We know the story. The ice caps are melting. The cities are flooding. The world is burning. For decades, science fiction and movies have painted vivid pictures of climate collapse. These stories are important. They warn us. They scare us into action.
But what comes next? What happens after the headlines fade? What happens after we (hopefully) listen to the warnings?
We spend so much time imagining the world ending that we’ve forgotten to imagine the world changing.
This is the next frontier of storytelling, a subgenre often called Climate Fiction, or “Cli-Fi.” But we’re not talking about the usual doom and gloom. We’re talking about a new kind of story. A story that asks a daring question:
We solved the climate crisis. Now what?
The Problem with Most Climate Stories
Most climate stories are about the fight. They are about the struggle to prevent the disaster. The hero is a scientist pleading with politicians, or a rebel group fighting an evil corporation. The goal is to stop the bad thing from happening.
This is a crucial story. But it’s only half the story.
It’s like only ever telling tales about a war, but never about the complicated, messy, and hopeful peace that follows. The real challenge and the far more interesting story aren’t just winning the war. It’s building a new world from the ashes of the old one.
The “What If?” That Changes Everything
Let’s play a game. Let’s assume we did it. Through a mix of brilliant technology, global cooperation, and sheer human will, we drastically reduced carbon emissions. We reversed the worst effects. The planet is on a path to healing.
Now, ask yourself:
- What does that world actually look like, feel like, and sound like?
- Who benefits from the new systems? Who gets left behind?
- What new problems have we created by solving the old one?
This is where true storytelling magic happens. This is the fertile ground for fresh, original, and deeply human stories.
Building the “Post-Carbon” World: A Storyteller’s Guide
So, how do you build this world? You start by thinking about the ripple effects of our solutions.
1. The Energy Revolution is Over. What Won?
Imagine energy is now almost free and completely clean. Maybe it’s from super-efficient solar panels, or maybe it’s from futuristic technology like fusion reactors.
- The New Conflict: Energy isn’t about scarcity anymore. It’s about control. Who owns the sun? Can a corporation patent the wind? What happens to the entire economy and political power of countries that used to sell oil? Your story could be a geopolitical thriller about a former oil baron trying to sabotage the new energy grid to regain power.
- The New Society: With free energy, what do people do? If robots do all the work and energy is free, does the concept of a “job” even exist? Your story could be a personal drama about a man who built his whole identity on being a coal miner, struggling to find purpose in a world that no longer needs his sacrifice.
2. We Fixed the Food System. But at What Cost?
We figured out how to feed everyone without destroying the environment. Lab-grown meat is the norm. Vertical farms feed entire cities.
- The New Conflict: A cultural war erupts between purists who demand “real,” traditionally grown food and those who embrace the new, efficient ways. Is a tomato grown without sun and soil still a tomato? Your story could be a family drama about a daughter who works in a bio-lab food facility arguing with her father, a traditional farmer who sees her work as an abomination.
- The New Society: What happens to the vast tracts of land that were once used for farming? Are they rewilded into giant nature preserves? Are they bought up by mega-corporations? Your story could be a western about “Re-Wilders” protecting the new wilderness from land developers.
3. The Weather is Fixed. But We Miss the Rain.
We’ve developed technology to control the weather. No more hurricanes, droughts, or wildfires. We have perfect, mild weather every day.
- The New Conflict: The weather is no longer an act of nature; it’s a product, controlled by a single company or government. What if they use it as a weapon? What if they charge a subscription fee for sunshine? Your story could be a rebellion story about a group fighting to “set the weather free” and experience a real, unpredictable storm again.
- The New Society: Do people forget how to live with nature? Does the absence of shared struggle — like surviving a brutal winter — make society less connected? Your story could be a coming-of-age tale about a teenager who yearns for the raw, untamed nature she’s only read about in history books.
Why This Kind of Storytelling Matters
Telling these stories isn’t just a fun writing exercise. It’s a vital act of imagination.
- It Gives Us Hope: Constant doom can make people feel helpless. But stories about a future we want to live in are incredibly powerful. They provide a blueprint for a better world and make it feel achievable.
- It Prepares Us: The transition to a green world won’t be smooth. There will be winners, losers, and unintended consequences. By exploring these problems in fiction, we can start to think about how to solve them in reality.
- It’s Human: At its core, this isn’t about technology. It’s about people. It’s about a fisherman learning to be a solar-panel technician. It’s about a community debating whether to tear down a dam that powers their town but also killed their river. These are universal stories of change, loss, adaptation, and hope.
Your Turn to Build the Future
You don’t need to be a scientist to write this. You just need to be human and curious.
Pick one of our solutions today, like electric cars, plastic recycling, or veganism and take it to its extreme conclusion.
- What if we all had to use electric cars? What happens to the smell of gasoline, the sound of engines, the entire culture of the road trip?
- What if we eliminated all plastic? What do we make medical equipment out of? What replaces the humble water bottle?
Start with a small, human detail. Build your world from the ground up. Tell a story about a person trying to find their place in this new, strange, and hopeful world.
The future isn’t just a disaster to be feared. It’s a story to be written. Let’s write a good one.
What does a hopeful future look like to you? Share your ‘Post-Carbon’ story idea in the comments!