It will all (unfortunately) come down to us humans.
We humans caused the climate crisis and we humans (for better or worse) have got to try and fix it. But it won’t be pretty...
Spoiler alert: I’m a human.
Spoiler spoiler alert: This isn’t a doomer’s post. This isn’t an optimist’s post. It lies somewhere in between — a space I often find myself. Perhaps it lies in, dare I say, reality? There are some harsh realities we need to face, and face quickly, if we’ve got any hope…
The net worth of the room that evening had to be well over $5 billion.
There was at least one known billionaire in the room, many more millionaires, multiple celebrities, and of course, me.
I was 24 years old working at a wildlife conservation organization. A Jewish kid from Texas with a bachelors degree in economics and a masters degree in accounting…
We were hosting a fundraising dinner at a Four Seasons for the launch of two new wildlife programs aimed at protecting polar bears and tigers. We were here to raise A LOT of money. At least $1M, in one night.
So many large donations were being pledged that we had to frantically write down the commitments and their corresponding dollar amounts on hotel napkins. “How many zeros was that?? Who’s that guy again???”
And then, a gentleman stood up.
On the spot he pledged $200,000 USD to fund our tiger program.
Wow, amazing. Or so I thought…
This particular gentleman had made his living (and thus his fortune) from owning and operating a countries largest mining company… one of the most degrading and environmental polluting businesses one could run.
That exact moment stopped me in my tracks.
I will never forget that awakening and asking myself, “Wait a minute. Are the tigers better off that he’s donating $200,000 to help save them now, or are they better off if he had never existed and never run such a powerful mining company?”
Not an easy question to answer… and not one I’m going to answer here.
(Yea, yea, I know. “Zach, well if he hadn’t run the company somebody else would have. So you can assume the company would have existed either way and done all that harm either way…’ blah blah blah. Not all true. Like I said, I’m an optimist. I firmly believe the company should have never existed, woo! Not to mention, everything, and I mean every thing in nature operates in a delicate balance.)
Despite literally working to save elephants, rhino, sharks, tigers, and polar bears, my years in wildlife conservation taught me many things.
But perhaps the most notable takeaway: we humans literally can’t get out of our own way.
The organization was so poorly run, there was so much drama, such a huge organizational carbon footprint, and so many egos, I felt bad for the animals we were trying to save (and we saved many).
We Are Our Own Worst Enemy
If I were to write a movie about the pending destruction of our planet, I’d write the script a bit like this:
One of earth’s 8.7 million species has taken over! They are wreaking havoc on the entire planet, pushing ecological systems to the brink! The planet can’t handle all this species has done and become… and time is running out…
But alas! This one of 8.7 million species causing epic destruction has now become aware of its harm. It knows the destruction it’s causing, has worked to create solutions, and even now knows how to fix it! All will be saved!
Not so fast.
This species is distracted. This species is selfish. This species is new to the problem and to the universe. It fights amongst itself. It focuses on shiny screens and material things. It can’t get out of its own way to save the planet… being the species that caused the problem, it is also the only one who knows how to fix it.
Will time run out? Can this invasive species turn from goat to hero?
Only time will tell…
End scene.
Sound familiar?
This is the story unfolding right now, right in front of our very eyes.
Much has been written about how humans can’t really comprehend the size and scope of the climate crisis and how that has affected our ability to dedicate the time, energy, resources and sacrifices necessary to solve the problem.
But given exponential increases in known science about our planet and climate change, key metrics identified for solutions, and both private and public support for paths forward, we have all the information we need.
We understand the problem.
We know we are the cause.
And we have the solutions.
We just don’t care enough.
But let me explain.
Whose Problem Is it? You’re Not Going to Like My Answer.
What would it take not to solve*, but to mitigate, the risks of climate change to keep somewhat of a normal, as we’ve come to know it world?
(*Btw this is what all latest climate reports state, including anything from the IPPC — the world as we knew it is most likely gone — but we have hope to keep it recognizable, habitable.)
In order to answer that question, we need to dive into whose fight this is and how to face some uncomfortable truths.
