Climate Repair and Timescales for Action
The hosts:
Hugh Hunt, Centre for Climate Repair, Cambridge University
Lukas Gast, University College London
What is this Ripple about?
Climate technologies take time to implement. How fast an innovation spreads depends less on the technology itself than on the surrounding innovation ecosystem and the readiness of the infrastructure it relies on.
This Ripple takes a system-level view: how long action actually takes, where the timelines bind, and what can be done to accelerate the diffusion of climate technologies.
Infrastructure readiness matters most for innovations that depend on externally provided systems (e.g., pipelines, grids, CO₂ transport and storage). Regulatory steps such as permitting and certification add further time.
Most innovation effort targets emissions reduction alone, without accounting for the timelines and infrastructure that deployment requires. Complementary strategies (demand reduction, carbon capture and removal, geoengineering) are also needed to achieve the climate targets.
The discussion in the Ripple centres on timescales to actually impact the climate, the barriers and bottlenecks to diffusion, and how to anticipate them early. The goal: concrete ways to accelerate diffusion and shorten infrastructure timelines, and the balance of technolgoies to impact the climate in timescales that matter.
Why this topic timely or urgent in 2026
Climate technologies in hard-to-abate sectors struggle to scale due to missing infrastructructure systems (e.g., pipelines, grids) and system costs.
Building that infrastructure and scaling innovation in parallel is the key to faster diffusion and it requires coordinated action across many stakeholders, starting now.
Global GHG emissions are still rising and The Arctic is being lost despite significant progress and innovations in energy technologies (e.g., solar PV and batteries).
This is the year where discussions have reached new highs on interventions beyond emisisons reduction and greenhouse gas removal.
Key questions or challenges being explored
Beyond emissions mitigation, what options do we have for meaningful climate action in the short term to accelerate the long-term impact?
What are the opportunities for accelerating the supporting systems and infrastructure that climate innovations depend on?
The main tension or debate at the heart of this discussion
Timelines for scaling up climate innovations in the energy-intensive industries are too long. This is due to missing technical infrastructure (e.g., CCS and H2) as well as the regulatory enviornment (e.g., permits or certifications) which creates a bottleneck for achieving net-zero by 2050 in Europe. However, there are opportunities to accelerate diffusion.
Carbon dioxide removal and other geoengineering approaches are often seen as a distraction from getting off fossil fuels. But the urgency may demand acting on all fronts at once. The infrastructure for these options is not in place today and is unlikely to arrive within ten years. Hence, by the time it is needed, starting to build it then will likely be too late.
Infrastructure is rarely in the hands of the innovators (start-ups build the technology), but incumbents. Infrastructure providers and regulators determine how quickly it is established.
Who would get the most value from attending this Ripple?
Long-term oriented family offices
Venture Capital Firms, who invest in start-ups in the energy-intensive industries or geoengineering (e.g., carbon dioxide removal)
Start-ups in sectors requiring infrastructure and systems
Anyone involved/interested in alternative climate action and policymaking