Taking Action: The Imperative to Address Climate Disruption

Just a day ago, The Guardian reported another chilling warning from climate scientists: the Arctic summer ice is past the point of return.

With this stark reality hanging over us, I find myself, once again, contemplating - what would it take for our society to spur into action? How can we get our governments, corporations, capital and individual citizens to truly adhere to the commitments laid out in the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, and other international climate treaties?

It was during my conversations with Jeroen Smit on the Dutch TV series "Wat houdt ons tegen" ("What Holds Us Back") on NPO 2 , where I was interviewed on the startling lack of patient capital for climate, when we touched upon the same topic. Watching the series that airs every Wednesday, I found myself delving deeper into why society, corporates, and governments alike, seem to shrug our shoulders and move on, despite the glaring need for drastic action. Shouldn’t the notion of no arctic ice in summer by the 2030s get us out of our seats on the barricades? Why does it seem we're all playing golf amids raging wildfires?

I observe a silent dichotomy growing in our collective response - an uncomfortable tension between climate fatalism and climate hope. On one side, climate fatalism can paralyze us, fostering an attitude that it's too late to make a difference, and thus absolving us of our responsibility. On the other hand, climate hope, while it may seem more positive, can sometimes breed complacency, as it relies on future technological breakthroughs or systemic changes to miraculously solve the problem. The key, perhaps, is to balance this hope with an understanding of the urgency, prompting us to act now rather than wait for the perfect solution.

The climate crisis is an imminent threat, akin to a wildfire, consuming the only home we have. However, unlike an immediate blaze, the climate emergency suffers from our cognitive biases, making it a challenge to inspire collective action. The scope and scale of climate disruption is hard for us to comprehend - it's abstract and distant, taking place over decades, across the world. Psychologists term this as 'psychological distance', a barrier that prevents us from identifying climate change as a here-and-now issue. Our 'optimism bias' lets us believe that climate disasters happen to others, but not to us. Then there's the 'status quo bias', which makes it difficult for us to alter our habits and practices that contribute to climate change.

Yet, just as these biases work against us, understanding them can empower us to overcome them. We can, and we must, replace complacency with urgency. It's time to bring the climate conversation down from the global scale to our immediate environments. Let's link it to our communities, our health, and our children's futures. We have to personalize and humanize the climate narrative, rendering it tangible and compelling enough to inspire change.

As we face the harsh truth about our Arctic summer ice, it's evident that the margin for error is thinning. The clock is ticking and the cost of inaction is the world itself. As a society, we need to transform our mindset, from indifference to urgency, from passivity to action, and relentlessly demand the same from our leaders and institutions.

In the following sections, I've touched upon the potential roles of governments, corporations, individuals, and the critical part that capital plays in combating climate disruption. It's crucial to note, however, that these suggestions are not exhaustive. The intricate tapestry of climate disruption is laden with complexity, demanding a spectrum of solutions far broader than what's articulated here.

Governments

Laws can be an effective tool in the fight against climate change. Governments have the ability to set standards, enforce regulations, and incentivize positive behaviors. They should unequivocally embrace circularity and redesign legislation to support it. Transitioning from our current linear economy - where we take, make, and dispose - to a circular one - where resources are looped back into the system - is imperative for sustainable development. By instituting laws that incentivize resource efficiency, reuse, and recycling, they can foster an environment where waste is minimized, and every product's end-of-life phase feeds back into the beginning of its life cycle. This may involve creating policies that stimulate the design of products for longevity and ease of disassembly, implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes that hold manufacturers accountable for the entire lifecycle of their products, and encouraging business models centered on product-as-a-service or sharing economy principles. A green future is one where “waste” is a thing of the past.

Another main driver that can be unlocked by governments is True pricing. True pricing, or reflecting the full environmental and social costs in the price of goods and services, is another instrumental tool in our quest to combat climate change. This principle challenges the traditional economic model by integrating "external costs," such as pollution, resource depletion, and health impacts, into the price we pay. This form of pricing can act as a potent catalyst in driving more sustainable consumer behavior and corporate practices. In the Netherlands, grocery retail chain Albert Heijn is piloting with True Price in selected stores.