An analysis:
Let’s look at climate responsibility from a country by country basis.
The arguments always seem to get lost in a per capita pollution, developing vs developed, total emissions output. In the US, we all argue, “Look at China!” And in China, they all argue, “Look at the US!”
Interestingly, when we analyze pollution and wealth from a few different perspectives, you end up with an interesting mix of developing & developed countries atop the worst polluters list.
Here’s total pollution by volume (total output of CO2):
(American’s: “See, we told you it’s China!”)
Here’s total pollution per capita:
(China to America: “Hold my beer.”)
Now, cross reference both lists by wealthiest countries:
And even by wealth per capita:
And the trend becomes pretty clear:
The wealthier you are, the more you pollute.
Country by country, person by person.
When scored based on pollution (country totals and per capita) and wealth (country GDP and per capita GDP), the biggest and wealthiest offenders break down as (highest numbers correspond to the worst polluters AND wealthiest):
Top 15 include some usual suspects: The US, China, Japan, Germany, Qatar, Russia, and the UK.
But there are also some very unlikely countries in there: Trinidad, Palau, Luxemborg, Lichtenstein, and Bahran. These are mainly due to oil & gas money and wealth per capita that drive them higher up the list. Smaller countries, smaller populations, but when weighted out, pretty guilty too.
Again, comes back to wealth.
I’m Not Rich, You’re Rich!
At least speaking on behalf of the US, we have such a perverse sense of what it means to be rich, ESPECIALLY in a global context.
When we hear discussions about the wealthy having the largest carbon footprints, or the wealthy contributing so much to environmental catastrophe, pretty much every single person in America thinks that does not apply to them. They aren’t the “rich, polluting ones.”
“That’s not me, there’s always someone worse.”
But this could not be further from the truth. So let’s break it down.
Approximately 10% of the world (about 700 million people) live in extreme poverty.
Extreme poverty is defined as living on USD$1.90 per day.
Read that again: $1 dollar and 90 cents. Per. Day.
700 million people.
That’s almost 100 New York Cities worth of people.
That’s insane and absurd.
Let us agree, here and now, that if you are struggling to feed your family, to merely survive, it is even harder to be at the forefront of solving climate change. (Not impossible, and there are some folks doing some incredible things all around the world with so very little it is truly amazing and inspiring).
But the uncomfortable truth is that 700 million have extremely low carbon footprints because they are poor. Our planet simply could not handle it if they lived like the average American, more realistically even if they lived just above the poverty line.
Now that we’ve excluded the extremely poor and vulnerable, let’s define “wealthy.”
To be in the top 10% wealthiest people GLOBALLY, you have:
- A net worth of $93,170 USD (financial assets plus real assets minus debts)
That’s it. $93,170 USD net worth.
You know how many American’s that puts into the top 10% globally?
102 million.
1 out of every 3 people in America is one of the top 10% wealthiest people you will ever meet in the world.
And it takes a net worth of $871,320 to join the global 1 percent.
More than 19 million Americans qualify.
102 million American’s are the top 10% richest in the world, and another 20 million American’s are in the top 1% globally.
Again, math offers us a heavy dose of reality here:
8 billion people on the planet.
1% of 8 billion = 80 million.
1/4th of 80 million = 20 million, or 25% of those 80 million wealthiest people in the world are Americans.
1 in every 4 people in the global top 1% are Americans.
Reminder, 20 million people is 2.5 New York Cities.
Take 2.5 New York cities, put them together, and imagine EVERY single person in all of them is in the top 1% of wealth globally. That’s how many people 20 million is. That’s how many Americans are in the 1% — 2.5 New York’s worth. To me, that’s mind blowing context.
Ok, ok, by now you get it. There are a lot of wealthy people in America, and America is one of the most egregious polluters and contributors to climate change.
So if you have a roof over your head, safety, food on the table, money in the bank, and just so happen to be one of the richest 10% or 1% of people in the entire world, perhaps, now just maybe perhaps, you have a responsibility, or dare I say obligation, to join the fight and do all we can to help resist further damage and adapt to climate change?
