How do we move from problem mode to solution mode on climate change?

Looking out of the window from our Melbourne office today with visibility reduced to less than a kilometre and air quality at hazardous levels due to the terrible bushfires, it is hard not to feel this is the wake-up call Australians needed. The tragic event that shakes us out of discussing we have a climate problem to committing to becoming an active part of the solution.  And I don’t just mean action from government and corporate, but collective and coordinated action by every man, women and child in Australia. 

If like me you have young children, rarely does a day go past where we are not asked "mum/dad, what are we doing to solve this?” and we reel off the standard list of responses to ease their anxiety while trying to convince ourselves that we are doing enough to guarantee their generation a sustainable future.

As consultants, we are trained to ensure we truly understand the exam question before diving into solution mode.  In the case of climate change, I have been reflecting on the inherent challenge in defining the exam question in this case (and getting collective agreement). I feel this may be part of the cause of our paralysis to act and move to solution mode. Climate change is an extraordinarily complex multi layered challenge with thousands of moving parts in a deeply connected ecosystem. Where do we start? Who is in charge? Will we ever all agree?

Following a lively discussion on this conundrum with a friend who works in the climate change space, I was surprised to learn about a book written by Paul Hawken in 2017 called Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.

I certainly don’t profess to have any expertise in climate change solutions, but when I read the executive summary last night, from a layman’s perspective it felt like this was the missing piece of information required to “act” and stop the endless debate.

Here is a quick synopsis of the book... world renown environmentalist Paul Hawken got tired of waiting for everyone to move to action mode, so between 2014 and 2017 he set out to pull together a definite list of the most effective (and implementable) solutions that had been lacking. With the help of a little funding, he and a team of several dozen research fellows set out to “map, measure, and model” the 100 most substantive solutions to climate change, using only peer-reviewed research.

The result is a comprehensive narrative on each of the 100 solutions to global warming ranked in order of carbon emissions locked down by 2050. For each solution, you can understand its history, the real carbon impact it provides, the relative cost and savings, the path to adoption, and how it works. Eighty of the solutions listed are already in place, well understood, analysed based on peer-reviewed science, and are expanding around the world. The other 20 solutions are emerging but not yet proven by science.

After a quick scan of the 100 solutions, I identified 22 solutions that we as a family could actively commit to and monitor our progress, everything from well-known solutions like installing LED lights and solar panels through to the less obvious ones about how reducing our food waste will directly reduce methane levels by decreasing rotting food volumes in landfill. Some of the solutions just blew me away. For example, Refrigerant Management (i.e the safe disposal of fridge HFC) is ranked as the number one solution to reduce carbon emissions. But two lesser-known solutions also made this most practical of lists: the education of girls (number 6) and family planning (number 7). This is a stunning revelation, one that couldn’t be more pertinent and immediately actionable.

The Drawdown solution list could equally be leveraged by Government and Corporate entities alike to determine which solutions are relevant for them to focus on and commit to. It is great to see that Queensland Government is already down this path. If you could then combine the list with a publicly transparent status report (not to name and shame, but to enable us to divide and conquer the workload) we could see real collaboration and progress emerge across Government, Business and citizens. 

And for those businesses who are on a Purpose-led journey, these solutions represent a wonderful way to demonstrate your contribution, accountability and impact around climate sustainability which we know citizens and consumers alike are now demanding from their constituents and retailers accordingly. And the great news is the hard work is done. Everything is proven, modeled and in existence today and your focus can be directed to the implementation and tracking of the solutions, not the ideation.

So to sum up, the momentum for this post, was simply to share with you what I found to be a treasure trove of proven and actionable solutions that has inspired me to do more and I hope it has the same effect on you. It has enabled our family to discuss and reassess how we take a more active and accountable role in the solutions and not just participate in the debate. It reminds me of the famous quote "if no one is to blame, then everyone is to blame" hence everyone must play their role in getting to the answer.

Imagine, if everyone who looked at the list took accountability in both their personal and professional lives on just a couple of solutions, imagine where we could be as a nation in a year from now.....   

More information about the Drawdown project is at https://www.drawdown.org/

 ###The views reflected in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organization or its member firms.