My key climate action insights after 60 days of rapid learning

I started Decarb Diary as a place to publicly capture and share what I learn as I enter into a rapid immersion in climate, energy, decarbonisation, etc, over a 3-6 month period to find the most painful problems that I have the skills to help solve. Ultimately I hope this will lead to starting a globally scalable business that will have real impact in the world. Learn more here.

I'm about 60 days into my rapid upskill and I've read thousands of words, listened to hundreds of hours of podcasts/video, and spoken to dozens of people so far.

I've still got at least 30 days worth of content to get through in my broader discovery phase to understand the industry and challenges, but I wanted to reflect on what I've learnt.

This week I'm covering off my overall insights, and for each I intend to do a separate article or framework over the next couple of months.

Next week I want to summarise my findings, which is more or less pulling together the broad concepts within the industry.

Overall Key Insights

It is an urgent, literal life-dependent challenge, bogged down by it being an interconnected, global, complex and overwhelming beast. We've already passed 6 out of 9 planetary boundaries with climate change clearly evident in our lives via more often and severe weather and natural disasters, and less evident through things like biodiversity loss and climate-linked health-related deaths.

Being bogged down by the amount and fragmentation of content; the complexities of new technologies and processes; the number of organisations, standards, protocols and regulations; politics and ideologies between and within countries, governments, organisations and individuals; challenges and barriers from finance to resources; and more.

How can we overcome the "it's too big and I'm too small" mindset and let everyone know they have a role, no matter how small? How can we make this stuff commonsense enough that people don't get tricked by mis- and dis-information?

Net Zero needs us to be selfless and active, but most people are selfish and apathetic. Can Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs be adapted here? How can this transition be positioned for people who have it as a low priority?

A new paradigm of thinking needed. Centralised to decentralised; manual to automated & connected (AI, blockchain, IoT); homes/cars as transactional, standalone purchases to dynamic assets of the electricity grid that also happen to be homes/transport options.

By-products are everywhere. Energy or heat from one thing is used for another; chemical by-products become ingredients in others; carbon reduction is a by-product of shifting to clean electrification; the sums appear to be greater than the parts. In Nature nothing is wasted, waste is a human invention - how can we make better use of by-products and the circular economy?

There are many conflicts - we need to do everything at once, but that's impossible; electrical engineers are the heart of the transition, but we don't have enough of them, or the trainers; businesses must transition but have the age-old battles of strategy vs. cost and short-term KPIs vs long-term vision; Australia would be the most damaged country with unmitigated climate change OR the most beneficial country in becoming a green superpower.

Electricity needs to remain invisible, while touting the benefits - for people outside the industry, they just want the light to turn on when they flick the switch, and most people don't know or care unless there's a blackout. Now those people are being asked to invest a whole bunch of money and time to essentially have the same thing. How can the benefits be promoted and action be taken, without making it about the transition? The 'medium is the message' concept could be applied here.

The Vision/Action paradox and Parkinson's Law to the extreme - this Law states that "work expands to fill the available time", meaning people will take four weeks if you give them four, or two weeks if you give them two. The 2050 (and even 2030) goals are likely the longest anyone has ever had and are too far to think about, but 1) we're in the critical decade (2020s) and this is urgent, and 2) the nature of the transition is inherently long. The bigger the entity, the longer-term the planning - Governments can make 2050 plans, companies might have 5-10 years at most, and individuals typically plan a few weeks/month, with some exceptions like weddings. Similar to a company's direction, how can we break down the long-term vision into a 3 or 5 year strategy, 12 month objectives/goals and 90 day plans to make it feel less overwhelming and actually start?

Earth-centered design - an evolution of human-centered design - a problem-solving approach that prioritizes the needs, experiences, and perspectives of the people you're designing for - that balances human needs with planet's health. Could this be a framework? A template or one-pager similar to the Business Model Canvas for example?

What do you think about these? Let me know in the comments!

Cheers,

Dan