2022 Climate Progress Report: Moving from Awareness to Action
The climate space has seen enormous progress since early January. Back then, sitting in the course Global Climate Change, I was dismayed about the future of Bangladesh and Kiribati; to be fair, that hasn’t changed. What has changed is how the United States has enacted the Inflation Reduction Act which allocates $369 billion toward climate initiatives; new rules proposed by the SEC to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures; and VCs now investing over one-quarter of their funds in climate tech startups. I graduated in May with the belief that we will see trillions of dollars of wealth creation from climate projects over the next few decades.
At the same time, I am also conscious that our lived experience across the world is already impacted by climate change, and that to achieve ambitious 2030+ targets, there is little margin for error. We need to increase the pace of innovation and technological breakthroughs; create new narratives to unleash transformational social change; and elect strong moral and operational leaders in business and government. This must be applied across several domains including generation, transmission, electrified buildings and transportation, and carbon removal. Moreover, since most of these are interdependent, we cannot rely on success in one area to compensate for others. As if this isn’t complex enough, many advancements that help us achieve 2030 targets, may act in disservice to 2050 targets. The road ahead is not a straightforward one.
There is hope! A topical refrain in climate is that we are moving from awareness to action. From a tops-down perspective, the government legislation and company commitments bode well. However, my biggest question as we head into this new year is whether we are seeing commensurate progress in how we are evolving our individual decisions. For instance, are we changing behaviors — such as what we eat — or prioritizing purchases from more sustainable companies? I found it instructive to take stock of my performance this year, focusing on the most impactful decisions.
It was disaster! The hot water was out. My parents’ water boiler needed to be replaced (or so we thought). One of my first thoughts was that this would be a terrific opportunity to move to an electric water heater. After all, my awareness was high after spending the last few month evaluating how Boston could electrify all its large buildings. I understood that purchasing another gas-powered water heater would forestall our ability to migrate to electric power for another 15+ years (given the appliance’s lifespan).
With this inclination, I was dismayed to quickly realize how difficult this decision would be. For this purchase, an electric water heater was more expensive, potentially less reliable (you lose hot water during power outages), and would have taken a couple weeks to secure (meaning weeks without hot water!). These costs were significant and palpable, ultimately outweighing potentially [1] lower carbon emissions.
This experience reminded me of an exercise we did in Harvard Law School’s Climate Solutions Living Lab, splitting into our respective domains and brainstorming how we might accelerate the transition away from gas stoves (which emit methane even when turned off). Students from the design school were focused on the product– what features do users prefer from gas stoves and how could those be designed into electric ones. Students from the law school considered regulations for new buildings and tax incentives for replacing stoves in existing buildings. Students from the public policy school explored community programs to increase education and awareness, and how funds could be secured and distributed to support with making the shift. Students from the business school focused on creative pricing mechanisms and go-to-market capabilities. The takeaway was that many different solutions — all from different angles — will be necessary to facilitate more climate conscious decisions at scale.
To conclude, our progress in climate is both hopeful and dismaying. When I ask friends immersed in the climate space whether the past year has gotten us closer or further from where we need to be, the prevailing answer was uncertainty. I realized that was more elucidating; the answer didn’t matter. What matters is that we care. We won’t always make the most climate conscious choices (I still fly, eat meat, etc.), but we can still take steps to promote a more sustainable future as a voting citizen, consumer, investor, and employee.
[1] Whether electric appliances even reduce greenhouse emissions is dependent on the generation mix. In some states, electric generation is dirtier than natural gas, so moving to electric can be a disservice in the short term. This is how the upside of electrifying buildings and cars is dependent on generation (and transmission!).
If you liked this, you can find similar pieces of Generative AI and China. Special thanks to Jon Ma and Chris Lipcsei for encouraging me to write these.