An aside: every time I push American friends, family, other “white” people on this topic, especially men, it’s always met with resistance. It’s always met with deflection, denial, apathy.
That’s all wound up in white privilege, lack of empathy, lack of perspective, you name it. When it then comes to being told maybe the way you lived, the work you did, your choices could be not only hurtful, but even wrong, people shut down. Without fail. Just know, that it runs deep.
To me, the mere fact that our planet — the very thing that EVERYTHING depends on (the stock market, money, cars, children, consciousness) is in peril, has always elicited in me a sense of obligation. “Well shoot, that’s not good. I’ve been pretty fortunate in my life, how can I do everything I can to help?” We’ll dive into this in later pieces.
What’s the “Work Needed”?
So, what are we actually doing in regards to climate change?
Well, depending on how you look at it: either a little bit or not a little bit.
So, we know a bit more bluntly what countries are some of the worst offenders and how rich the US really is. So, how are we doing on reducing CO2 emission's in the US and globally?
Um….
And in the US?
Since, 2005, the US has seen a per capita CO2 emission reduction of about 25%. Pretty good, but again, context is everything.
Here’s what the US trajectory needs to look like to ensure we limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius:
So within context, the 25% reduction pales in comparison to what we ACTUALLY need to do. In order to limit to 1.5 degrees warming (which for RIGHT now is actually still feasible, unlikely, but feasible) the US has to make even more drastic moves.
The IRA is an important first step (albeit late step) in accelerating this transition, no doubt about it. And the progress will be exponential.
But is it enough, is it too little too late?
Everyone, Everywhere!
Ok so, we know who some of the “guiltier” parties are. And we know we’ve got a LOT of work to still do.
AND! What if I told you, you could actually make a really good, like US really good top 1% of the world good salary in helping to mitigate, adapt to, and beat back climate change?!
Everyone, everywhere would absolutely drop everything the are doing to join in the fight, right??
Well, not exactly…
According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), in 2020, nearly 4.1 million jobs in the United States alone were directly related to climate mitigation!
That’s great, Zach! 4.1 million jobs in the United States working every day to solve climate change.
There were 153,308,000 jobs in the US in October 2022 according to the CES survey of employers.
4M climate jobs out of 158M total jobs in the US = 2.5% of our work force working to solve the biggest threat to not only the human race, but the only habitable planet we know of in the entire universe (Sorry, Elon — better quit tweeting and speed that multi-planetary species living up).
Ok ok, so only a very small percentage of all these rich Americans are actually working on climate solutions. So we must all be adapting our lifestyles right??
Well, not exactly..
Home sizes in the US are now 1,000 square feet larger than in 1973, average living space per person per house has doubled. We have larger homes with less people than ever before in them…
Ok, not great.
So we are flying less because that pollutes a lot, right!?
Well, not exactly. Actually, quite the opposite.
Increase in air travel has increased 8 fold in only 4 decades. That’s almost becoming a hockey stick curve…
What, you mean me not going wherever I want whenever I want has a consequence on someone other than myself? Tis a novel concept sir!
Keep this stat in mind:
“According to figures from German nonprofit Atmosfair, flying from London to New York and back generates about 986kg of CO2 per passenger. There are 56 countries where the average person emits less carbon dioxide in a whole year — from Burundi in Africa to Paraguay in South America.” (Source: The Guardian)”
Read that again! If you take one flight from New York to London, you as 1 person emit more CO2 than people in 56 countries do in an entire YEAR!
Ok ok, so we are at LEAST investing in preparing for what’s coming then, right?!?
Well, have you noticed a trend here?
According to the IPCC (the gold standard on climate reporting) latest report, Chapter 4: Strengthening & Implementing the Global Response:
Although multiple communities around the world are demonstrating the possibility of implementation consistent with 1.5°C pathways {Boxes 4.1–4.10}, very few countries, regions, cities, communities or businesses can currently make such a claim (high confidence).
