While technological solutions are essential, they alone are not enough: carbon budgets are shrinking, and the top 10% of earners are responsible for half of the world's carbon emissions. The wealthiest 1% emit 30 times more carbon than the poorest 50%. We need to transform our behaviours and how we live together in order to become accountable to our children and the planet as a whole.
Which initiatives / organizations / companies – teams / groups of people / individuals are actually working towards impactful climate change solutions? Whether it is through social or technological innovations (or ideally both)?
Let's share our insights. I'll start by listing two groups I know of based here in Montreal, Canada:
GHGSat (https://www.ghgsat.com) is a company that monitors greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sites using satellite technology. They have a team of scientists pushing the boundaries of emissions detection technology and have launched several satellites. They also offer an emissions intelligence platform called SPECTRA and have recently launched a free version that includes an upgraded version of their methane map.
Age of Union (https://ageofunion.com/) is an environmental initiative launched in 2021 by Dax Dasilva, founder of tech company Lightspeed Commerce. The team of changemakers support and actively work on high-impact projects, addressing urgent conservation challenges worldwide. In just the last year, they have helped fund 10 projects ($40 million). Protecting threatened species and ecosystems in Canada, Peru, Trinidad, Indonesia, Haiti, D.R. Congo and globally through Sea Shepherd.
"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
Personal changes work to a point. Take for instance solar power in Aus.
“The sudden rise in solar PV installations in Australia since 2018 dramatically propelled the country from being considered a relative laggard to a strong leader by mid-2019. Australia has the highest per capita solar capacity, now at more than 1kW per capita.” €
€ <https://iea-pvps.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/PViA-Report-...>
That’s not enough. For humanity on Earth to survive, the Petrol/Oil/Gas Industry cartels must be destroyed and dismantled.
How? by working out who & what are exploiting the energy Industry:
“How regular taxpayers are subsidizing the ultra-wealthy's use of climate-polluting private jets” ¥
I've found the best thing is to do what you can on your own patch and your own life, where you have the actual power to change and improve things ... and ignore the fact that it's a drop in the ocean and that you are surrounded by people who are bemused or even actively hostile that your lifestyle is actually philosophically opposed to their comforting illusions.
We have a farm. We plant trees and grow food. We do what we can to limit our consumption. We vote for the parties that pledge to do something (and thus never win seats).
That's all you can really do.
Imagine if every can, bottle, box, bag, utensil,.. contained a clearly legible identifier, that was machine readable (QR code?), that linked back to the manufacturer.
Then all these wasteful packages could be scanned and sorted using vision systems, and sent back to the originating manufacturer for disposal.
By making the producers responsible for cleanup it will surely change their balance sheet, and they will be forced to change. Or go bankrupt. Because their current business model is not viable when the costs of their environmental impact are considered.