Tag: environment

human hands gently cradling and planting a small sapling with roots transitioning into digital circuitry and binary code. The background is in soft earth tones with a subtle glow emanating from the digital roots.
Climate Change, Climate Confident

Catalyzing Change: The Unstoppable Momentum of Sustainability Through Education and Technology

In the latest episode of the Climate Confident podcast, I spoke with Mary Wilson, the Founder and CEO of All In, and we delved into the mechanisms that propel us toward a sustainable future. It’s clear that technology and education are pivotal in this journey, but their true potential is only realized when harnessed effectively to ignite societal change. All In’s ethos embodies this vision, prioritising actionable insights and community empowerment as catalysts for enduring environmental stewardship.

The intersection of technology and sustainability has never been more critical. Innovations such as AI and big data analytics offer unprecedented insights into environmental impacts and resource management, allowing for smarter, more efficient strategies that benefit both the planet and economies. However, technology alone isn’t the silver bullet; it’s the application of these tools within communities through education and engagement that turns data into action.

The imperative for this dual approach stems from our current crossroads in climate action. We face a narrowing window to alter our course, and the need for scalable solutions has never been more urgent. All In’s mission—leveraging tech and education for societal transformation—isn’t just timely; it’s essential.

Consider the power of educated communities equipped with the right tools. We’re talking about a farmer using precision agriculture technologies to conserve water and increase crop yields, or local governments utilizing IoT to manage waste and reduce emissions. It’s these micro-changes, scaled globally, that can lead to macro impacts on sustainability.

Yet, technology must be accessible and education must be inclusive. We’re seeing a digital divide that threatens to leave the most vulnerable behind, counteracting sustainability efforts. Closing this gap means ensuring that the benefits of technology are universally attainable, and that education fosters a culture of sustainability from the ground up.

In this episode, we underscored the potential of what All In is championing—a world where every individual, regardless of their background, has the knowledge and tools to make a positive environmental impact. It’s a reminder that while the technology exists, its potential is only fully unlocked through widespread, inclusive education.

The call-to-action is clear: listen, learn, and leverage. Tune into this insightful episode to explore the tangible strategies that can amplify the global sustainability movement. As we navigate the complexities of climate action, remember that the convergence of technology and community empowerment is where true progress lies.

Because when we’re all in, the world truly changes.

Mind the Gap
Climate Change, Climate Confident

Bridging the Gap: Richard Delevan on Climate Tech, IPCC Reports, and Empowering Change

Climate change is a complex and often overwhelming issue. That’s why it’s crucial to have experts who can not only help us understand the latest scientific reports but also guide us in finding innovative solutions. In a recent episode of my Climate Confident podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Richard Delevan (@rdelevan), a communications consultant who works with energy and climate tech companies. We discussed the latest IPCC synthesis report, the importance of climate tech solutions, and the power of effective communication in driving change.

Richard shared his insights on the IPCC report, emphasizing that while it paints a dire picture, there is still hope. He highlighted the significance of climate tech in mitigating the impacts of climate change, stating that “technology and innovation are essential, especially in the energy sector.” Richard also noted that while the IPCC report is grounded in science, it is still subject to a political process, and this can sometimes dilute the urgency of its message.

We also discussed the role of effective communication in the climate change conversation. Richard emphasized the importance of crafting a compelling narrative that moves beyond simply identifying villains and victims. Instead, he argued for a more inclusive approach that helps people understand their role in addressing climate change and encourages collective action.

One of the most inspiring aspects of our conversation was Richard’s perspective on the impact of young activists like Greta Thunberg. He believes that political leaders can learn valuable lessons from her ability to ask difficult questions and cut through the noise. The key, Richard explained, is to focus on creating a vision of a desirable future where everyone has a stake and can participate.

When asked what people should be paying more attention to, I pointed out the scarcity of climate news in mainstream media, especially when it comes to positive stories. That’s one of the reasons I started the Climate Confident podcast – to highlight the good news and inspire people to take action. As I mentioned in the episode, “hearing these good news stories every week, it stops me collapsing into a ball, sobbing on the floor, throwing my hands up in despair.”

