Climate Entrepreneurs Needed Now More than Ever
The Collider’s lobby is always buzzing with activity. Photo courtesy The Collider.
By Mickey Snowden, Communications Specialist at The Collider, Asheville, NC - April 2020
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s clear that climate entrepreneurs will play a critical role in responsible economic stimulation.
Author of The Lean Startup model, Eric Ries, defines a startup as “a human institution designed to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty.” That’s exactly what is needed in a post-coronavirus world. After a major disruption such as a war, a natural disaster, or, in this case, a pandemic, visionary leaders are needed to provide a strong path forward. Because of their unique ability to innovate in times of chaos, these visionaries often take the form of entrepreneurs.
To highlight this fact, consider these businesses started by veterans:
John Pemberton started Coca-Cola after he was wounded in the Civil War.
Bill Bowerman founded Nike in 1964 after serving as a Commander in WWII.
Frederick W. Smith launched FedEx after achieving the rank of Marine Corps Captain.
But you don’t have to be a war veteran to start a successful business. In the age of coronavirus, we’re all veterans of a pandemic that has completely uprooted our most basic means of living. This setting provides the perfect opportunity for courageous individuals to design businesses that promote mitigation, adaptation, and resilience to climate change.
Lessons from COVID-19
One positive outcome of coronavirus has been an overall reduction in our collective ecological footprint. We’ve all seen the headlines: “Carbon emissions from fossil fuels could fall by 2.5bn tonnes in 2020”; “Coronavirus could trigger ‘largest ever annual fall in CO2’”; “Coyotes, bobcats and bears: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park”.
With humans around the world staying inside their homes, wildlife has surged, greenhouse gas emissions have dropped, and people are connecting with nature.
But the point here isn’t to capitalize on a pandemic, it’s to encourage entrepreneurs in the climate industry to propel the positive environmental momentum that coronavirus has inadvertently built. We need entrepreneurs who are able to clearly identify the connections between climate change, public health, environmental injustice, and socioeconomic disparities to create businesses that are capable of addressing these issues in tandem.
Dispelling “Business as Usual”
Air pollution in Wuhan decreased significantly over the month of February when its residents were quarantined, but nitrogen dioxide emissions have begun to climb again since stay-at-home restrictions were lifted in the city. The UN’s Framework on Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) has postponed its 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) climate discussions to October 2020, and the EPA is temporarily waiving environmental regulations for industries affected by coronavirus after pressure from the oil industry.
Levels of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant caused by burning fuel, dropped significantly around Wuhan and Beijing in February but have slowly begun to increase. Photo courtesy NASA Earth Observatory.
When coronavirus has subsided, countries across the world will be scrambling to resurrect their economies, and they will be looking at the US as an example. If we return to “business as usual” — or worse, unrestricted economic growth at all costs — it will not only undo years of environmental policy but set a precedent for the rest of the globe.
Climate Entrepreneurs
Climate entrepreneurs need to find creative ways to stimulate the economy without contributing heavily to greenhouse gas emissions, undoubtedly an arduous task. But it is climate professionals who are most poised to provide solutions that will not only support the economy but advance progress on the climate crisis. Development of widespread clean energy projects could help us flatten our greenhouse gas emissions curve (which, by the way, doesn’t look so good even with the COVID-19 drop), and new software and technologies could provide users with the tools necessary to reduce our environmental impact and build climate resilience.
Monthly mean carbon dioxide levels measured at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii have been increasing rapidly for decades. Photo courtesy NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory.ft) and me, Lindsey (right).
After the 2008 financial collapse, tech companies like Uber and Airbnb redefined the way the world travels and allowed anyone with a car or an extra bedroom to make money on their own terms. Following the coronavirus outbreak, a similar opportunity is present within the climate sector.
Here are some areas ripe for climate entrepreneurship in a post-coronavirus world:
Renewable energy. In order to jumpstart our economy without burning fossil fuels, renewable energies will play a critical role in economic development post-coronavirus. Solar CrowdSource, a company based in Atlanta, Georgia, connects residents within communities to group-purchase solar energy and battery storage to reduce their costs. The company’s Solarize program is uniquely geared towards implementing crowdsourced solar projects for nonprofits, creating greener, healthier, and more equitable communities. Solar CrowdSource is an example of a small business meeting growing energy demands in an environmentally and socially conscious way.
Climate modeling. Climate Interactive, a think tank with offices in MIT and Asheville, North Carolina, develops climate simulators that are used by everyone from educators to policymakers. The organization’s first simulator, C-ROADS, was developed to help countries determine how to meet their UN climate pledges and highlight the gap between their goals and their actual emissions. Climate Interactive’s newest simulator, En-ROADS, organizes factors contributing to greenhouse gas emissions into sectors including energy supply, transportation, buildings and industry, land and industry, and carbon removal. Climate modeling for governments, public organizations, and private companies has huge financial potential.
Agriculture. A changing climate presents a multitude of challenges to the agricultural sector. Increased drought and extreme precipitation make it increasingly difficult to predict crop yields and can decimate food supplies everywhere. CropProphet is an agribusiness that monitors the effects of climate change on global crop supply. CropProphet is a big data analytics tool that forecasts yields and production for some of the world’s most consumed crops such as corn, soy, and winter wheat. By combining cutting-edge technology and climate data, CropProphet provides extremely accurate information on growing data and weather patterns for businesses and governments throughout the world. The future of food is undoubtedly linked to changes in our Earth’s climate, presenting an opportunity for data-savvy entrepreneurs.
Resilience-building. In lieu of any national climate resilience plans, cities across the country are taking the matter into their own hands by contracting with private and public firms. The University of North Carolina at Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) and FernLeaf Interactive form a private-public partnership (NEMAC-FernLeaf) to help cities like Charleston, South Carolina and West Palm Beach, Florida build resilience to flooding and other climate-stressors. Climate adaptation and resilience planning have been growing rapidly for over a decade among cities across the world (e.g. Durban, London, Rotterdam, Quito, etc.), and this field will likely continue to flourish in the coming years.
With economic growth likely to precede federal climate action following COVID-19, entrepreneurs need to take climate change into their own hands. The climate industry is uniquely poised to stimulate the global economy in a way never seen before.
Mickey Snowdon is the Communications Liaison for The Collider, a member-driven organization advancing climate solutions so that all can mitigate, adapt, and thrive in a changing climate. Located just steps away from NOAA in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, The Collider is a hub for climate innovation and entrepreneurship.
