Other writing and research

I do most of my writing at Our World in Data, where I write about everything from climate change and energy, to food systems, global health and economic development. Find my latest articles here.

I also write regularly on by Substack: Sustainability by Numbers.

Below you've find a small selection of writing and public outreach I've published in other outlets, and a selection of academic papers.

Public writing

Academic Publications

• Earth has now passed peak farmland. What's next? – The BBC

• A Slightly Hotter World Could Still Be a Better One - The Atlantic

• The big idea: why climate tribalism only helps the deniers – The Guardian

• Good news for climate comes from the world’s greatest user of coal – Washington Post

• The end of acid rain – Works in Progress

• Data on the German retreat from nuclear energy tell a cautionary tale – Washington Post

• We need the right kind of climate optimism – Vox

• See South Africa’s energy crisis in four charts – Washington Post

• 3 charts show how better buildings save lives in earthquakes – Washington Post

• Six Questions for Hannah Ritchie, Our World In Data – Morgan Housel, CollabFund

• Why being an effective environmentalist can often feel like being a bad one – Works in Progress

• An end to doomerism. Or why I’m coming out as an impatient optimist – BigThink

• The World Needs Processed Food – WIRED

• Stop Telling Kids They’ll Die From Climate Change – WIRED

• Should we kill trillions of animals to save the planet? – WIRED

• COVID-19 Interview – New Scientist

• Which countries eat the most meat? – BBC

• What do the people of the world die from? – BBC

• Godfray, H. C. J., Poore, J., & Ritchie, H. (2024). Opportunities to produce food from substantially less land. BMC biology, 22(1), 138.

• Ellis, E. C., Malhi, Y., Ritchie, H., Montana, J., Díaz, S., Obura, D., ... & Conceição, P. (2025). An aspirational approach to planetary futures. Nature, 1-11.

• Herre, B., Rodés-Guirao, L., Mathieu, E., Ritchie, H., Giattino, C., Hasell, J., ... & Roser, M. (2024). Best practices for government agencies to publish data: lessons from COVID-19. The Lancet Public Health, 9(6), e407-e410.

• Ritchie, H. (2021). COVID’s lessons for climate, sustainability and more from Our World in Data. Nature.

• Mathieu, E., Ritchie, H., Ortiz-Ospina, E., Roser, M., Hasell, J., Appel, C., ... & Rodés-Guirao, L. (2021). A global database of COVID-19 vaccinations. Nature human behaviour, 5(7), 947-953.

• Hasell, J., Mathieu, E., Beltekian, D., Macdonald, B., Giattino, C., Ortiz-Ospina, E., ... & Ritchie, H. (2020). A cross-country database of COVID-19 testing. Scientific data, 7(1), 345.

• Ritchie, H., Reay, D. S., & Higgins, P. (2018). Beyond calories: A holistic assessment of the global food system. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.

• Ritchie, H., & Reay, D. S. (2017). Delivering the two degree global climate change target using a flexible ratchet framework. Climate Policy, 17(8), 1031-1045.