordable, reliable, and renewable.
Jobs that build things instead of breaking things.
Getting it right means aiming for a future that’s not just survivable, but genuinely worth living in.
It will be made easy to decern real and fake climate news
With the 'AI revolution', and the U.S. government taking down climate info, it is getting harder and harder to know what to believe, and find real trustworthy climate information.
Getting it right means:
A system to clearly establish what is made using AI.
Making news based on real scientific data.
No more misleading headlines and descriptions.
News is how people make sense of events like climate change, so it needs to be transparent and science-based.
If there’s one thing 2026 makes clear, it’s that there’s no single fix. Climate action isn’t a magic button. It’s a combination of accountability, justice, speed, truth, and vision all working together.
And yes, it will be expensive. Transforming an entire energy system, rebuilding infrastructure, supporting communities already hit hardest. None of that is cheap.
But pretending we can avoid the cost? That’s the most expensive mistake of all.
The cost of action is high. The cost of inaction is catastrophic.
Getting it right in 2026 means choosing the path that pays off — not just financially, but morally, socially, and generationally. It means investing now so we aren’t paying forever. Because the truth is simple: We can pay to fix this, or we can pay far more to survive it.
