New Books in Public Policy Andreas Malm and Wim Carton, "The Long Heat: Climate Politics When It’s Too Late" (Verso Books, 2025)
Mar 18, 2026
Andreas Malm, associate professor of human ecology and author focused on climate politics, discusses adaptation, carbon removal, and solar geoengineering. He maps how adaptation projects can entrench inequality. He critiques unproven negative-emissions technologies and the political allure of solar geoengineering, including risks like termination shock. The conversation traces the political battles shaping late-stage climate responses.
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Three Paths After Mitigation Fails
- The Long Heat traces adaptation, carbon removal, and geoengineering as the three post-mitigation options available in an overshoot era.
- Andreas Malm frames the book as a historical mapping of these trajectories to project likely political futures.
No Tech Fix Without Mitigation
- Adaptation, carbon removal, and solar geoengineering are the limited palette once mitigation is effectively sidelined by continued fossil investment.
- Malm argues none can work meaningfully without first winning the mitigation battle and removing fossil-fuel power.
Mega Bassines Squeeze Small Farmers
- Mega-bassines in France centralize water into huge reservoirs that benefit large agribusinesses and squeeze out small farmers.
- Malm contrasts this with seawalls in Egypt where affluent areas are protected while poorer villages bear the surges.