I encourage you to listen to the full episode with Richard Delevan for a deeper understanding of the latest IPCC synthesis report, the power of climate tech, and the importance of effective communication in driving climate action. Let’s face the future with a bit of humor, humility, and the knowledge that together, we can make a difference.

Click here to listen to the full episode and subscribe to the Climate Confident podcast. Don’t forget to check out Richard’s LinkedIn profile and sign up for his Week in Climate Tech newsletter for more insights.

Finally, if you value receiving weekly actionable insights on sustainability and climate, you can always sign up to be a Supporter of the podcast for less than the cost of a cup of coffee.

Stay climate confident, and let’s make a change together!

Photo credit Ryan Orr on Flickr

Bridgette McAdoo profile pic
Climate Confident, sustainability

From Bronze to Gold: How Genesys is Driving Sustainability in Its Supply Chain with Bridgette McAdoo

I recently had the opportunity to host Bridgette McAdoo, the Chief Sustainability Officer of Genesys, on my Climate Confident podcast. Bridgette is a seasoned sustainability professional who has been in the field for over 15 years. During the episode, she shared her insights on the role of sustainability in business and the future of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting.

Bridgette explained how her role as CSO of Genesys came to be. It was a top-down approach from the CEO and Chief Strategy Officer, who wanted the company to be rooted in empathy and sustainability. This is a stark contrast to the typical scenario where a CSO role is created as a result of a crisis or a regulatory requirement. Bridgette shared that the CEO and Chief Strategy Officer’s commitment to sustainability makes her job much easier, and this, in turn, allows the company to focus on its core objective – reducing its carbon footprint.

One of the highlights of the episode was Bridgette’s discussion on the differences between sustainability, ESG, and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). She believes that ESG has gained momentum as it is tied to investor relations and how companies are financially reviewed. On the other hand, CSR is usually associated with community engagement and volunteerism. Bridgette argues that the term sustainability has been diluted and the idea is to have a holistic approach that integrates all the different elements rather than separating them into different teams.

Bridgette agrees that ESG leads to increased employee engagement, lower cost of attracting and retaining customers, and happy investors. Surveys have shown that 70% of employees and consumers are looking for sustainable and responsible companies. ESG has also had a significant impact on finance, as impact investing and ESG investing have tripled in the past few years, making it easier for companies to access capital.

McAdoo speaks about the reporting of sustainability and the difficulty in measuring it compared to traditional financial reporting. She believes that in the next 5-10 years, sustainability reporting will be similar to financial reporting. However, there is currently a lack of standards in ESG reporting which is causing some ambiguity. McAdoo shared that at Genesys, sustainability is supported from the top by CEO Tony Bates and Chief Strategy Officer Peter Graf, as well as from ground level employees through various initiatives, such as sustainability ambassadors and community volunteerism.

Bridgette mentions that Genesys actively benchmarks with other organizations and participates in various coalitions to stay informed about best practices. They also utilize platforms like Ecovadis and CDP and partner with peer companies to survey their supply chains. In the past year and a half, Genesys has moved from a bronze rating to a gold rating from Ecovadis, and improved their CDP score from a D to a B. Bridgette emphasizes that they are actively trying to be a leader in sustainability and to bring everyone within the company and their partners along this journey.

The Climate Confident podcast aims to bring you inspiring stories from sustainability leaders, and this episode was no exception. I highly recommend you listen to the full episode to learn more about Bridgette McAdoo’s journey, her insights on ESG and sustainability reporting, and Genesys’ sustainability initiatives.

Don’t forget to follow the Climate Confident podcast for more inspiring stories and remember, if you value receiving weekly actionable insights on sustainability in business, you can always sign up to be a Supporter of the podcast for less than the cost of a cup of coffee.

Technology / Software

With great power comes great responsibility – or, Cloud companies need to get on-board

Spiderman
With great power comes great responsibility

This great quote from the movie Spider-Man, is just as true for technology, as it is for superheroes.

Technology has made possible tremendous changes in our quality of life in the last couple of decades. Everything from surgery to transportation, education to construction, space exploration and most other fields of human endeavour now depend heavily on IT. However, these great advances in our knowledge and abilities comes at a cost.

