No matter where we work every job is a climate job now
when it comes to the climate crisis
what corporations do over the next few
years
is existential and we can’t leave it to
a small group of people to determine
our global fate no matter what we do for
a living
every job is a climate job now and all
of us
every employee citizen human being
can build power to change the course of
history
in our places of work the economy and
our broader world
so far the response of most companies to
the climate crisis
has been defined by constraints who gets
to work on it
what skills and expertise are valued
what does success look like and who has
a say
and most companies set needlessly
restrictive climate goals
which set out only to reduce the amount
of harm they’re causing
instead of also focusing on how they
need to use their leverage
to help build the thriving equitable
world we need
but we all know that our response
isn’t anywhere close to adequate
we see it all around us in wildfires
floods we feel it in our bones
in this the most all-encompassing
challenge
we have ever faced it’s the unstoppable
uncontainable force of nature itself
that we must emulate in how we rise up
to address this challenge
have you ever watched flood waters come
gushing over a levee
or noticed how tree roots will literally
break apart
concrete in the sidewalk in its pursuit
of life
to meet the magnitude of this moment
will require that we
unleash a power only rivaled by nature
itself
opening the floodgates to bring in every
solution
every solver workers from every part of
the workforce
bringing technical expertise but also
fresh approaches
diverse backgrounds creativity emotional
content
and more accountability the people
currently tasked with leading climate
response within companies
are often small teams that are under
resourced
they’ve been doing heroes work but they
can’t do it alone
and they don’t have to so many people
want to contribute and i’ve got good
news
we know what needs to be done and there
are
infinite ways to engage i work for an
organization called project
drawdown our team has scoured humanity’s
wisdom
for solutions to draw down heat trapping
climate changing emissions in our
atmosphere
not solutions that exist in a laboratory
or an incubator somewhere
but the 80 practices and technologies
that materially affect the concentration
of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
solutions that are already being
implemented in the world today
solutions that by and large already
existed in order to address
another social problem solutions that
will make us healthier
more resilient address inequity improve
our cities
maybe even make us happier all while
they address the climate crisis
for example we know how we can reduce
the sources of emissions
how well we can shift to renewable
energy
like solar and wind to green buildings
that are more efficient
to alternative transportation efficient
and electric
to agricultural practices that are
regenerative for the soil
by addressing food waste and our diets
eating more plants and less meat
we can also support and enhance the
sinks of carbon dioxide found in nature
when we protect and restore ecosystems
at land
and at sea and finally we can educate
women and girls globally which not only
addresses climate change
but achieves broader societal
transformation
rooted in gender equity and human
well-being
so this mosaic of solutions gives us a
vision for what an equitable sustainable
world
can and should look like but these
climate solutions
don’t scale themselves in many cases
it’s exactly those corporations most
responsible
for the emissions that cause climate
change that have
the scale resources and obligation
to turn the tide and if those companies
want to exist
in the era of climate change then turn
the tide
they must and that’s where you come in
in our organization’s latest publication
we identify
a number of accelerators that create the
conditions for climate solutions to
scale in the world
one of them is build power
building power is a precondition for
creating change
in the past too much power has been
deployed against climate action
and too little has been assembled to
advance solutions
but do you know who holds real power
inside companies
employees employees have tremendous
power
in building communities like this one
sharing knowledge and best practices
across disciplines and holding their
companies
to the standard that this challenge
demands
and i’m not talking about employees
implementing recycling programs or
installing compost bins though both are
good starts
i’m talking about workers across the
business from warehouse workers to
coders delivery people to designers
changing the nature of business itself
so the business
exists as a means to implement climate
solutions
quickly safely and equitably
so let me ask you do you work at a
company that exists
at least in part to address the climate
crisis
not are they committing to reducing
their emissions over time
but are they actually contributing
productively to the thriving
equitable sustainable world we need to
build
my opinion is that for the cur our
current economic model to survive
the world needs millions of us to be
able to answer that question
in the affirmative but my sense is that
right now
most of us can’t so how can we
each of us and as a community with power
be a part of changing the nature of
business
what would it look like to make climate
central to the business model of
every company on earth how many new
skill sets and capacities might that
bring to the table
how many new jobs how much passion
the climate crisis is an incredible
opportunity to put
all human minds hearts and hands to work
a pursuit worthy of expending the sum
total of
all human energy so
the place you work right now how can
that entity
actually play a role in helping build
the world we need
let yourself imagine is it possible
if not or if it’s too hard to see the
company you work for
getting from here to there then maybe
that company
or that sector is not fit for the future
we need
but if it is possible and exciting to
you
then that is what you should use your
power and your skills
and your community and this road map of
climate solutions
to build so far society has evolved
somewhat haphazardly
we didn’t have a grand strategy for what
the world should be
we didn’t dream together and then set
out to proactively build the world we
wanted to live in
but today we have an incredible
opportunity in front of us
an urgent demand that we radically
transform society
to address the climate crisis a tidal
wave of people who want to contribute
and a mosaic of accessible and ready to
implement solutions
that provide the roadmap to get us there
we have been trying to put parameters
and constraints around something that is
uncontainable
the climate crisis doesn’t fit into our
neatly defined boxes
as much as we wish it would it spills
into every aspect of life so responding
to it with the same level of
expansiveness
is the only way forward we know how to
get there
but in order to do it we need everyone
thank you