To strengthen the global response, almost all countries would need to significantly raise their level of ambition. Implementation of this raised ambition would require enhanced institutional capabilities in all countries, including building the capability to utilize indigenous and local knowledge (medium evidence, high agreement).
In developing countries and for poor and vulnerable people, implementing the response would require financial, technological and other forms of support to build capacity, for which additional local, national and international resources would need to be mobilized (high confidence).
However, public, financial, institutional and innovation capabilities currently fall short of implementing far-reaching measures at scale in all countries (high confidence). Transnational networks that support multilevel climate action are growing, but challenges in their scale-up remain.
Note some of that language. Some countries are demonstrating the POSSIBILITY of implementation consistent with a 1.5 degree warmer world, very few “countries, regions, cities, communities or businesses” can make a claim that they can confidentially meet the needs their constituents will need to adapt to climate change.
Yea, that’s a huge yikes.
We’re not doing enough to mitigate and we’re not preparing enough.
Exercise: Google search for “your city + climate resiliency plan.” See how comforted you feel.
Uncomfortable Truth: it’s gonna get real.
I’ve been working in climate change and climate related fields (wildlife conservation, corporate social responsibility, innovation, social impact branding & design, and carbon mitigation) for the last 15 years.
There is, and rightfully so, a large percentage of climate advocates, organizations, and eco-leaders who continue to believe that in order to adapt to climate change, and perhaps even solve this mess, we must build an equitable, just, and inclusive world at the same time.
It’s not going to happen.
Please note, I am not advocating for it not to happen. I’m just telling you it’s not going to happen.
Don’t shoot the messenger.
The longer we drag our feet on political, individual, and country by country action, as we continue to wait around for someone else to “solve it for us”, the coming (and already here) climate disparity is only going to get worse. This will unfortunately perpetuate the haves and have nots to alarming, dangerous, and even murderous levels (cue: resource wars).
But again, that does not mean I am not hopeful, only to fill your cup with doom and gloom.
I firmly believe the first step on the path forward is to understand this.
It’s not going to be perfect. It will be messy, people will die, many fortunate ones will suffer and many, many, many unfortunate ones will continue to suffer. (actually, it’s already happening.)
But that is where are. We made our bed by not caring for too long.
Now, by removing some idyllic version of solving climate change where we are all singing kumbaya in a field, we can do the hard work needed.
So, what is the work now needed?
It’s worth mentioning here there are a million things one could be doing about climate change. The debate on “individual behavior change vs systemic change” debate is raging right now. But the answer is we need both. Still.
(For what are systems, other than compositions of individuals at scale?)
We drastically, and I mean drastically, need more people aligning their livelihoods (i.e. how you make money, aka your JOB) with addressing climate change. We need so many more working day in and day out to create solutions, adapt, and build resiliency to what’s not only coming but already here.
Fortunately, there are amazing sites like Work on Climate and Climatebase. Your climate job awaits you.
(And the misnomer that you can’t make a good living and do good work is so far gone these days that it’s time for you to wake up. Someone I know just joined the climate fight for nearly half a mil a year salary… So even if your top priority is wealth and your bottom is planet, it’s still hard to argue against NOT joining the climate career movement…)
The work needed can also be broken down into three areas:
- We need more resources and support for adapting (both mentally — processing our grief and emotions and physically) for what is here, happening, and going to continue to happen.
- To those already working day in and day on on climate, political, health and education related issues, we need to better support them. If you aren’t in a good place, you can’t do good work. Period. (see: doctors and nurses during the height of the COVID Pandemic…)
- And we need to prepare. No, not build bunkers in New Zealand. But ruggedize. Build resilient and smart countries, cities, and communities. And quickly.
There’s a lot of work to be done. But there is a path. I’m going to break down each of the 3 points above in a coming 3 part series.
In the meantime, there are two questions we must ask ourselves:
- Do I care enough to act?
- Am I unintentionally waiting for someone to solve it for me? Because if you are, you might want to consider who “they” are and how much “they” care about you…
And if you know all this information. And still choose to do nothing about it, well I’ve got a bone to pick. Because now it’s personal.
More soon.
Z
