Climate Challenge 2021

Today I was asked (and challenged – which I like) by Stephan Jacquemot: what do I plan on doing differently in 2021 in the context of the "climate challenge 2021"? Here is the orginal post: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/stephanjacquemot_climatechallenge2021-climatechange-climateaction-activity-6750096792886525952-6omi

As my response was too long for a Linkedin comment, I decided to publish it here.

Here is what I want to do: Have a real impact. An impact that is sustainable. How?

1)     Learn about the challenge and educate myself properly. In my opinion there is too much ideology and too much black and white in the discussion. I want to understand the very root causes and the real levers we have. So: I will be reading a lot of books. Currently I am reading: https://www.amazon.de/Zieht-euch-warm-wird-hei%C3%9F/dp/3864892864

only if we understand the problem properly, we can act accordingly.

2)     I want to identify what the carbon impact of specific verticals is. When we talk about transportation, we often like the simple solutions: a flight produces more carbon than a train ride. What we discount and ignore almost entirely is the infrastructure we need to build airports, streets, train tracks. Tunnels (for example) do have a real impact:

Here is a nice piece of paper of the technical university of Munich: https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/doc/1295092/1295092.pdf (German)

How much energy a train needs to accelerate and stop is another real issue both on long distance and short distance rides. What is key to reduce the carbon impact is: utilization. Trains need to be more utilized. Cars stand still 23 hours and have an average 1,5 people riding the car in that one hour of operation.

I really recommand this podcast for those interested in understanding all the details:

https://think-beyondtheobvious.com/deutschlands-klima-ideologie-ist-teuer/

We also really like to ignore what the energy consumption and subsequent carbon impact of our internet consumption is. What LinkedIn, streaming, twitter and Facebook produce in terms of carbon. It is as much as the aviation industry and the trend it is getting worse and worse. Sometimes I feel this is being left out entirely because we dont like it. But facts should not be emotional. if we want to really understand our impact, we need to consider all variables of the equation of our style of living.

3)     Then, when I know more, I want to have real impact by investing in something that can have a significant positive impact – a sustainable impact on the long run. While I appreciate and support that individual change is needed, I strongly believe in the power of entrepreneurship as the solution to problems. Technology and startups will be key if we want to really have an impact. This is also where my heart is. So I am biased!

So here is my ultimate 2021 goal: find an investment oppportunity that has the potential to have a signficant impact to address climate change (positively)!

I hope this answer does not come across the wrong way. The world is more complex than it seems and if we want change, we better understand the dynamics behind the problem and then build a solution for it. This might be my longest LinkedIn response I ever did - but as the topic is important to me, I had to do it.