Information Technology’s carbon footprint, estimated by Gartner to be 2% of global carbon emissions in 2007, is rapidly increasing and by some estimates may even double by 2020. This is obviously an unsustainable situation. ICT, which can help so many organisations to reduce their carbon footprint, should itself be an shining example of low emissions.

To this end, the EU commission’s new ICT Footprint initiative is to be lauded. The announcement of the project on EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes blog gave the following details of the initiative:

This is why the European Commission has persuaded three leading standards development organisations and a prominent greenhouse gas accounting initiative to pool their measurement efforts. Under our new initiative these organisations will examine the whole sector, the whole lifecycle and the scalability of these methods.

That means measuring everything from the supply of raw materials to their recycling. Measuring not only what it takes to make products like a laptop, but also the impact of services like hosting data in the cloud. It means that in the near future we will be able to measure the ICT environmental footprint of whole cities or countries, including the positive environmental effects that ICT enables.

Several major ICT companies and organisations from Europe, Asia and the US are now trialling such measurement solutions. And from this month onwards, nearly 30 players have joined the European Commission to broaden and speed up the effort. We call on more and more such players to get involved.

It is tremendous to see this kind of global leadership from the EU. While this only applies to the EU, it does require the development of measurement and reporting systems for whole IT ecosystems and that can only be a good thing. In time, the hope would be that these systems are used well beyond the EU and by all IT providers…

Trends & Concepts

Grid Watch: smartgrids meet smartcomms

New Meter

We have pointed to the ongoing convergence of wireless communications and smart grids before, for example in this video about Tropos Networks and in Tom’s stump pitch on sustainability and mobility, but some news from this week throws the trend into stark relief.

Carbon Trust investments, the VC arm of a non-profit organisation working to lower the UK’s carbon emissions just announced it is to invest in a network management company called Arieso.

Why would Carbon Trust do that? After all, what does mobile network optimisation have to do with energy management? According to the newenergyworldnetwork story:

Rachael Nutter of CT Investment Partners said, ‘Energy consumption in mobile phone base stations is a significant proportion of the opex of mobile operators, as high as 50 per cent in the most extreme cases.

That’s the thing about sustainability – it doesn’t need to be seen as a cost center… rather it can, and should be, part of optimisation activities. Lower carbon, lower energy, cheaper mobile roll-outs. What’s not to like?

If you’ve been following GreenMonk for a while you should know we’re wedded to bottom up sustainability approaches – “from the roots up” as we call it, which is one reason we’ve sponsored, and contributed to the awesome UK HomeCamp community, founded by Chris Dalby, who now works at UK smartmeter firm Current Cost. Seems things are moving along there too.

One of the key players attempting to drive home automation as an activity for “civilians” is ZigBee. It just started working with GreenPeak, which specialises in ultra low power mobile silicon chips, designed to be used in battery-free devices. [See a theme emerging? ;-) ] No batteries isn’t just a lower carbon play though- it also means less heavy metals and toxic chemicals. What’s the news? GreenPeak is now Zigbee compliant.

Finally some smart grid news.

Swiss smart meter player just took $165m in new funding.

Could be smart timing.

The Climate Group, sponsored by GE, Google, HP, Intel, Nokia and others  just called on Barack Obama to adopt a goal of providing every household with real time information about their electricity use.

Meanwhile last week Microsoft hohm and Ford announced they are working together on home energy to Electric Vehicle management and integration, to help people that own these EVs charge them cost effectively. Its worth pointing to one of my favourite GreenMonk interviews in that light- we talk to Greg Frenette of Ford about EV smart grid convergence.

It really is time to run the first HomeCamp US!

Ironically enough, when I searched for a creativecommons attribution only shot of a smartmeter i found one from my colleague Michael Coté in Austin. His utility called it a smartmeter, but unless he  has access to the data generated I don’t see how it deserves the name. But that’s a subject for a different blog, and indeed a line of Greenmonk research.

The really keen eyed among you may have noticed how many of the links above come from newnet news. No accident. I love the feed. Its like a shot of good news tequila every morning – something to warm your spirits.

by-sa