Another critical step towards mitigating climate change is to address the tax exemptions that certain industries enjoy, such as aviation. One particularly egregious example is tax-free kerosene. Despite aviation being a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, international flights are exempt from fuel taxes due to historical treaties. This creates a significant distortion in the market and incentivizes practices that are harmful to the environment. Taxing aviation kerosene would cut aviation emissions by 11%.

Eliminating this tax exemption would signal a shift towards a more equitable and sustainable approach. It would encourage airlines to invest in more fuel-efficient technologies and reduce unnecessary flights. Moreover, the revenues generated could be reinvested in green innovations or infrastructure, like high-speed rail, which would provide alternatives to air travel. This is not about hampering the aviation industry, but about creating a level playing field where the true cost of operations is reflected, incentivizing all sectors to minimize their environmental footprint. While it would undoubtedly be a complex and challenging transition, the benefits to our climate make it an issue we can no longer afford to ignore.

Corporates

Corporations have a critical role to play. By prioritizing sustainable practices, reducing waste, and innovating towards low or zero carbon technologies, they can significantly reduce global CO2 emissions. Corporate social responsibility must not be an afterthought, but a core part of strategic planning. Furthermore, corporations can lead the charge in educating consumers and encouraging sustainable consumption.

Corporations hold immense power to catalyze the growth of emerging technologies and innovations. By collaborating with startups, corporates can help bring fresh, climate-friendly solutions to the market more swiftly. This marriage of resources and agility can have profound impacts, especially in industries directly linked to climate change, such as food and agriculture.

Emerging technologies like fermentation that we use at NoPalm Ingredients are heralding a new green revolution, offering novel ways to produce proteins and fats in more sustainable ways. Startups are pioneering these innovations, but to bring them to scale, they often need the capital, manufacturing capacity, and market reach that established corporations can provide.

Microorganisms (yeasts, bacteria, fungi, algae, etc.) and technologies like fermentation are set to be the cornerstone of our future food industry. This is because they can produce food in a way that is far more efficient and environmentally friendly than traditional agriculture. Microorganisms can convert simple substances into valuable food products, using less water, land, and energy in the process. This significantly reduces the carbon footprint associated with food production. Across different start-ups I have seen estimates and LCAs ranging from 40 – 95% CO2 reduction. By harnessing the power of these microscopic life forms, we can create a food system that not only meets our nutritional needs but also respects the limits of our planet. We're at the dawn of a new era, one where our meals are brought to us by the invisible power of microorganisms, aiding us in our fight against climate disruption.

Collaboration between corporates and startups will be pivotal in meeting our climate targets. By working together, we can catalyze the green revolution and create a sustainable future that benefits not just our planet, but every living being that calls it home.

Consumers

The war in Ukraine and its effects on European gas supply, showed us how rapidly we can adapt when faced with an immediate threat. The 13% reduction in gas usage during the crisis indicates that change is indeed possible, should the right circumstances and motivation align. This proves that our society can make similar adaptations to confront the climate crisis, should we prioritize it with equal urgency.

It's high time we, as consumers, change our paradigm of consumerism. The endless desire for more, “retail therapy” and the sense of entitlement for constant convenience need to be checked. We need to be rewarded for consuming less.

Capital

In our capitalist society, money is a decisive factor. ?Herein lies the key to unlocking a green revolution: investing in green innovations. As seen in 2021, massive investments were made in fast delivery companies like Getir, Flink and Gorilla. In fact, in 2021 over €6.1B was invested in food delivery spread over just a few companies, compared to €950 M in the same year over hundreds of companies in sustainable food tech.

The scale of investment for green start-ups, like NoPalm Ingredients , should be much higher, considering the existential crisis we face. The cost of climate disruption should be priced into these investments, as they are not just financial ventures, but investments in our collective future.

Key to unlocking this potential is pension funds. Dutch pension funds, for example, have €1.5 trillion under management. With just a small portion of their entire capital they can have a flywheel effect on accelerating our innovation through startups. For my Dutch friends: Tune in on NPO2 at 20:55 on Wednesday June 7th to get Jeroen Smit ’s view on this matter.

Our response to climate change requires collective action on multiple levels: governmental, corporate, and individual. It's time we stop shrugging our shoulders at warnings and instead start rolling up our sleeves to build a sustainable future. We owe it to ourselves and future generations.