Another climate week in the books and this was a truly special one! There were some 600+ events happening across the city last week and although I (obviously) couldn’t attend all of them, the ones I did manage to go to brought me a lot of optimism and hope.
In fact, it seems like that was the underlying theme altogether. When I capped the week on Friday with a climate optimist corner at the Marketplace of The Future exhibit, someone stopped and said:
“This, this right here, is what I’ve kept seeing all week! It’s a time for climate optimism!”
A Quick Recap
Here are the highlights I jotted down in my almost-impossible-to-read handwriting as I excitedly scribbled down all the things I thought were worth sharing with you.
Nature is Investible
On Monday morning I attended a very interesting conversation at GOALS HOUSE about Driving Investment into Nature. The gist of it was that, so far, nature has been valued to zero. Meaning — unless you can pull something from nature (timber, fossil fuels, minerals, etc) there is no financial value to focus our attention that way.
Well, that is about to change. Spurred by the incredible win last winter when nearly every country signed the 30 x 30 agreement, we are now looking at a financial market where it makes a ton of sense to invest in nature.
As in — nature exactly how nature is meant to be!
Will it result in a biodiversity credit?
Much similar to the carbon credit we’ve become so familiar with, a biodiversity credit may be on the rise. Or if not, what will it take to make nature as valuable as it can possibly be?
That is what financial institutions are grappling with right now, but let’s just say that the tone across the panel was inspiring and optimistic. Nature restoration, biodiversity protection, ocean farming — the ways to invest in nature are many:
“What we need now is a paradigm shift from ‘do no significant harm’ to ‘look for ways to help clients see risk management and opportunities in protecting nature.’”
And we should be excited — the World Economic Forum shared earlier this year that 400 million jobs could be created by 2030 investing in nature!
Learn more about the difference between TNFD and TCFD here
Hollywood’s Starring Role in the Climate Economy
I couldn’t miss this conversation that I’ve personally been involved in since my early Role Models days — what role do culture and entertainment play in shifting the narratives?
Here are a few things that stood out to me from this panel:
Hollywood is on the mission of making climate exciting and more accessible for everyone. In fact, if you start to pay attention, you might notice that “climate plugs” exist all over the shows you’re watching. Maybe someone is switching to an LED light, or a main character drops a line about climate change. Might be subtle, but seeds are being planted…
Netflix has an entirely internal division dedicated to education and creative support for climate-related content. If a show wants to integrate climate change they can ask for help with fact-checking, creative direction, as well as guidance on how to incorporate it in a way that’s authentic yet entertaining.
There’s an overlaying theme in Hollywood of “Stop telling me to be afraid and start telling me what to do!” — People want to feel empowered and as if solutions are near!
Thank you Futerra & Solutions House for having me!
Fun fact — have you seen My Octopus Teacher?
If so you know what a beautiful love story it is between a human and his octopus friend.
When they filmed and edited the documentary they were deliberate about not including any “heavy” facts about the fishing industry and the dire situation for octopuses around the world. Yet, the success of the documentary resulted in serious activism for this beautiful species.
It truly demonstrates how sometimes, sharing beauty and speaking from love is the most profound and effective way of activism!
Katharine Hayhoe & Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson - Navigating A New Normal
My climate week wouldn’t feel complete without a conversation with these two powerhouses and as suspected, I walked away from their panel feeling both optimistic and alarmed.
Here are some important takeaways:
We have never pushed the planet this far, this fast. The closest analog to what's happening today was 55 million years ago, and clearly, we did not have 8 billion people on the planet and $50 trillion worth of infrastructure. And at that point, according to our best estimates, the amount of carbon going into the atmosphere on an annual basis back at the time of extremely rapid warming, the fastest we've ever seen, was a tenth of what we're putting into the atmosphere today.
However — we are currently reaching two positive tipping points:
1) Awareness — people are now becoming aware of the problem
2) Knowing what to do — we are starting to know what to do. Once we reach that tipping point, things will start to happen pretty fast!
What we really need, more than anything, is efficiency. We just need to get better at wasting less! Whether that’s in the food, fashion, or construction industry. We’re smart people — we can do better than this!
Solutions in nature, specifically the oceans. We need to look more to our oceans and recognize what incredible opportunities lie in investing in our big blues!
Thanks for stopping by
Watching your book pile shrink as people stop by and buy a copy is truly the most wonderful feeling. Even better is catching someone reading your copy when you walk by, or chatting with the many change-makers and learning what incredible things they’re doing in this world!
It was such a joy to host my little corner at Marketplace of The Future this year — a big thank you to my friend Amer for allowing me the space!