Climate Denial 2.0: ‘All of the Above' Energy Policies are Doing Everything and Achieving Nothing

What was once seen as a reasonable strategy, the “All of the Above” (AOTA) approach to addressing climate change is outdated and inadequate - this is the focus of a recent article for the Corporate Knights (Torrie, 2025), which calls on leaders to reject vague, politically-convincing strategies, in favor of targeted investments that actually offer clear cost-effective paths toward achieving Canada’s goal of zero emissions by 2050. 

Given the urgency, limited resources and a clear understanding of what is needed, this piece argues that decisive, focused action is required in the current phase of the climate crisis, not the current political expediency. Reflected in the AOTA strategy, is what the author calls Climate Denial 2.0 - accepting the reality of climate change, but failing to make the urgent, focused choices that are needed to actually address it effectively. The article highlights how instead, leaders continue to spread limited capital across too many items, including fossil fuels and costly technologies - many of which end up being inefficient. 

This perspective is important - it calls out a dangerous form of compliance that threatens meaningful climate action. Although many people and leaders now accept climate change as being real, the article illustrates that pursuing a scattershot approach to every energy option is a form of denial that delays real progress, just the same if not worse. It is clear that we can no longer afford to pursue every option. The growing climate crisis demands clear, swift decisive action and priorities taken by agencies and governance, not diluted ambitions. To achieve our climate goals, Canada can no longer be compliant: we must abandon politically-convenient half-measures, and fully commit to strategies that are affordable, urgent, and effective. 

Written by Sabrina Careri, for Ann Dale.

Image Credit: Shayna Douglas from Unsplash